Cambridge Africa Research Fund Coordinator (Fixed Term)

University of Cambridge; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Cambridge is seeking a motivated Coordinator for the Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund, based in the Department of Pathology. You will coordinate call launches, match African researchers with Cambridge colleagues, review applications, and support award management across multiple stakeholders.

You will need excellent organisational and communication skills, plus IT proficiency, to manage documentation, travel arrangements, and online engagement for Cambridge-Africa

Qualifications

• Graduate degree or equivalent qualification.
• Excellent organisational and communication skills (written and oral).
• Strong IT skills and ability to handle data and documentation.
• Ability to develop collaborative relationships with stakeholders in Cambridge and Africa.

Responsibilities

• Update call documentation, launch online call and disseminate the Cambridge-Africa ALBORODA call.
• Match African researchers to Cambridge colleagues using databases and local contacts.
• Review applications and perform quality checks; prepare documents for award panel meetings.
• Communicate outcomes with the Cambridge-Africa team, fund panel, and co-applicants.
• Handle queries from applicants and awardees in a timely manner.
• Support travel arrangements between Cambridge and Africa and engage with awardees.
• Monitor and evaluate awards; write case studies on awards and awardees.
• Assist with writing blogs based on the awards.
• Financial monitoring of awards and budget tracking.
• Contribute to broader Cambridge-Africa programme events and activities.
• Manage and update the Cambridge-Africa website and social media engagement.
• Provide general problem solving and administrative support.

Skills

Organisational skills

Written communication

Oral communication

IT skills

Education

Graduate degree

Job description

We are looking for a motivated individual with excellent organisational, written and oral communication skills as well as strong IT skills to join the Cambridge-Africa team to coordinate the Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund.

The person will have excellent interpersonal skills and a demonstrable ability to develop collaborative working relationships with a range of stakeholders in Cambridge and in Africa. The ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines is also essential.

The funds for this post are available until 31 December 2028 in the first instance.

Cambridge-Africa, established in 2008, is a University programme that supports African researchers and promotes mutually beneficial collaborations and equitable partnerships between Africa and Cambridge. The ethos of the programme and its partnerships are based on equity, transparency and trust. Activities are driven by needs identified by African partners in order to address African (research) priorities. One of the key initiatives is the Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund, which was established in 2012 thanks to generous donations from The ALBORADA Trust, UK. The aim of this Research Fund is to enable principal investigators at the University of Cambridge, across all disciplines, to apply jointly with a partner at a sub-Saharan African university for grants to initiate and/or strengthen equitable research collaborations. In recognition of the success of the Fund, The ALBORADA Trust awarded additional funding to Cambridge-Africa for the period 2026 to 2031, to support further engagement between Cambridge and Africa on a long-term basis. We seek to recruit a dedicated Coordinator, based in the Department of Pathology who will work closely with other members of the Team and be involved in cross cutting Cambridge-Africa activities. We particularly welcome candidates from a BME background.

Key responsibilities include:

• Updating the call documentation, launching the online call and disseminating the competitive Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund call for proposals
• Using existing databases and local knowledge / contacts to match African researchers to Cambridge colleagues
• Reviewing submitted applications and performing quality control checks. Preparing documents and arranging meetings for the award assessment panel
• Communicating effectively with: Cambridge-Africa team; Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund Panel; Cambridge and African co-applicants about the outcome of award applications and ongoing progress of the award activities; colleagues in Research Operations Office regarding various aspects of the awards
• Dealing with queries from applicants and awardees
• Supporting researchers to make arrangements for two-way travel between Cambridge and Africa and engage with awardees throughout and beyond the duration of funding
• Monitoring and evaluation of awards, including writing case studies about awards/awardees
• Assisting with the writing of blogs based on the awards.
• Financial monitoring of awards
• Contributing to the wider activities of the Cambridge-Africa Programme, including event organisation
• Managing and keeping up to date the Cambridge-Africa website and social media engagement
• Problem solving

Applicants should have a graduate degree or equivalent qualification.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 2 years in the first instance.

Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a health assessment.

Please quote reference PP51537 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

Further information can be found www.vet.cam.ac.uk

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.