Database Specialist-BecA Temporary, Nairobi

Department: Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA)

Duration: Temporary position – 3 months

International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a database specialist within BecA-ILRI Hub for a 3 months position to allow data associated with the project to be stored and made available to researchers within BecA and collaborators in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Australia, and the USA. http://hub.africabiosciences.org

ILRI works to enhance the roles livestock play in pathways out of poverty in developing countries. ILRI is a member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Consortium, a global research partnership of 15 centres working with many partners for a food-secure future. ILRI has two main campuses in East Africa and other hubs in West and southern Africa and South and Southeast Asia. www.ilri.org .

The Centre's headquarters are located in Nairobi, Kenya, and research is conducted in 31 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We are supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and receive funding from over 50 different donors.

CGIAR is a global agricultural research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 research centres that are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. www.cgiar.org.

ILRI also manages the Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) Hub at ILRI, the centre for excellence in modern plant and animal biology in Africa. BecA is an initiative developed within the framework of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)/ African Union African Biosciences initiative. It consists of a Hub based on the ILRI campus in Nairobi, Kenya and a network of regional nodes and other affiliated laboratories and organizations throughout the region. The BecA Hub facilities are world class, including a range of molecular, plant transformation, and genomics laboratories and equipment (e.g. 454 and Illumina next generation sequencing, Biosafety level 3 laboratory, plant growth facilities). The Hub hosts and conducts research in crop, microbe and livestock areas where new developments in science offer promise to address previously intractable problems constraining Africa's development.

• Capacity building is a major goal of all activities. The scope covers agriculture and food security and their intersections with human health and nutrition, and the sustainable use of Africa's natural resources.
• Further information is available at
• http://hub.africabiosciences.org

BecA requires several databases containing data associated with the CAAREA project to be consolidated.

• The CAAREA project is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional project focused on the reduction of the impact of aflatoxin on east African consumers and farmers. Aflatoxin is a mycotoxin produced by various species of fungi which often infest maize pre- and post-harvest.

The project has two major components each producing different as well as similar sets of data. There are several databases associated with different types of data from field and laboratory components of the project which would better suit the needs of the team if they were more seamlessly integrated. The goal of the this work is to provide a single portal to allow collaborators to query and obtain reports from the different datasets joined by key fields, while still maintaining single versions that are well backed up. It is envisaged that an overarching data system be built to manage and secure these data sets with respect to confidentiality, integrity and availability.

Responsibilities

• Review existing datasets, workflows and investigate a suitable website to act as a gateway or house the databases on a single server.
• Provide the project team with a framework for the final database system.
• Build system, Overall data table construction, construct data dictionary and deploy and test database.
• Present system to project team for alpha testing.
• Present final product to research team.

Requirements

• Msc/BSc degrees in Information Systems, Database Management, Computer Science or related discipline.
• Significant (or > 2 years) experience in designing and using relational databases and relational databases servers (e.g. MySQL).
• Experience in software development an advantage.
• Knowledge and experience of Linux operative system is an advantage.
• Experience on the use of desktop programming languages (e.g., Visual Basic, Delphi) for the development of data-driven applications.
• Knowledge and experience of C++ or Java languages is an advantage.
• Experience in the design and development of applications for mobile devices (e.g., PDAs, Android) is desirable
• Ability to communicate effectively, work independently and work productively in a multidisciplinary, multicultural team;
• Strong English language skills, both written and spoken.

Terms of Appointment

• This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position for a period of three months.

Job level and salary

This position is job Grade 2C Level 2, with a starting gross salary of KES100,118 per month within ILRI's National Recruited Staff Scheme.

Location: The position will be based at the ILRI campus in Nairobi, Kenya.

How to Apply: Applicants should send a cover letter and CV explaining their interest in the position, what they can bring to the job and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate's professional qualifications and work experience to the Director, People and Organizational Development through our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com/ on or before 6th August 2014. The position title and reference number

• REF: DB/BecA/08/14 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the online application.

To find out more about ILRI and the BecA-ILRI Hub, visit our websites at http://www.ilri.org and http://hub.africabiosciences.org

ILRI is an equal opportunity employer.