Freelancer: Project Advisory Group Expert:Livelihoods needed at HSRC

Minimum Requirements

• Expertise in livelihoods and relational wellbeing, youth wellbeing, or youth studies
• Must have access to reliable, high-quality, and stable internet
• Must have access to remote conferencing facilities/software such as Zoom.
• Must be available to travel to attend a minimum of 3 research project conferences.
• A PhD in Social Sciences.
• At least 10 years’ research experience in a research environment.
• Exposure particularly to multi-stakeholder and/or multi-country research would be an advantage.
• Documented leadership experience.
• Availability to contribute to the programme over a 4-year period as a freelancer.
• A track-record of peer reviewed, accredited publications (at least 10 publications, with some first authored and some international).
• An understanding of research processes and activities.
• Fluency in English with excellent written and verbal communication
• Competency in computer programmes such as Word, OneDrive, Excel, PowerPoint, referencing software.
• Proactive with a problem-solving mindset, the ability to multi-task and with great attention to detail.
• Academic affiliation will be an advantage.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Support the Principal Investigators (PIs) and the thematic leads by providing guidance relating to the substantive aspects of the programme from theoretical, research design, and methodological perspectives.
• Provide comment and expert input reflective of their respective knowledge areas.
• Support the decision-making process on the selection of funded projects.
• Form the nucleus of the Community of Practice (CoP) and steer its development and activities.
• Provide guidance on priority areas and topics, including the development of new priority areas, recommended actions, or interventions to address priorities that encourage ambitious and innovative research.
• Advise on key project outputs towards more accessible and useful evidence for decision-makers in policy and practice.
• Mentor research PIs, if and where this might be required.
• Contribute to improving the potential uptake of the research findings by, for example, policy- and decision-makers and funders of youth-related programmes.
• Address any knowledge gaps as they might emerge through the research implementation.
• Act as an ambassador for the programme internationally.
• Attend and contribute to CoP events (a minimum of 3 per annum).
• Attend and contribute to CoP meetings (1 per annum).
• Attend and contribute to project conferences (3 over the course of the programme)