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Administrative Position for the
African Center for Aquatic Research and Eduction
The organizations
The African Center for Aquatic Research and Education, Inc. (“ACARE”) was formed in 2017 to create a long-term, highly collaborative process dedicated to strengthening science and increasing local capacity of Africa's freshwater experts through strong networks and enhanced training and experiential education on the African Great Lakes. ACARE aims to complete these goal through:
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Education: To educate and train the next generation of Africa’s freshwater experts on the African Great Lakes
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Information Exchange: Strengthen the understanding of the African Great Lakes through comprehensive access and sharing of information, data, and publications regarding our global freshwater natural resources
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Partnerships: Enhance collaboration among global, regional, and local individuals, institutions, organizations, and entities to address the challenges facing the African Great Lakes
During September of 2022, ACARE partnered with the International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD) in an effort to strengthen each organization's capacity to address enhance freshwater science globally. To learn more about this relationship, click here.
Because no one institution can address environmental problems, IISD-ACARE partners with organizations globally and is advised by a board of directors and led by a team with a breadth of representation and experience.
ACARE's Programs
ACARE has initiated five core programs, which include:
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Advisory Groups: Freshwater experts from the ten riparian countries of the seven African Great Lakes make up lake-specific advisory groups, whose goals are to increase information exchange, prioritize research, and help to coordinate freshwater research and management actions. A key aspect of this program is an annual meeting of the advisory groups, currently scheduled for Feb, 2023 in Dar-e-Salaam, Tanzania.
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African Women in Science: An annual ten-month program providing virtual leadership training and an in-person, North American immersive experience to expose participants to aspects of applied research, communications, and leadership.
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Monitoring: This program, still in development, will guide the collection of long-term baseline data on each of the African Great Lakes to better understand the status of these lakes, how they are affected by climate change and and other anthropogenic stressors.
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Education and Training: This developing program will make use of existing training programs and institutions, existing research stations on the AGL, to create a comprehensive program to train the next (and current) generation of freshwater experts on the African Great Lakes.
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Information exchange and coordination: This program is being developed to help collect all information, data, and publications on Africa’s Great Lakes to increase the ease of access to information, helping to strengthen overall science and understanding of these lakes.
The Position - Administrative Position
The Administrative Position will provide a range of support to the various ACARE Programs. As well, this role will support the ACARE Executive Director, the ACARE secretariat and managers of the various project teams in carrying out their respective tasks, as detailed below.
Details:
Status: Full-time contract position // Some weekend travel and work. Flexible work times across multiple time zones necessary (North American, European, and African).
Salary: Salary will be based on level of experience
Start Date: January 2023 (or ASAP)
Term: One-year position with potential for extending
Location: Remote with travel to on-site meetings within Africa
Responsibilities:
Event coordination and support
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Coordinate the logistics and organization of future Annual Meetings of the Great Lakes Stakeholder Network. Specific tasks include venue sourcing and booking, catering selection, preparing invitee lists and sending invitations, set-up at the venue, attending and taking notes on planning calls, and preparation and disbursement of agenda and related meeting documents.
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Coordinate with air- and ground-travel bookings for ACARE secretariat, board members, and external partners; reconcile travel expense claims, and update team on travel logistics.
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Coordinate on-site logistics for the Annual Meeting of the Advisory Groups, including liaising with the venue, providing assistance to attendees as needed, and helping with financial and other aspects of meeting registration.
Program administration
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With the ACARE team, contribute and support tracking deadlines, scheduling meetings, and keeping on track with tasks.
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Develop program and project tracking and management systems using existing tools or by developing them.
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Developing and applying institutional policies related to project delivery, expenditure management/control, and records management.
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Understand and incorporate information systems, including fund development information systems, stakeholder tracking systems, and various internal tools.
Meeting and board support
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Organize materials and logistics for secretariat and board meetings, including:
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Scheduling of weekly, monthly and quarterly meetings
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Ensuring invitation of appropriate attendees
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Preparing agendas and informational documents
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Taking notes and following up with action items and minutes
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Donor relations and fundraising activities
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Track funding proposals with program staff.
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Track timelines and requirements for funder reporting.
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Contribute to project and program proposal development.
Other
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Contribute to other program and projects.
The Position - Criteria
Required skills
The candidate will bring the following set of skills to the position:
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Strong organizational and planning skills, including an ability to manage multiple tasks ranging in demand. Sometimes under tight deadlines.
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Advanced language skills in English.
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Computer literacy, including Microsoft Office applications and Google Suite.
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Ability to work as part of an international, geographically distributed team, and independently with limited guidance.
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Strong interpersonal and networking skills.
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The position will require travel within Africa.
Qualifications:
The candidate should possess the following qualifications:
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Three years of experience in project administrative and operational support role.
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Bachelor’s degree in administration, accounting or in a related field; or equivalent work experience.
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Preference is for a national of one of the ten African Great Lakes riparian countries (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia)
Desired skills:
Highly competitive candidates could have one or all of the following:
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Working use of Swahili and/or French.
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Knowledge of international development.
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Social media proficiency.
Applying to this position
Application Deadline: Nov 7, 2022
All submissions must be in English.
Only those candidates we wish to interview will be contacted
Resumes will be kept on file for one year
To apply you will be directed to an on-line Application form below. Here you will be asked to provide the following:
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Cover letter
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Curriculum Vitae, resume, or work/education summary
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Two professional references (name, institution, email)
Additionally, you will be asked:
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Your level of education
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Some self-assessment questions
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Your familiarity with various technology and programs
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Other work experience
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Your motivations
Timeline for this process:
Application Posting: October 24th, 2022
Application Closing: November 7, 2022
Review: on-going basis
Notices: Candidates who are successful will be contacted by mid-November, 2022
Interviews - first round: Those who are contacted will be interviewed during mid-late-November, 2022 depending on the interview team's and the interviewees schedules
Interviews - second round: If necessary, a second round of interviews will take place during late November, 2022
Decision: Job offer is targeted to take place late 2022 or early 2023
Because of the nature of the work at ACARE, specifically meetings of groups of people from various regions of the world, we desire our colleagues to be fully vaccinated and willing to keep up to date with vaccines that protect against COVID-19. By accepting an offer to work with ACARE, you agree to comply with this requirement, unless you are entitled to a legally mandated exemption.