Data Management & Open Access Officer

The International Potato Center (CIP) is seeking a highly-motivated individual for a newly-established position to lead and coordinate efforts oriented to research data management including assuring the quality of biological and social science data sets, assuring that these data sets and associated publications are openly accessible, as well as other types of information products produced in part or in whole by CIP-affiliated researchers and staff.

The Center: CIP (www.cipotato.org) is a not-for-profit international agricultural research-for-development organization with a focus on potato, sweetpotato, and Andean roots and tubers. Its vision is of roots and tubers improving the lives of the poor. CIP is dedicated to achieving food security, improved well-being, and gender equity for poor people in root and tuber farming and food systems of the developing world. CIP works with partners to contribute high quality science, technology, and capacity strengthening for sustainable science-based solutions. CIP is headquartered in Lima, Peru, with staff and activities in over 30 locations across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. CIP is a member of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, a network of 15 research centers mostly located in the developing world and supported by more than 50 donor members.

In 2013, all of the CGIAR Research Centers, including CIP, unanimously passed the CGIAR Open Access and Data Management Policy, which requires that all research outputs – including peer-reviewed scholarly publications and data sets – are free to access and free use by anyone, anywhere in the world, with minimal restrictions for re-use. By the end of 2015, CIP will have adopted a Publications Policy and a Data Management Policy, Guidelines, and Procedures; these resources, along with the CIP Open Access/Open Data Implementation Plan, detail how the organization intends to move forward to implement Open Access/Open Data.

The Position: The Data Management & Open Access Officer will provide technical guidance and support to researchers to implement Open Access, and Open Data in SSA. The position will also provide recommendations for facilitating the implementation and widespread adoption, which will require supporting significant organizational change efforts as well as improving systems and processes to make it as easy as possible for researchers to make their research openly-accessible according to the FAIR principles – i.e. findable, accessible, interoperable, and re-usable.

The emphasis of the position will be for Data Management for major CIP projects in the sub-Saharan African region. It is anticipated that capacity building and raising awareness will be key areas of focus for this position during the duration of the contract as CIP begins to embed Open Access and Open Data into the project lifecycle and other organizational processes such as M&E and individuals’ performance and evaluation.

This position will report to the Knowledge & Data Manager from Research Informatics Unit (RIU) and the Project Manager for the Sweetpotato Action for Security and Health in Africa (SASHA Project). This position will work closely with members of Communications and Publications (CPAD), the CIP Library, the CIP legal team and the Grants and Contracts units at CIP Headquarters and well as the SASHA Project Manager, the SASHA Senior Knowledge Management Specialist, the SASHA Communications officer, and other project managers and researchers in the region. In addition, this position will serve as a liaison to several CGIAR Knowledge Management, Open Access, and Open Data (KM/OA-OD) communities of practice and will work closely with other KM/OA-OD focal points on Cross-Center initiatives to support Open Access and Open Data.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Knowledge & Data Manager from Research Informatics Unit and CIP scientists to develop tools and support standardized protocols for data management (collection, curation, data quality, archiving & sharing);


• Support CIP projects to implement CIP’s Open Access and Open Data Plan following the CGIAR Open Access and Data Management Policy as well as CIP’s Open Data & Data Management Policy and Guidelines;


• Help bring about internal culture changes needed to foster a culture of knowledge and data sharing;


• Oversight and improvement of Data Open Access workflows and processes.


• Co-develop a comprehensive, practical and user-friendly suite of workflows and protocols that facilitate research data design, collection, cleaning, storage and sharing at CIP-SSA;


• Analyze data in order to identify and implement ways to improve potential usage and uptake of CIP research outputs;


• Designing and supervising creation of flexible and integrated data management systems for multi-disciplinary projects;


• Organize of training programs for CIP scientists and research support staff on data collection, curation, data quality, archiving & sharing;


• Monitoring the usage of curated CIP data sets by partners and others to their impact and to prioritize future efforts in data management;


• Work closely with a wide range of internal and external stakeholder groups to support Open Access/Open Data implementation in a participatory, inclusive, and consultative manner;


• Contribute to performance evaluations and identify succession planning and development of direct reports.

Selection criteria:

• Must be a Kenyan citizen;


• At least a Master’s Degree in Biology, Statistics, Computer Sciences, Information Science, Social Science, biometrics or informatics;


• At least 3 years of relevant experience working in the design and delivery of knowledge management, information management, or data management programs and services, including several years developing and executing strategic initiatives, preferably within a research organization or international NGO;


• Demonstrated background developing and implementing initiatives related to open access and/or open data preferred;


• Strong knowledge and experience with internal and external knowledge sharing and collaboration best practices, processes, and tools and systems;


• Broad understanding of data management issues including: data collection, data analysis, data integration, long-term data storage and preservation, data quality, and publicly disseminating data;


• Experience in quality assurance for research data;


• In-depth knowledge of and experience with data management and statistical analysis software;


• Experience with management and curation of biological and social science data;


• Experience with consulting, training and supporting users of informatics applications;


• Ability to work well as part of a multidisciplinary and decentralized team;


• Fluency in written and spoken English; excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills;


• Working knowledge of French and Portuguese preferred;

Conditions: The employment contract will be for a 18 month term (with three months’ probation period) with the possibility of renewal, subject to performance and availability of funds. CIP prides itself on its collegial and supportive working environment, which allows space for personal and professional growth.