A leading institution in Kenya’s higher education and research ecosystem is inviting applications for senior academic and technology leadership positions within the School of Computing and Engineering Sciences and its advanced research centre, @iLabAfrica. These vacancies present an opportunity for experienced professionals in academia, data engineering, software development, and data science to contribute to institutional growth, digital transformation, research excellence, and student-centred innovation.
The institution continues to expand its footprint in computing, engineering, artificial intelligence, data infrastructure, and applied research. In line with its strategic plan, it seeks accomplished leaders and technical experts to strengthen curriculum delivery, research output, data architecture, software systems, and AI model development.
The available positions are:
- Associate Deans – School of Computing and Engineering Sciences
- Senior Data Engineer – @iLabAfrica
- Senior Software Engineer – @iLabAfrica
- Senior Data Scientist – @iLabAfrica
All roles close on 27th February 2026.
This advert is tailored for candidates seeking senior-level academic leadership jobs in Kenya, senior data engineering jobs in Nairobi, AI and data science leadership roles, and advanced software engineering careers in research environments.
Associate Deans – School of Computing and Engineering Sciences
Role Overview
The Associate Deans will provide vision, leadership, and strategic direction within the School of Computing and Engineering Sciences. The role is responsible for advancing academic excellence, strengthening research output, improving student experience, and ensuring high-quality curriculum delivery aligned with industry and global standards.
The office bearer will support the Dean in operational leadership, governance oversight, faculty coordination, academic planning, and strategic execution of the school’s objectives.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership and Vision
• Provide strategic direction aligned with the institution’s academic and research priorities.
• Translate the school’s strategic objectives into measurable academic and operational plans.
• Drive innovation in computing and engineering education to respond to evolving technological trends.
• Promote interdisciplinary collaboration across departments and research centres.
Academic Governance and Curriculum Oversight
• Oversee curriculum review, development, and accreditation processes within computing and engineering disciplines.
• Ensure quality assurance mechanisms are embedded in academic delivery and assessment practices.
• Strengthen teaching standards and enhance learning methodologies across undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
• Monitor academic performance metrics and implement corrective action plans where required.
Research and Innovation Leadership
• Champion research growth in computing, engineering sciences, and emerging technologies.
• Facilitate research grant mobilization and cross-sector partnerships.
• Support faculty research productivity, publication outputs, and innovation initiatives.
• Encourage commercialization and translation of research into industry-relevant solutions.
Faculty Management and Development
• Support recruitment, mentorship, and professional development of academic staff.
• Foster a culture of academic excellence, collaboration, and accountability.
• Provide leadership in performance management and academic workload planning.
Student Experience and Engagement
• Ensure enhanced student experience through high-quality curriculum delivery.
• Support student mentorship, academic advising, and research supervision frameworks.
• Promote experiential learning, industry placements, and innovation labs.
Stakeholder Engagement
• Strengthen relationships with industry partners, regulators, professional bodies, and research collaborators.
• Represent the school in institutional committees and external engagements.
Impact of the Role
The Associate Deans will play a pivotal role in positioning the School of Computing and Engineering Sciences as a centre of excellence in digital innovation, engineering research, and applied technology education in Kenya and the region.
Senior Data Engineer – @iLabAfrica
Role Overview
The Senior Data Engineer will design, build, and maintain robust data infrastructure and scalable data pipelines that support research, analytics, AI model training, and institutional decision-making. The role will focus on data architecture optimization, integration of heterogeneous data sources, and ensuring high availability, performance, and data governance standards.
Key Responsibilities
Data Architecture Design
• Design scalable, secure, and resilient data infrastructure frameworks.
• Develop enterprise-grade data warehousing and lakehouse architectures.
• Establish best practices for data modelling, schema design, and metadata management.
Data Pipeline Development
• Build and maintain ETL/ELT pipelines for structured and unstructured datasets.
• Implement real-time and batch processing frameworks.
• Optimize pipeline performance to handle high-volume data ingestion and transformation.
Infrastructure and Cloud Integration
• Deploy and manage cloud-based data platforms.
• Integrate APIs, external data sources, and distributed systems into centralized repositories.
• Ensure infrastructure reliability, monitoring, and automated failover mechanisms.
Data Quality and Governance
• Implement validation frameworks and quality assurance controls.
• Establish access controls, encryption protocols, and compliance measures.
• Develop monitoring dashboards for pipeline health and performance tracking.
Collaboration with Data Science and Engineering Teams
• Partner with data scientists to support model training pipelines.
• Provide infrastructure support for benchmarking, experimentation, and deployment.
• Collaborate with software engineers to integrate data services into applications.
Impact of the Role
The Senior Data Engineer will provide the backbone infrastructure that powers advanced analytics, AI experimentation, research benchmarking, and enterprise-level reporting within @iLabAfrica.
Senior Software Engineer – @iLabAfrica
Role Overview
The Senior Software Engineer will design, build, and operationalize software infrastructure to support research, AI systems, and digital platforms. This role will lead full-stack development and system integration of backend services, APIs, and data pipelines.
Key Responsibilities
System Architecture and Design
• Architect scalable, maintainable, and secure software systems.
• Design modular backend services and microservices frameworks.
• Define API standards and system integration protocols.
Full-Stack Development
• Lead backend development for data-driven platforms.
• Support front-end integrations where required to ensure seamless user experiences.
• Implement secure authentication and authorization mechanisms.
Infrastructure and DevOps
• Automate deployment pipelines using CI/CD frameworks.
• Implement containerization and orchestration solutions.
• Monitor system performance and ensure high availability.
Integration and Interoperability
• Integrate AI models and data pipelines into production systems.
• Develop APIs for internal and external consumption.
• Ensure compatibility with cloud-native environments and research platforms.
Technical Leadership
• Provide mentorship to junior developers.
• Enforce coding standards, version control best practices, and documentation protocols.
• Conduct code reviews and system performance audits.
Impact of the Role
The Senior Software Engineer will be instrumental in operationalizing research outputs into scalable digital solutions, strengthening institutional technology platforms and applied AI systems.
Senior Data Scientist – @iLabAfrica
Role Overview
The Senior Data Scientist will lead advanced data science workstreams focused on AI model development, benchmarking, safety testing, and applied analytics. The role requires expertise in model design, validation frameworks, experimentation, and deployment strategies in research-driven environments.
Key Responsibilities
AI Model Development
• Lead the development of machine learning and AI models across research domains.
• Implement model training pipelines and hyperparameter optimization strategies.
• Develop explainability and interpretability frameworks.
Benchmarking and Evaluation
• Design benchmarking methodologies for AI systems.
• Conduct comparative performance analysis across models and datasets.
• Implement safety testing and risk assessment protocols.
Applied Analytics
• Translate research questions into analytical frameworks.
• Perform advanced statistical modelling and predictive analytics.
• Generate actionable insights to inform policy, research, and operational decisions.
Research Leadership
• Publish research outputs and contribute to academic dissemination.
• Guide experimental design and validation studies.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including data engineers and software engineers.
Ethics and Responsible AI
• Integrate fairness, bias detection, and ethical safeguards into AI workflows.
• Establish model governance documentation and reproducibility standards.
Impact of the Role
The Senior Data Scientist will drive AI innovation, strengthen research credibility, and ensure that advanced analytics initiatives are safe, reproducible, and aligned with global best practices.
Application Information
All positions close on 27th February 2026.
These roles are suitable for professionals seeking:
• Senior academic leadership jobs in computing and engineering in Kenya
• Senior data engineer positions in Nairobi research institutions
• Senior software engineering careers in AI-driven environments
• Senior data scientist leadership roles in applied AI research
Interested candidates should submit their applications through the official institutional recruitment portal before the stated deadline.
