Engineering Advisor- Consultant Co-designing digital public services for interoperability of agrifood traceability solutions

This is a remote position.

About the Consultancy
While the number of traceability solutions on the market is steadily rising, data incompatibilities unfortunately often mean that the various systems are unable to exchange data. Digital solutions are barely interoperable. As a result, both producer organizations and downstream actors in the supply chain have to collect, store and convert data repeatedly - requiring greater effort and making the process more susceptible to errors.

Digital standards for product traceability along supply chains could significantly improve efficiency and facilitate information exchange within supply chains. Such standards would serve as a basis for data exchange and reliable documentation of corporate due diligence obligations. Interoperability of traceability systems from producer to consumer would therefore benefit all actors along the supply chain, providing a way to tackle issues such as transparency, avoiding deforestation or ensuring living incomes for farmers. Digital solutions supporting sustainable practices in agrifood systems have seen a surge in investment and innovation in recent years, and this is driving a proliferation of siloed data and data services, digital methods of verifying on-farm practices, and new digital marketplaces. These efforts will remain fragmented unless greater progress is made on interoperable data and technology standards. Achieving interoperability across systems will be a critical step towards realizing the potential of these technologies for enabling regulatory compliance at scale in a way that is broad-based and inclusive of a diversity of farmers and farming systems. Digital public infrastructure can plan a key role in achieving this.

The Alliance of Bioversity-CIAT is seeking a consultant to lead the engineering aspects of codesigning a public service or Digital Public Infrastructure supporting traceability solutions, with a particular focus on coffee and cacao. The ideal candidate should be experienced in leading complex multi-stakeholder technology and infrastructure projects.


Location:
Remotely, but with availability to travel to internationally for one or more stakeholder workshops.

Requirements Responsibilities:
The consultant will contribute to:
Co-designing: Following a \"trust framework--\" approach, the consultant will help develop a consensus plan on architecture, standards, governance, and operating model for a public service/digital public infrastructure to enable interoperable traceability of agricultural commodities in one country, with a special focus on cacao and coffee;
Iterating: The consultant will advise one or more pilots or proofs of concept leveraging the service to put interoperable traceability standards into practice, with a view toward enabling compliance with policies and regulations intended to foster trust, transparency, and traceability in agrifood supply chains. Integrating open science--data, analytics, metrics, and evidence--into public-interest services enabling traceability.


Key Responsibilities
The consultant:
Guide stakeholder consultations with public, private, and research stakeholders to develop a \"trust framework--\" for a digital public service in one country.

Prepare proposed draft architecture, operating model, and standards for implementing the digital public service in accordance with the consensus \"trust framework--\" in one country.

Key requirements and experience:
Master's degree plus at least 15 years' professional experience in a related field.
Global Team Experience: Demonstrated ability to effectively work as part of global teams, fostering collaboration and productivity across time zones.
Track Record for Driving Action: Strong evidence from prior experiences for being able to mobilize people to make the jump from analysis to action.
Stakeholder Engagement: Proven track record of successfully engaging and building relationships with diverse stakeholders, from commercial partners to non-profit organizations.
User-Centric Mindset: An understanding of user needs and a commitment to designing and maintaining a tools and approaches that serves those needs effectively.
Problem-Solving Skills: The ability to identify and address challenges proactively, finding creative solutions to complex problems.
Strategic thinking: Demonstrated strategic thinking and planning skills with the ability to set and guide the achievement of long-term objectives. Passionate and curious about following the latest developments in deforestation free supply chains regulations.
Adaptability: Flexibility and adaptability to navigate the evolving landscape of climate resilience and public engagement.

Benefits

Terms of the Consultancy
This consultancy is a short-term consultancy. The Alliance Bioversity-CIAT is committed to fair, safe, and inclusive workplaces. We believe that diversity powers our innovation, contributes to our excellence, and is critical for our mission. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects our global character is a priority. We encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability statuses, sexual orientations, marital status, and gender identities. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.


Applications

Applications must be submitted via email and include the subject \"Engineering Advisor- Consultant, Digital Public Infrastructures for Traceability.--\" CVs should be saved as one document using the format \"Last Name_first Name--\" for ease of sorting.
Applications should be submitted by Email Only to: b.king@cgiar.org
The Alliance collects and process personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
Applications closing date: 02 February 2024
Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.