Assistant Principal Research Scientist - Kisumu at Kenya Medical Research - KEMRI

Key Responsibilities:

• Providing day to day guidance in a specialized laboratory or given field of study;
• Establishing a specific line of research including writing grant applications to maintain the specified research projects;
• Providing full supervisory responsibility for junior professional and technical staff attached to his/her research projects;
• Guiding training and development of staff and students attached to his/her research projects;
• Developing of research proposals and sourcing for grants in relevant research thematic areas;
• Implementing laboratory research projects and/or supervise designated aspects of the work;
• Coaching and mentoring of junior scientists in formulation of research ideas, proposal writing and sourcing for grants;
• Monitoring and evaluating implementation of lab research projects;
• Preparation of project progress reports and submission of the same to the CDC on-site PI and Head of Malaria Division in Kisumu and other CDC collaborators in a timely fashion;
• Disseminating and translating lab research findings for evidence-based policy formulations and implementation;
• Making a significant contribution in devising, planning work and defining research priorities;
• Identifying technology with potential for intellectual property protection; and
• Developing a training schedule and evaluation scheme for all lab-related trainings such as good clinical and laboratory practice (GCLP), biosafety, internships.

Vacancy Requirements:

• At least eight (8) years relevant work experience;
• Bachelor’s/ Master’s Degree in any of the following disciplines: - Biomedical Technology /Sciences, Microbiology, Parasitology, Immunology, Molecular Biology or equivalent qualifications from a recognized Institution;
• Doctorate degree in any of the following disciplines: Molecular Biology, Immunology, Population Genetics, Genetic/Genomic Epidemiology, Molecular Epidemiology or equivalent qualifications from a recognized institution;
• Developed at least twelve (12) proposals, six (6) of which have been funded;
• Published at least six (6) articles in refereed journals with at least three (3) articles as the first or lead author;
• Strong hands-on experience with current laboratory methods in molecular biology/immunology in malaria or other childhood diseases in Kenya or sub-Saharan Africa.
• Knowledge and use of at least one statistical software package, e.g. STATA, R, SPSS, or SAS
• Management Course lasting not less than four (4) weeks from a recognized institution;
• Experience working in collaboration with multiple agencies/partners.
• Strategic thinking;
• Proposal writing skills;
• Analytical skills;
• Lab technique troubleshooting skills
• writing skills with evidence.
• Communication and reporting skills
• Interpersonal and negotiation skills
• Team player