Reports to: Egypt Country Program Manager

Location: IFPRI Egypt, Cairo

Main purpose of position

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) situated at ICARDA, Egypt seeks a Senior Research Assistant who will work with senior research staff in evaluating programs and policies, with a focus on the impact of digital innovations and other research support activities related to IFPRI’s work in the Middle East and North Africa region. Applicants for this position may also be considered for other comparable positions at IFPRI Egypt. The incumbent will be employed directly by IFPRI’s organizational host in Egypt, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Area (ICARDA).

The employer of record will be ICARDA and employment policies, compensation and benefits of ICARDA will apply to this position.

About ICARDA

ICARDA works in partnership with governments, universities, civil society, national agricultural research organization, other CGIAR Research Centers, and the private sector. With its temporary Headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, ICARDA operates in regional and country offices across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. For more information: www.icarda.org

About IFPRI

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. Established in 1975, IFPRI currently has more than 500 employees working in over 70 countries and works with a wide range of partners. It is a research center of CGIAR, the world’s largest agricultural innovation network. For more information: www.ifpri.org.

All CGIAR Centers are currently engaged into a reform process (“One CGIAR’”) that will help ICARDA and CGIAR achieve better impact through more strategically integrated research, unified governance, an integrated structure, and new research modalities across participating Research Centers. This transformation is supported by CGIAR donors who have committed to increased funding as a result of these reforms.

Main responsibilities

·       Contribute with development of research instruments and analytical tools.

·       Contribute to handling household survey data (including survey design, sampling & questionnaire).

·       Contribute with field survey activities (training survey enumerators, field supervision of surveys).

·       Contribute with minimum supervision, in survey data processing, cleaning.

·       Contribute with data analysis, statistical analysis, econometric analysis.

·       Assisting in conducting literature reviews & synthesis.

·       Assist in preparing large datasets for public access.

·       Assist with responses for internal/external data requests.

·       Collect, analyze, and synthesize information about scientific issues and report on conclusions reached.

·       Respond to external and internal inquiries for technical information; may be asked to liaise with external agencies and internal staff.

·       Contribute to publications and prepare presentation materials.

·       Contribute to editing scientific papers, proposals, etc.

·       Prepare moderately complex Stata .do files with support.

·       Draft report sections describing research results.

·       Draft IRB and pre-registration protocols.

·       Participate actively in research team discussions on evaluation design, proposal preparation, survey firm selection, and extracting policy lessons from research results.

·       Assist in organizing capacity building and outreach activities.

Requirements

Education, qualifications, and experience

·       Master’s degree or its equivalent in Economics, Agricultural Economics, Environmental Economics, or closely related fields.

·       At least 3 years’ relevant experience.

·       Experience with organizing and analyzing large databases.

·       Advanced knowledge of STATA and demonstrated ability to perform in-depth statistical analysis.

·       Excellent knowledge of microeconomic theory and quantitative econometric methods.

·       Excellent analytical mind and drafting skills.

·       Excellent interpersonal skills and to work in a team-oriented multi-cultural environment.

·       Demonstrated ability to multi-task as needed, consistently meet deadlines, and manage time well.

·       Demonstrated professional level of attention to detail and accuracy of work.

·       Ability to work independently and with initiative.

·       Willingness to travel within Egypt and internationally.

·       Demonstrated fluency in written and spoken English & Arabic.

Additional Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with capacity building activities
• Field experience in collecting quantitative and/or qualitative household data.
• Knowledge of GAMS and/or ARC GIS.
• Skills in Python coding or any familiarity with using satellite imagery.
• Familiarity with impact evaluations and/or computable general equilibrium modelling.
• Familiarity with the literature on (climate-smart) agriculture, water resource management, food security and nutrition.

Benefits

Terms of appointment, salary, and benefits

This is a nationally recruited position open to Egyptian nationals for which ICARDA offers an attractive compensation package including a competitive salary, medical insurance, 30 days of annual leave, five months’ maternity leave, 15 days’ paternity leave. The successful candidate will be offered an initial contract of 1 year, renewable subject to continued need for the position and satisfactory performance. The first six months will be probationary period.

ICARDA is committed to increasing women representation in its workforce and strongly encourages applications from women.

Applications will be acknowledged, but we apologize in advance as due to the large number of applications only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.