Head Future Earth Africa Hub Leadership Centre - Department of Internationalisation and Strategic Partnerships at University of Pretoria/Universiteit van Pretoria

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Leadership:

• Working closely with the Director of the Future Earth Africa Hub to provide operational direction and lead communications and engagement for the AHLC;
• Positioning the Hub strategically within the University of Pretoria and Rhodes University, identifying and advancing intellectual synergies across faculties and departments;
• Networking and building collaborative partnerships across the continent and globally;

Strategic Management:

• Working with the FE Africa Hub Director to oversee the operationalisation and strategic direction of the AHLC, based on Steering Committee-approved work plans;
• Leading the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) of the FEAH’s activities across the continent on behalf of the National Research Foundation (NRF) and Future Earth Africa Hub;
• Building the management and administrative capacities of the Future Earth Africa Hub entities, including regional nodes; 
• Strategic communication, marketing, and branding of the Work Package 2 activities;
• Data management of Work Package 2 activities across the entities of the Future Earth Africa Hub Leadership Centre (FEAHLC);

Scientific/Academic Research:

• Representing African Future Earth stakeholders in global Future Earth structures, elevating African sustainability science priorities;
• Building capacity of the entities of the Hub in supporting the NRF mission in the different regions of the continent, including fundraising, running research calls, engaging with governments to develop and support the common regional research agenda, funding of research themes, and running and reviewing research calls;

Funding and Financial Management:

• Ensuring sound financial management in accordance with funding contracts and University of Pretoria policies and practices;
• Identify and attract new funding opportunities;

Early Career Researchers Management:

• Leading in the identification, mobilising, accessing, and, where needed, designing capacity building programmes to support early career researchers in the Africa Hub related entities and regional nodes;
• Attending to scientific redress (e.g., gender equity) and inclusivity principles in the AHLC overall, in consultation with FEAH director and REAH entities;

Human Resources Management:

• Managing staff in the unit and ensuring that they perform to the required standards;
• Identifying the learning and development needs of staff and creating opportunities for development and training;
• Encouraging and/or facilitating regular meetings among staff members to endure the optimal flow of information;

Stakeholder Management:

• Identifying, developing and establishing relationship with relevant stakeholders;
• Continuously engaging strategic partners and identifying opportunities to grow the AHLC brand in the local, African, and global communities;
• Managing all relationships with the various research partners and ensuring that they are kept informed on all the milestones.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• PhD related to sustainability science or a similar area;
• Seven years of experience;
• Experience in regional scientific leadership in sustainability science leadership in sustainability science or a related area;
• Proven experience in fundraising and effective writing of research funding proposals;
• Proven strong leadership, demonstrating good project and people management skills;
• Experience at the international level and in a multicultural setting is desirable;
• Experience in raising funds and writing research funding proposals; 
• Experience in working with producers of Universities and research Centre;
• Experience coordinating large-scale scientific events, conferences, or multi-stakeholder convenings.