Ethics & Review Committee Officer – Research Administration

About the role

The Ethics & Review Committee Officer will support Mount Kenya University’s Institutional Review Board by managing ethical review processes, ensuring regulatory compliance, and facilitating communication between researchers and the committee.

Key responsibilities

• Serve as Secretary to the MKU‑ISERC: prepare agendas, record minutes, and follow up on resolutions.
• Receive, register, log and acknowledge all research proposals and ethical review applications.
• Conduct completeness and compliance checks, verifying NACOSTI licensing requirements.
• Issue, track and file all ERC correspondence, including approvals, conditional approvals, rejections and appeal outcomes.
• Monitor post‑approval compliance by tracking progress reports, adverse event notifications and close‑out reports.
• Maintain and regularly update the institutional researcher database and submit quarterly and annual reports to NACOSTI.
• Support capacity‑building activities for ISERC members, reviewers, researchers and staff on ethics and compliance.
• Prepare and submit mandatory institutional reports to NACOSTI, including the annual financial year report.
• Assist in developing, reviewing and maintaining ERC SOPs, policies and ethical review frameworks.
• Uphold confidentiality, traceability and conflict‑of‑interest safeguards in all ERC operations.

Required profile

• Master’s degree in Bioethics, Public Health, Social Sciences, Biological Sciences, Law or a related discipline.
• Minimum three (3) years of experience in research administration, regulatory affairs or a research‑related field.
• Ability to report to the Director of Research & Development and work under the ISERC Chairperson.

Required skills