Hiring Research Data Platforms Specialist

The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) is a leading pan-African research organization working to improve livelihoods in Africa through scientific activities and effective partnerships. AfricaRice is a CGIAR research center. It is also an intergovernmental association comprising 28 African member countries, with its headquarters in Côte d’Ivoire. Position: Research Data Platforms Specialist Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire Published on: November 11, 2026 | 14 days remaining Grade: GSS Deadline: November 25, 2026 (GMT+0) Job Description The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) is recruiting a qualified Research Data Platforms Specialist to be based at the AfricaRice station in Mbé, near Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire. The incumbent will work under the supervision of the Data Science and AI Specialist. Position Objective The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) is a pan-African research-for-development organization that contributes to poverty reduction, food and nutritional security, and the improvement of livelihoods through rice-related science and innovation. AfricaRice generates and manages a wide range of research datasets, including those from agronomic trials, breeding and genomics, laboratory analyses, geospatial information, drone imagery, climate and soil data, socioeconomic surveys, monitoring and evaluation, and project implementation records. Currently, these datasets are produced and managed across various projects, programs, locations, databases, spreadsheets, repositories, and digital systems. This fragmentation can limit accessibility, interoperability, quality control, institutional reuse, long-term data preservation, and the timely use of data for research, decision-making, artificial intelligence, and innovation. The Data and Artificial Intelligence Unit is therefore strengthening AfricaRice’s institutional data ecosystem by developing integrated research data platforms, standardized data workflows, interoperable databases, data governance mechanisms, analytical tools, and data-sharing services. AfricaRice is seeking to recruit a Research Data Platform Specialist to support the design, development, deployment, integration, administration, and continuous improvement of digital platforms for managing research data throughout its entire lifecycle. The Research Data Platform Specialist will contribute to the design, development, maintenance, and enhancement of AfricaRice’s research data infrastructure. Key Responsibilities Under the supervision of the Data Science and AI Specialist, the tasks and responsibilities of the Research Data Platform Specialist will include the following key activities: • Designing and administering research data management platforms. • Implementing processes for data collection, transformation, and integration. • Ensuring data quality, consistency, and governance. • Developing dashboards and analytical tools. • Managing metadata and dataset documentation. • Creating user manuals, technical guides, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and video tutorials. • Facilitate training sessions on data submission, metadata preparation, data validation, platform usage, access management, and data retrieval. • Promote best practices for research data management within AfricaRice. • Ensure that risk management is taken into account when carrying out assigned tasks and responsibilities. Qualifications / Selection Criteria Required professional experience: A Master’s degree in computer science, information systems, data engineering, database management, research data management, or a closely related field. At least 3 to 5 years of relevant professional experience in the development of databases, data platforms, data engineering, or research information systems. Required skills: • Solid experience with relational database systems such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, or equivalent technologies. • Experience in database modeling, SQL programming, query optimization, and backup and recovery. • Knowledge of research data management and the research data lifecycle. • Familiarity with FAIR principles, open science, data repositories, metadata standards, and persistent identifiers.