Senior Research Associate – Agricultural Economist and Agrifood Systems Forecast Specialist

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT®, is a not-for-profit agricultural research and training organization with partners in over 100 countries. Please refer to our website for more information: www.cimmyt.org

CIMMYT is seeking an experienced professional to support the “Building food system resilience to global supply chain and climate shocks in Nepal’ Activity. This Activity will be implemented as part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) to deliver a rapid and coordinated response to the effects of global supply chain distortions and their implications for smallholder farming households and poor consumers in Nepal.

This position will work under ‘Objective I. Strengthening partners’ ability to respond to agrifood systems crises improved through data-driven insights and strategic guidance’. The outputs of this Objective will provide stakeholders with a solid evidence-base assessing potential agricultural productivity at a seasonal time-step, economic, and national food security consequences of ongoing price volatility on Nepal’s agricultural economy on smallholder farmers and poor consumers.

Position title: Senior Research Associate – Agricultural Economist and Agrifood Systems Forecast Specialist

Reference No: N22265

Duty station: Kathmandu, Nepal

Major duties and responsibilities

• Lead efforts coordinating research teams in the design, research, and implementation of techniques for modeling the environmental sustainability and resilience of food systems in Nepal.
• Take lead responsibility in assuring that analytical techniques and/or fieldwork are developed in compliance with established quality standards.
• Perform research and statistical analysis of the information on agrifood systems in Nepal into a database to present the results achieved by the project under the supervisor’s guidance. 
• Collect and curate secondary data, process data, and work with food systems and food security modeling teams to analyze and produce monthly situation reports on the state of Nepal’s agrifood systems
• Coach other staff members on data acquisition, analysis, interpretation, and curation
• Assist in writing papers for international scientific journal standards.
• Supervise field activities as assigned and report abnormal situations that arise in the development of the project assigned.
• Take lead responsibility to carry out special investigations as assigned by the supervisor/project lead.
• Review publications for their inclusion in the database and collect information on the agricultural sector to prepare articles and research reports.
• Participate in the publication of research results through annual reports, presentations, and publications.
• Strongly contribute to the training and updating of knowledge and research techniques to the rest of the staff working in the unit and keep updated on new research techniques or processes.
• Take a leading role in conducting field surveys and interviews with farmers and other stakeholders, and analyze this information for inclusion in CIMMYT publications.
• Coordinate efforts to raise awareness about project activities, products, and outcomes among stakeholders, partners, policymakers, and the general public.
• Assisting in monitoring and evaluation and reporting efforts by providing quality input and reports in a timely manner (as indicated by the project lead and supervisor).

Required academic qualifications, skills and attitudes:

• Masters’ or PhD degree in agricultural economics, agricultural development, modelling, spatial econometrics, quantitative social sciences, or another related field. 
• Advanced knowledge of relevant administrative and operating protocols and policies required for research on agrifood systems
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate with and support national research partners, including at high levels of government
• Strong quantitative skills, with specialization and experience in assembling and analyzing secondary data
• Food systems modelling experience is a benefit
• Medium to advanced managerial competence. 
• At least 8 years of professional work experience in research and research for development projects.
• Requires conceptual knowledge of theories, practices, and procedures within environmental sustainability of food systems, including working with large spatial datasets.
• Familiarity with GIS is a benefit
• Familiarity with gridded spatial modelling is a benefit
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Demonstrated ability to write, publish, and disseminate technical reports, success stories, and promotional materials.
• Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional, and multi-cultural environment.
• Complexity of thinking needed: Work is complex and technical in scope. 
  • Regularly requires a combination of mental abilities such as probing, analysis, careful judgment, flexible and original thinking, and creativity.
  • Involves the application of concepts from environmental sciences and agriculture 
  • Understand the linkages with other disciplines. Create multi-disciplinary projects and initiatives.
  • Ability to identify and finalize solutions to field problems (soil, water management, farm machinery, nutrient management, food transport, and processing).
  • Chooses options and solutions for complex problems.
• Interpersonal skills:
  • Frequent contact with people other than immediate colleagues and with external entities.
  • Ability to communicate and relate effectively, internally and externally is important.
  • Purpose is to share information, and secure the cooperation and commitment of individuals, large project teams, or external institutions.
  • In addition to effective communication, the jobholder has to motivate and provide leadership.
• Information Technology needed: Proficiency to use standard software at an advanced level; knowledge of R and potentially Python for data analysis.

Candidates must go through the link below and submit the application with detailed information no later than February 18th, 2023.

https://cimmytrecruitment.wufoo.com/forms/n22265-senior-research-associate/

Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.