The African Centre for Cities (ACC) at the University of Cape Town invite applications for three full time Research Officers or Senior Research Officers for an 18-month period (January 2026 – June 2027). We are looking for candidates to work as part of the African Mayoral Leadership Initiative (AMALI) Data Programme team (see amalicities.africa for more details), located within the ACC.
ACC was established in 2007 at the University of Cape Town as an urban research institute. The ACC is based in the School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, but is interdisciplinary in scope, drawing on expertise on urban issues from across the university. AMALI, located within ACC, focuses on supporting African Mayors in their legacy goals and involves in-depth and ongoing technical and skills support over the course of a calendar year. The AMALI Data Programme specifically focuses on supporting Mayors from African Cities; their executive and data teams in the collection, analysis, and use of data necessary for effective decision making and reporting at a city-scale.
The AMALI Data Programme Research Officers / Senior Research Officers will work with a portfolio of cities, engaging with data experts and city leadership to deliver coaching and capacity building to ensure better collection and analysis of data, which in turn will support the success of city leaderships’ visions for their cities. These positions will therefore also support the management and utilization of data into routine city governance processes. To achieve this, these positions will work to assess the current data capabilities of city teams, scope specific activities focused on improving skills and guiding each city through the implementation of a chosen data initiative, provide ongoing support to city teams to help improve outcomes, regularly evaluate city progress and track impact, and conduct research/analysis to then write up and present findings. This work will involve extensive travel each year to selected cities across Africa.
