The Organization
The Alliance of Bioversity International (www.bioversityinternational.org) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) (www.ciat.cgiar.org) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people's lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.
With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people in a climate crisis.
The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.
Scope of Work
The Alliance Climate Action Research Lever aims to identify robust and evidence-based analytical methods and pathways that draw on the best expertise in agricultural risk management and weather and climate risk and forecast assessment to develop investment blueprints for weather and climate services necessary for high impact investments in agricultural risk management. The work is carried out collaboratively with national and local stakeholders, and a holistic process and gender responsive methods will be used.
The Alliance seeks a creative, self-motivated, and results-oriented candidate for the position of Data Analytics Scientist (Postdoctoral Fellow) to work in the field of agricultural adaptation research, using econometric methods and other techniques to empirically assess adaptation measures for agriculture.
About the position
The successful candidate will focus on developing adaptation solutions in the fields of practice adoption and innovation, socio-economic analysis, and/or risk management to stabilize the crop production and livelihoods of smallholder farmers. This position will perform evaluations of adaptation measures with empirical or economic tools and support the design of innovative adaptation measures. She/he will employ spatial and predictive modeling techniques to conduct research; contribute to the development of climate data science capacity; support rigorous climate and agricultural risk assessments; engage relevant stakeholders at national and local levels. Furthermore, the successful candidate is expected to use GIS-mediated sampling frames for climate pilot zones; and develop spatial statistical analytics for biophysical and socio-economic information. The specific research focus of this position is to develop analytics to guide effective targeting of climate services interventions and develop investment blueprints.
Main responsibilities
- Develop and improve methodologies for assessing the suitability and effectiveness of adaptation strategies in agriculture, with a focus on West Africa (Senegal, mainly), using empirical and mainly quantitative research methods.
- Coordinate and contribute to the implementation of research projects through close collaboration with other researchers at the Alliance as well as the involved stakeholders in the target countries,
- Write and publish articles in peer-reviewed journals that highlight findings from the projects and present research findings at international conferences,
- Liaise and maintain communication with project donors, responding to information requests, preparing project progress reports and policy briefs,
- Support data collection, literature review and analysis, and the translation of scientific findings into policy recommendations for sustainable agriculture,
- Manage projects, develop new project proposals and apply for funding.
Requirements
Education and requirements
- A PhD in data science, applied statistics, climate science, agrometeorology, climate change or a related discipline.
- Substantial knowledge of climate risk management, weather and climate information services, climate-smart agriculture practices and the use of research to achieving development outcomes
- Advanced experience in coding in R and/or Python to develop solutions in the agricultural/environmental domain.
- Significant experience in applied statistics including data analysis and experimental design. Proficiency in geospatial modelling/statistics is a plus.
- Proven capacity in contributing to the documentation of scientific research.
- Excellent communication skills, able to interact with a multi-cultural and interdisciplinary team of scientists and development partners on ICT and statistics in lay terms.
- Experience communicating the results of analyses in scientific publication and with science and development audiences and government, public and private clients to influence their strategies.
- Ability to work both independently and in a team-oriented, collaborative, and decentralized environment, and operate under tight deadlines
- Excellent written and spoken English and French is a MUST.
Terms of employment
This position is internationally recruited and will be based in Dakar, Senegal. The initial contract will be for up to two (2) years, subject to a probation period of six (6) months, and is renewable depending on performance and availability of resources. This is a position at BG08 level, on a scale of 14 levels, with level 14 being the highest.
The Alliance Bioversity-CIAT offers a multicultural, collegial research environment with a competitive salary and excellent benefits. We are an equal opportunity employer, and strive for
gender, diversity and inclusion in our staff, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic.
Applications
Applicants are invited to visit https://alliancebioversityciat.org/careers to get full details of the position and to submit their applications. Applications MUST include reference number Ref: 103049 - Postdoctoral Fellow - Data Sciences as the position applied for. Application and CV should be saved as one document using the candidate's last name, first name for ease of sorting.
Note: The Alliance does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing or training). The Alliance also does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts.
Applications closing date: 26th May 2023
Please note that email applications will not be considered.
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
We invite you to learn more about us at:
http://alliancebioversityciat.org
- A PhD in data science, applied statistics, climate science, agrometeorology, climate change or a related discipline.