The organization

The Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT 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. 

About the program/lever

The Alliance’s Multifunctional Landscape Research Lever is seeking to hire a climate change specialist to lead the implementation of the research program on low emissions development and support implementation of food systems related projects across the tropics. The Alliance is working in cooperation with 10 CGIAR Centers and over 20 international and national partners to deliver scalable food systems innovations as an engine for development in the Global South. The Alliance teams directly support governments in Latin America, Asia and Africa in the development and implementation of nationally determined contributions to the UN Paris Agreement. The incumbent is expected to lead the Low Emissions Development research program, providing intellectual leadership within the Alliance and more broadly across the CGIAR. The candidate is also expected to lead fund raising initiatives and work with the team members to ensure sustainable financial support for the program. 

About the position

The Alliance is looking for a Senior Scientist who can lead within their own specialty and provide a vision for multidisciplinary teams on a wide range of topics related to low emissions development. This role will involve designing, implementing, and contributing to activities related to transparency and greenhouse gas accounting, deforestation free livelihood options, low emissions best practices, political economy, climate finance, institutional issues related to market and non-market mechanisms, and other topics related to national and international climate change issues. The incumbent will be responsible for overseeing projects from conception and design through to implementation, monitoring, and impact measuring, with the objective of deploying scalable solutions. The candidate is expected to play pivotal roles in building and sustaining partnerships and raising bilateral funds. The ideal candidate will also be able to carry out and supervise the piloting and validations of various decision support tools. In addition, the Senior Scientist will oversee the work of junior staff members. Overall, we are seeking a highly motivated and skilled candidate who can contribute to our mission of deploying innovative solutions for sustainable agriculture and landscape management.

Main responsibilities

·       Providing technical guidance on the design, planning, and execution of climate change and low emissions development related projects.

·       Lead in the assessment of GHG emissions and mitigation options from key agriculture (crop, livestock, pasture, etc.) value chains.

·       Design climate finance mechanisms to enhance low emissions of different sectors and de-risk corresponding investments.

·       Lead in the co-development and implementation of deforestation-free livelihood options that suit developing tropical countries.

·       Engaging with national and global partners in the development of GHG emission tracking and monitoring tools.

·       Contributing to the co-development of approaches that support countries in their national SDG, NDC, NBSAP reporting.

·       Take lead in the development of tools, methods, options, and strategies that enable countries compliance to the EUDR and other regulatory measures.

·       Identifying and map emission factors and mitigation hotspots for different sectors and suppliers and design a roadmap for net-zero emissions.

·       Leading scientific discussions with key stakeholders and partners to co-create landscape- to national-scale solutions for different contexts.

·       Fostering and sustaining relationships with donors, external stakeholders, and internal partners on project issues, providing leadership, monitoring progress, and ensuring stakeholder expectations are managed for project deliverables.

·       Take lead in the development of data tools and other visualizations for discovering data patterns to address key research questions and hypotheses.

·       Leading technical discussions with partners on problem understanding, research objectives, and predictive approaches to be used.

·       Developing, coordinating, and disseminating research products and knowledge assets globally in coordination with the lever team.

·       Providing technical guidance to project teams under their supervision and advising the research team on outcomes that feed into the wider knowledge base of the Alliance.

·       Leading and contributing to project proposal writing and bilateral fundraising.

·       Provide strategic support and guidance on defining entry points for research and development as well as in contributing and reporting to relevant national, regional, and global initiatives.

·       Mentor junior Alliance staff, PhD students and other partners to exercise their scientific excellence and develop in their careers.

·       Builds capacity of research teams in data- gathering, analysis and assessment of findings, utilizing new tools, approaches and frameworks.

·       Leading and contributing to the writing of peer-reviewed papers, technical notes, and project reports.

Requirements

Required qualification and experience:

• PhD in agroclimatology, climate, ecology, agriculture, forestry, political science, agricultural economics, soil science, or other related areas, with more than 6 years of demonstrated experience in the climate change and modelling area.
• Experience and ability in systems thinking, systems analysis and interdisciplinary skills.
• Proven capacity in research design, implementation, data collection and analysis, data visualization, and scientific writing, particularly in the use of different modeling and machine learning approaches.
• Proven track record as a research leader and manager in development and climate change, climate adaptation and mitigation related projects.
• Experience and record in fund raising and who will be prepared to raise funds for strategic projects and Initiatives.
• Proven experience and capacity in forging and maintaining partnerships associated with the research and development arena.
• Excellent communication skills in English, both written and spoken, including scientific communication and report writing (additional language proficiency including Spanish is a plus).
• Strong ability to lead, prioritize, and organize workload; take initiative and work under pressure.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively in a highly dynamic, interdisciplinary, and multicultural team.
• Proven publication record in peer-reviewed journals.

Terms of employment

This is an internationally recruited position and will be based at one of the Alliance main offices (Cali, Colombia; Nairobi, Kenya; Rome, Italy). The initial contract will be for two (2) years, subject to a probation period of six (6) months, and is renewable depending on performance and availability of resources. 

This position is graded at BG11 level, with a minimum basic salary of USD89,885.00 per annum, 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. 

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 RFP 103938-Senior Scientist – Low Emission Development as the position applied for. Cover letter and CV should be saved as one document using the candidate’s last name, first name for ease of sorting. The Alliance collects and process personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws. 

Applications closing date: Friday, 4th October 2024

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