Background

The Copperbelt University is a Public University established through an Act of Parliament No. 19 of 1987. The University’s core business is Teaching, Research, Innovation, Industrialisation and Community Engagement as a service to the nation. The University is an equal opportunity employer and hereby invites applications from suitably qualified and experienced candidates for appointment to fill in the following support staff positions:

Job Purpose

To build a portfolio of funded research projects in the University, contribute to the overall faculty research productivity, and assist in generating research funds. Working as part of the research support team of the Directorate for Research and Innovation. The Research Development Officer’s role will span identification of research funding opportunities, proposal development, proposal submission, and tracking of the submission up to contract award.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Identifies key donor agencies funding research in the range of disciplines within his or her assigned School/Institute and maintains an up-to-date database of each donor agency’s areas of focus, policies, and requirements;
• Ensures that CBU is duly registered with the key donors as necessary;
• Takes the lead role in Faculty fundraising to support research activities;
• Searches for calls for proposals and other research funding opportunities and disseminates information to appropriate faculty routinely;
• Encourages and supports faculty members and faculty teams to develop research proposals;
• Takes the lead role in organizing training programmes that provide faculty members with the necessary capacity for producing winning proposals, such as proposal writing training and project budgeting.
• Coordinates proposal writing and submission within the School/Institute;
• Ensures that each proposal emanating from the School/Institute is of high quality, follows CBU’s laid down procedures, and responds to the target donor’s requirements;
• Keeps a record of all proposals submitted and numbers successful;
• Ensures that the information is captured in the central CBU research database;
• Compiles lessons learned and best practices and disseminates them widely to faculty members;
• Maintains contact with donors and tracks submissions until the contract is awarded;
• Prepares and submits regular half-yearly reports on proposal submissions to the Director – Directorate of Research and Innovations and the Dean of the School/Director of the Institute; and
• Performs any other duties as may be assigned by the Supervisor.

Required Competencies and Behavioral Attributes:

• Full Grade 12 or Form V Certificate with Five (5) ‘O’ level Credits or better, including English and Mathematics;
• Master’s Degree/ Master of Philosophy in a relevant discipline;
• A PhD in a relevant discipline is an added advantage.
• Minimum of Five (5) years of relevant work experience; a good track record of successful grant and technical writing; Strong computer literacy is essential, including working knowledge of statistical packages; Familiarity with donor agencies/donor procedures will be a clear advantage.
• Must possess immense management skills to competently plan, formulate, and control a number of corporate financial management systems in liaison with superior and other heads and advise on such matters as promotions, procurement, and disciplinary, except on such matters that require extensive consultation; and
• Fully registered and paid-up member of the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA).

Reporting Relationships:

• Immediate Supervisor: Director – Directorate of Research and Innovations.
• Salary Scale: PSS02

• Identifies key donor agencies funding research in the range of disciplines within his or her assigned School/Institute and maintains an up-to-date database of each donor agency’s areas of focus, policies, and requirements;
• Ensures that CBU is duly registered with the key donors as necessary;
• Takes the lead role in Faculty fundraising to support research activities;
• Searches for calls for proposals and other research funding opportunities and disseminates information to appropriate faculty routinely;
• Encourages and supports faculty members and faculty teams to develop research proposals;
• Takes the lead role in organizing training programmes that provide faculty members with the necessary capacity for producing winning proposals, such as proposal writing training and project budgeting.
• Coordinates proposal writing and submission within the School/Institute;
• Ensures that each proposal emanating from the School/Institute is of high quality, follows CBU’s laid down procedures, and responds to the target donor’s requirements;
• Keeps a record of all proposals submitted and numbers successful;
• Ensures that the information is captured in the central CBU research database;
• Compiles lessons learned and best practices and disseminates them widely to faculty members;
• Maintains contact with donors and tracks submissions until the contract is awarded;
• Prepares and submits regular half-yearly reports on proposal submissions to the Director – Directorate of Research and Innovations and the Dean of the School/Director of the Institute; and
• Performs any other duties as may be assigned by the Supervisor.

• Strong computer literacy is essential, including working knowledge of statistical packages
• Familiarity with donor agencies/donor procedures will be a clear advantage
• Immense management skills to competently plan, formulate, and control a number of corporate financial management systems in liaison with superior and other heads and advise on such matters as promotions, procurement, and disciplinary, except on such matters that require extensive consultation

• Full Grade 12 or Form V Certificate with Five (5) ‘O’ level Credits or better, including English and Mathematics
• Master’s Degree/ Master of Philosophy in a relevant discipline
• A PhD in a relevant discipline is an added advantage
• Fully registered and paid-up member of the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA)