Senior Research Associate Arusha

The Organization

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people's lives. The Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation (https://alliancebioversityciat.org/ )

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.

The Alliance is a member of the CGIAR Consortium (www.cgiar.org) a global research partnership for a food-secure future.

The Position Summary

The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT is seeking to recruit a Senior Research Associate. The Senior Research Associate will be based in Arusha, Tanzania and will have the following responsibilities:

Duties and responsibilities

• Support the project coordinator to oversee and monitor the execution of various experiments, protocols activities in the project and adhere to   rigorous scientific standards for research.
  
• Work collaboratively with the rest of the project team to develop a deep understanding of the best ways to accelerate adoption of OPV crop cultivars.
  
• Support gender mainstreaming within the ABC projects and lead and carry out fieldwork in rural communities, traders for gender focused qualitative (i.e., intra-household) research and in relation to the variety turnover and evaluation with stakeholders and project partners.
  
• Support development of digital tools to guide decisions regarding accelerating adoption of new cultivars and increasing varietal turnover by farmers, policy makers, and those in the bean, sorghum and groundnut value chains.
  
• Strengthen and support external partnerships for scientific research with a number of colleagues and professionals from various disciplines.
  
• Contribute to the design and coordination of data collection from on station and on-farm trials and project beneficiaries using digital tools and support quantitative and qualitative analysis using statistical software.
  
• Support fostering a strong network and coordination with NARES partners, private entities, seed corporations and other key seed stakeholders and engage them for scale up pathways for high-potential digital innovations and cultivars.
  
• Contribute to project technical reporting (quarterly/ annual donor technical and trips) and publication of research results in peer-reviewed journals.
  
• Perform other tasks as assigned as a member of Pan African Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) team.
  
  
  

  Requirements

  • MSc degree in agricultural science (agricultural economics/Agribusiness, Agriculture etc.), Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, social science or related field with an understanding of seed systems and strengthening partnerships for delivery of agricultural programs in developing countries.
    
  • Have excellent social skills in building contacts of trust with key persons in rural communities such as traders, community leaders, farmers and processors etc.
    
  • Have experience with qualitative and quantitative data analysis and management using tools such as SPSS/STATA or R and familiar with digital tools and innovations in agriculture.
    
  • Experience working on digital farmer services and knowledge of digital tools and communication platforms.
    
  • Experience working with National Agriculture Research Systems (NARES) and smallholder farmers is a plus.
    
  • Working experience around in social science, technology transfer, development research, rural development.
    
  • Knowledge of human-centered design, design thinking and scalable digital agriculture tools is a plus.
    
  • Excellent/proven English writing skills. Other languages (e.g., Kiswahili and local languages) would be a plus.
    
    

    Terms of employment:
    

    This is a nationally recruited position based in Arusha, Tanzania. The initial contract will be for one(1) year, subject to a probation period of Three (3) months and is renewable depending on performance and availability of resources. This position is currently graded at level BG07 (on a scale of 14 levels, BG 014 being the highest level).
    

     
    

    The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT offers a multicultural, collegial research environment with competitive salary and excellent benefits. We believe that the diversity of our staff contributes to excellence. The Alliance is an equal-opportunity employer and strives for staff diversity in gender and nationality.
    

     
    

    Applications