SENIOR PROGRAMME OFFICER PUBLICATIONS & DISSEMINATION PROGRAMME

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) invites applications from suitably qualified African scholars to fill the vacant position of Senior Programme Officer in the Publications and Dissemination (PDP) Programme at its pan-African Secretariat located in Dakar, Senegal. This position falls within the senior staff of the Council and as such is filled on the basis of an international recruitment process. The successful candidate will work with a team of  senior members of the Secretariat under the overall supervision of the Executive Secretary of the Council. The ideal candidate would be an established African scholar who combines a robust experience in academic publishing with a solid training in the social sciences and/or humanities.

The CODESRIA PDP Programme  has, over the last four decades, undergone considerable expansion, earning its place as a leading Africa-based multilingual scholarly publisher with over 500 books and monographs, peer-reviewed scholarly journals and periodicals, and several award-winning titles on its lists. The position of SPO (Publications) has been upgraded from the previous position of Director of publications in cognizance of growing demands and responsibilities expected of the position. The candidate to be considered for the position will be expected to consolidate the gains made to-date as well as scaling programme activities to new frontiers, especially regarding electronic publication and dissemination of the Council’s publications in digital contexts. More information about CODESRIA and its Publications and Dissemination Programme can be obtained from the Council’s website: www.codesria.org

RESPONSIBILITIES

Candidates wishing to apply for the position should note that this is a Programme Head position and the successful candidate has as their primary responsibility the provision of direct leadership in the intellectual and technical life of the Programme. This encompasses the day to day management and oversight of CODESRIA’s Publications process, including processing raw manuscripts through the peer review, production, publication and dissemination phases, managing partnerships with individuals and institutions the Council collaborates with in publishing and disseminating research outputs, and engaging external service providers that are critical to the Council’s publication processes including printing presses, translators, proof-readers, copyeditors, typesetters, indexers, and web administrators. The SPO (Publications) is also charged with ensuring effective control of the quality of publications and in safeguarding and defending the pan-African mandate CODESRIA’s PDP programme was established  and developed. In addition to their core responsibilities, the successful candidate will be called upon to perform the following functions:

1. Liaise with other Programmes in organizing academic writing workshops for early career academics across the continent.
2. Promote contacts with networks of researchers, professional associations and regional organizations.
3. Develop links and networks with Africa-based university presses and other publishing houses.
4. Prepare research and funding proposals on themes connected to their areas of expertise as may be requested by the Executive Secretary.
5. Represent the Council in regional, continental and global meetings as may be requested by the Executive Secretary.
6. Play a critical role in defining and implementing the objectives and targets of a dynamic PDP programme and realign the programme’s activities to the 2023-2027 strategic plan.
7. Lead communication processes about the Council’s publications on both digital and traditional platforms with a goal of (a) expanding and strengthening the online presence and impact of the CODESRIA brand and its publications and (b) keeping the African and broader international research communities informed about new CODESRIA publications.
8. Develop proposals for new publications and titles, doing so in collaboration with the other CODESRIA programmes or any other partners that the Council works with.
9. Promote innovative and cost-effective approaches to both traditional print and electronic publishing.
10. Liaise and work with authors, peer-reviewers, editors-in-chief of various journals, professional associations, researchers, publishing houses.
11. Coordinate translation, co-publication and reprint rights and permissions.
12. Initiate collaboration with other publishers and organizations and assess the scientific and financial viability of such collaborations, giving priority to African networks.
13. Play an active part in the realization of all the other aspects of the scientific mandate of the Council.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

Applicants must:

1. Be scholars in their own right possessing a PhD level university education, preferably in the Social Sciences or Humanities.
2. Have professional training or background in academic publishing and marketing. Two or more years of experience in an academic publication or editorial environment, accompanied with similar experience in a supervisory position will be desirable.
3. Have a distinguished record of publications in peer-reviewed journals.
4. Be conversant with evolving roles/applications of information technology in academic publishing.
5. Be conversant with open access and global, equitable, and inclusive scholarly communications ecosystem
6. Have adequate knowledge of publishing as a scholarly field.
7. Have good knowledge of CODESRIA and possess a demonstrable ability to mobilize and promote the work of African researchers.
8. Have first-hand knowledge of the African scholarly publishing environment.
9. Have proven experience of management in an academic environment.
10. Proven leadership and success in the management of projects of an academic nature, including leading teams, delegating responsibilities, and motivating others to engage in collaborative work to achieve shared goals.
11. Be experienced in fund-raising, resource management and the preparation of reports to funders.
12. Have a record of intellectual engagement with the challenges and opportunities in African and international scholarly publishing.
13. Be fluent in English or French and have good working knowledge of at least one of the other languages.

WORKING CONDITIONS

The position will be based at the Council’s secretariat in Dakar and will involve frequent work-related travel within the continent and outside. The salary offered will be competitive, based on the successful applicant’s experience and qualifications, and will be comparable to those of similar posts in other international organizations that apply the UN salary grill.

HOW TO APPLY

All applicants wishing to be considered for the position are required to supply the following documents:

1. Application letter.
2. A detailed CV describing the candidate’s academic and professional experience.
3. Three reference letters, two of which must come from people living in countries other than the applicant’s country of residence.
4. Four of the candidate’s recent publications, three of which must be single-authored.
5. Copies of relevant academic certificates.

All application materials must be submitted via the submission portal available at https://submission.codesria.org. An automatic confirmation will be generated upon successful uploading of the application. PLEASE NOTE THAT ONLY APPLICATIONS RECEIVED VIA THIS LINK WILL BE CONSIDERED. The Council will, however, accept reference letters that are emailed directly to: executive.secretary@codesria.org (emails with reference letters attached to them should have the words ‘CONFIDENTIAL REFERENCE’ written in the subject line).

It is CODESRIA’s policy to reflect the disciplinary, gender, generational and linguistic diversity of the African social science and humanities community in its structures. In this connection, female candidates and younger professionals meeting the qualifications set out are especially encouraged to submit their applications.

CLOSING DATE

All applications must be received by 15 May 2024. Any application received after this date will not be considered.