Position Summary
The Content Management Officer (CMO) will oversee the day-to-day content, knowledge
organisation, digital resource management, and community-support activities for UbuntuNet
Alliance’s Open Pan-African Repository (OPAR) and its associated digital knowledge platforms,
including the OPAR Community of Practice (OPAR-COP) and the emerging e-textbook
programme.
The role involves repository coordination, digital content management, scholarly communication
support, community facilitation, and knowledge-platform administration. The officer will help
ensure that OPAR becomes a trusted continental platform that supports repository visibility,
metadata aggregation, open-access collaboration, institutional capacity building, and access to
African scholarly and educational resources.

Background
UbuntuNet Alliance is establishing OPAR as a Pan-African initiative to strengthen the visibility,
discoverability, accessibility, interoperability, and long-term sustainability of African scholarly
outputs and repository ecosystems. The initiative includes several interconnected components,
including:

1. The Open Pan-African Repository
2. The OPAR Community of Practice
3. Metadata aggregation and repository interoperability initiatives
4. Capacity-building and training programmes for librarians and repository managers
5. Open educational resource and e-textbook initiatives
6. Resource-sharing and collaborative knowledge platforms supporting universities and
   research institutions across Africa
   The CMO will play a central operational role in helping these activities function coherently and
   consistently.
   Key Responsibilities
7. OPAR Platform Content Coordination
   The CMO will oversee the day-to-day management of content published through OPAR-related
   digital platforms, including preparing, editing, reviewing, publishing, updating, and organising
   announcements, news items, training materials, repository guidance documents, implementation
   resources, case studies, community updates, and institutional support materials. The CMO
   should understand the importance of metadata quality, interoperability, controlled vocabularies,
   discoverability, and standardisation within repository ecosystems.

The CMO will ensure that all published content aligns with OPAR’s professional identity, visual
standards, and Pan-African mission. Content should remain accurate, current, accessible, and
relevant to repository managers, librarians, researchers, and institutional stakeholders.
The officer will maintain a structured publication schedule to ensure regular activity across the
platforms and prevent stagnation of the community environment.

2. Repository Resource and Knowledge Management
   The CMO will coordinate the organisation and maintenance of repository-related resources,
   including repository policy templates, metadata guidelines, OAI-PMH and interoperability
   documentation, repository governance resources, FAIR and CARE guidance materials, training
   presentations and exercises, implementation checklists, institutional self-assessment tools,
   technical support guides, frequently asked questions, and community-contributed resources The
   CMO will maintain logical folder structures, version control practices, metadata consistency,
   document descriptions, and naming conventions to ensure that resources remain discoverable and
   usable over time.
3. E-Textbook and Digital Learning Content Coordination
   The CMO will support the management and organisation of digital educational content
   associated with the e-textbook initiative, including coordinating educational materials,
   supporting content preparation workflows, organising author submissions, maintaining resource
   libraries, and helping ensure that educational resources are properly structured and accessible.
   The CMO will assist with organising metadata, categorisation, descriptive information, and
   content packaging for educational materials developed under the programme. The role may also
   involve coordinating communication with participating faculty members, institutions, reviewers,
   and project partners involved in the development and dissemination of digital educational
   resources.
4. Community of Practice Coordination and Engagement
   The CMO will support the operation and growth of the OPAR Community of Practice by
   facilitating communication, welcoming members, supporting discussions, responding to basic
   enquiries, directing members to relevant resources, and helping maintain an active and
   constructive community environment. The CMO will help identify recurring questions, emerging
   community needs, useful practices, and areas requiring additional guidance or resource
   development.
5. Training and Capacity-Building Support
   The CMO will support repository and digital knowledge management training programmes.
   Responsibilities will include preparing participant materials, organising training resources,
   supporting onboarding communication, coordinating access to learning materials, maintaining
   participant documentation, and assisting with post-training follow-up activities. The CMO will
6. help organise outputs generated during workshops and training activities, including completed
7. templates, institutional action plans, implementation guides, and participant feedback.

6. Editorial and Knowledge Packaging Functions
   The officer will transform technical, policy, and training materials into accessible community-
   facing resources suitable for librarians, repository administrators, institutional leaders,
   researchers, and development partners, including preparing guidance notes, resource summaries,
   practical checklists, FAQs, case studies, training highlights, community updates, implementation
   briefs and introductory guides.
   Desired Qualifications

The ideal candidate should possess at least a bachelor’s degree in Library and Information
Science, Information Management, Knowledge Management, Publishing, Digital Curation,
Communications, Education Technology, Information Systems, or a related discipline. A
master’s degree in a relevant field would be an added advantage, particularly in areas related to
digital repositories, scholarly communication, open science, digital libraries, records
management, or knowledge management.
Desired Experience: The candidate should demonstrate experience in at least some of the following areas

1. Managing digital content or online knowledge platforms
2. Supporting repositories or digital libraries
3. Organising learning resources or educational materials
4. Supporting scholarly communication or open access initiatives
5. Managing institutional or project documentation
6. Supporting online communities or communities of practice
7. Coordinating training or capacity-building programmes
8. Working with universities, libraries, or research institutions
9. Managing digital educational content or publishing workflows
   Experience working within African higher education, research, library, or digital knowledge
   ecosystems would be highly desirable.
   Required Skills and Competencies

The successful candidate should demonstrate:

1. Excellent written and verbal communication skills
2. Strong organisational and documentation skills
3. Ability to manage multiple streams of content simultaneously
4. Strong editorial and proofreading ability
5. Ability to structure and organise digital information logically
6. Ability to work independently with limited supervision
7. Good interpersonal and community-engagement skills
8. Comfort working with digital collaboration tools and online platforms
9. Familiarity with repository concepts such as metadata, interoperability, open access,
   institutional repositories, and scholarly communication.
   Languages
   Excellent written and spoken English is required. French and/or Portuguese would be a
   significant added advantage.

• Oversee the day-to-day management of content published through OPAR-related digital platforms, including preparing, editing, reviewing, publishing, updating, and organising announcements, news items, training materials, repository guidance documents, implementation resources, case studies, community updates, and institutional support materials.
• Ensure that all published content aligns with OPAR’s professional identity, visual standards, and Pan-African mission.
• Maintain a structured publication schedule to ensure regular activity across the platforms.
• Coordinate the organisation and maintenance of repository-related resources.
• Maintain logical folder structures, version control practices, metadata consistency, document descriptions, and naming conventions.
• Support the management and organisation of digital educational content associated with the e-textbook initiative.
• Assist with organising metadata, categorisation, descriptive information, and content packaging for educational materials.
• Support the operation and growth of the OPAR Community of Practice by facilitating communication, welcoming members, supporting discussions, responding to basic enquiries, and directing members to relevant resources.
• Support repository and digital knowledge management training programmes.
• Transform technical, policy, and training materials into accessible community-facing resources.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong organisational and documentation skills
• Ability to manage multiple streams of content simultaneously
• Strong editorial and proofreading ability
• Ability to structure and organise digital information logically
• Ability to work independently with limited supervision
• Good interpersonal and community-engagement skills
• Comfort working with digital collaboration tools and online platforms
• Familiarity with repository concepts such as metadata, interoperability, open access, institutional repositories, and scholarly communication.

• Bachelor’s degree in Library and Information Science, Information Management, Knowledge Management, Publishing, Digital Curation, Communications, Education Technology, Information Systems, or a related discipline.
• Master’s degree in a relevant field would be an added advantage, particularly in areas related to digital repositories, scholarly communication, open science, digital libraries, records management, or knowledge management.
• Experience in managing digital content or online knowledge platforms.
• Experience supporting repositories or digital libraries.
• Experience organising learning resources or educational materials.
• Experience supporting scholarly communication or open access initiatives.
• Experience managing institutional or project documentation.
• Experience supporting online communities or communities of practice.
• Experience coordinating training or capacity-building programmes.
• Experience working with universities, libraries, or research institutions.
• Experience managing digital educational content or publishing workflows.
• Experience working within African higher education, research, library, or digital knowledge ecosystems would be highly desirable.