The Alliance of Bioversity International 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.

The Alliance works with local, national and multinational partners across Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, and with the public and private sectors. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services.

Background

The Alliance with local and international partners is implementing a technical assistance project to apply cutting edge climate risk and adaptation analytics to increase private investment in agriculture adaptation through an accelerator and incubator program. Firstly, it will provide the tools and approaches to screen and prioritize investments based on their potential impact in adaptation, mitigation, and productivity. Secondly, it will develop technical assistance program to enhance agribusinesses capacity to sustainably receive the investments and produce the expected impact and returns. Thirdly, it aims to design a robust knowledge sharing infrastructure to collect data, to screen, manage and monitor impacts of these investments over time.

About the position

The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT is looking for a Research Associate with experience in implementing research projects in climate-smart agriculture and a deep understanding of agricultural practices for climate change adaptation and resilience. The Research Associate should be proficient in designing data collection tools for qualitative research and has strong analytical skills to evaluate the impact of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) investments.

Key duties & responsibilities

The Research Associate will coordinate the investment screening process and impact assessment of Agri-SMEs and provide technical assistance on CSA practices. More specifically, The Research Associate will:

Develop adaptation and resilience key performance indicators for the project.
Establish a CSA impact assessment methodology with a focus on adaptation and resilience.
Develop and design the survey questionnaires, interviews, and reporting framework according to the key performance indicators.
Conduct the pre-investment CSA impact screening and portfolio assessment for the Agri-SMEs cohort.
Build capacity of partners and other stakeholders on the CSA impact screening methodology.
Develop and deliver CSA capacity training packages customized for business models within the acceleration and incubation cohorts.
Recommend high-impact CSA practices to Agri-SMEs based on the impact analysis and risk assessment.
Provide tailored technical assistance for adoption and operationalization of recommended practices to the shortlisted Agri-SMEs to receive the follow-on support.
Contribute to the development of data infrastructure integrating agro-climatic and socio environmental dimensions, climate impact and climate risk analysis in the pipeline screening process and portfolio assessments.
Provide input and regular updates to project team about implementation status, action points from meetings workshops and any implementation challenges.

Requirements
Bachelor’s degree in agricultural or biological sciences, international development, agribusiness or related fields. Masters will be an added advantage.
Minimum of 4 years of relevant experience providing technical support to Scientists (including on proposal development).
Experience in research and data analysis projects.
Experience working on socio-environmental impact assessments of agricultural activities/investments.
Native English speaker, or fluent with idiomatic command of English, and demonstrably high verbal and written English skills. Fluency in French will be an added advantage.
Superior analysis and insight generation capacity.
Strong client service orientation.
Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to work effectively with other national and cultural backgrounds.
Excellent eye for detail, critical thinking, high standards of excellence, personal organization, prioritization and time management skills, flexibility, and the ability to deliver on agreed deadlines.
Ability to work with minimal supervision.

Terms of employment

This position is a nationally recruited position based in either Kenya or Rwanda. 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 graded at BG06, level, with a minimum basic salary of KES 168,837.00 /RWF 1,141, 364.00 , in a scale of BG01 to BG14 (BG14 being the highest level according to the Alliance job classification framework policy). We offer a competitive salary and excellent benefits including but not limited to insurance, retirement plan, staff training and development, paid time off and flexible working arrangements.

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.