Senior Research Associate - Agriculture Value Chain Transformation

Reference Number: RFP300506

The Alliance of Bioversity International (www.bioversityinternational.org) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) (www.ciat.cgiar.org) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crisis of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.

Position Summary

The Alliance is seeking to recruit a qualified and competent Senior Research Associate based in Arusha Office. The Senior Research Associate will be responsible for planning, coordinating, accompanying and the roll-out of different stakeholder engagements, sustainable farming and related research activities.

Min Duties and Responsibilities:

• With experience and/or knowledge of climate adaptation and regenerative agriculture options will guide the project team in championing interventions that will increase productivity and enhance climate change resilience and landscape sustainability in a gender equitable and inclusive manner.
• Support the adaptive capacity of the SMES and the landscape partners among them smallholder farmers in light of the evolving climate risks through improving productivity, enhancing soil and landscape health.
• Support SMES design market strategies for adopting climate adaptation inputs and practices, including crop diversification, climate smart and conservation/regenerative agriculture through the project established multi-stakeholder Innovation Platforms.
• Build and co-ordinate ongoing public and private sector support to climate-resilient smallholder production, value chain co-ordination and market access.
• Guide all landscape resilience interventions including capacity building of SMEs, farmers and relevant institutions, development of value chains and promotion of climate smart innovations in close collaboration with existing Government and other partners.
• Support program planning and co-ordinate implementation working with other project team members
• Represent CIAT in dialogues relating to Growing Together Tanzania
• Support SMEs develop value chain-based CSA packages, deploy and monitor their implementation in the project selected regions.
• Support development of capacity strengthening of the SMEs and smallholder farmers on scaling up climate resilient/regenerative agricultural production and diversification through increased access to climate resilient inputs, practices, and markets.
• Upgrading data collection sharing platforms and protocols for knowledge management on climate resilient agricultural systems
• Participate in sector convening dialogues on sustainable production, CSA, Regenerative Agriculture to share knowledge and best practice from the project
• Liaise closely with the procurement specialist, gender specialist, agronomists, seed experts, markets experts to ensure smooth implementation of all project activities.
• Produce quarterly reports on project performance and deliver

Requirements

Education: An Advanced /Master’s degree in Agriculture, Agricultural Economics, Climate Change, Environmental Sciences or other closely related field.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of implementing agricultural value chain transformation and climate smart agriculture projects.
• Experience with climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector.
• Experience working with diverse partners among them private sector (such as offtakers/traders, processors etc), government institutions, NGOs and local farming communities;
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and analytical skills;
• Demonstrated understanding of issues related to gender and Climate Change Adaptation, sustainable agriculture
• Experience in working with multi-disciplinary teams
• Experience in quantitative and qualitative data analysis and report writing is an added advantage
• Good understanding of national and state government priorities, policies and planning process in climate change in Tanzania
• Project life cycle experiences will be considered an asset.

Benefits

Terms of Employment: This position 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 graded at BG07, with a minimum basic salary of 3,929,704.00 Tanzania Shillings level 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.

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 REF: (RFP300506) Senior Research Associate- Agriculture Value Chain Transformation- Arusha, Tanzania as the position applied for.

The Alliance does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing, or training). The Alliance also does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts. Cover letter and CV should be saved as one document using the candidate’s last name, or first name for ease of sorting. The Alliance collects and process personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Applications Closing Date: 13th May 2025

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

We invite you to learn more about us at: http://alliancebioversityciat.org