Senior Research Associate (Locally Recruited Staff)

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT®, is a non-profit, international public research-for-development organization. CIMMYT addresses challenges encountered by low-income farmers in the developing world including food and nutritional insecurity, environmental degradation, economic development, population growth and climate change in collaboration with partners in over 100 countries. Please refer to our website for more information: www.cimmyt.org.

CIMMYT is seeking an experienced professional to be a part of Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems (SI-MFS), a One CGIAR global initiative that aims to provide equitable and gender-transformative approaches to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers who engage in mixed farming systems across six countries, including Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Laos PDR, Bangladesh, and Nepal. For more information: Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems - CGIAR

Position title: Senior Research Associate

Reference No: B22224

Duty station: Dhaka, Bangladesh

Major duties and responsibilities

• Work with senior staff to facilitate general coordination and cross-initiative synergistic activities implemented in SI-MFS in particular:
• Aid in conducting and organizing partners to conduct, in collaboration with partners and farmers, on-farm tests and trials for SI options in Bangladesh and Nepal.
• Collect empirical data and conduct descriptive analyses on the performance from on-farm tested SI options in Bangladesh and Nepal.
• Organize and document focus group discussions with farmers and on-the-ground partners for the identification and evaluation of SI options in Bangladesh and Nepal.
• Coordinate and follow up collaborative agreements within Bangladesh and Nepal partners for the implementation of SI options with farming communities.
• Assist the SI-MFS team in organization of meetings with internally and externally with stakeholders, including management of relationships with key governmental and private sector partners.
• Take lead responsibility in assuring that fieldwork and/or analytical techniques are developed in compliance with established quality standards (e.g. appropriate frequency and quality of data collection).
• Supervise field activities and assist in budgeting of activities as assigned and report abnormal situations that arise in the development of the project assigned.
• Take a leading responsibility as a member of the team to develop periodic reports and tables that allow the program scientists to track their projects.
• Take lead responsibility to carry out special investigations as assigned by the supervisor/project lead.
• Coach other staff members on data acquisition, analysis, interpretation, and curation
• 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.
• With the support of field office and SI-MFS staff ensure the maintenance and archiving of data records, enter data into electronic databases, and maintain proper data archiving and back-up systems.
• Review publications for their inclusion into the database and collect information on the agricultural sector, to prepare articles and economic reports.
• Participate in the publication of research results through annual reports, presentations, and publications.
• Assist in writing papers for international scientific journal standards.
• Participate in special projects with other research institutions and international organizations.
• Take a coordinating role in liaising with other research institutions and international organizations (incl. visits of other CIMMYT and/or SI-MFS field trials and/or research fields of collaborators).
• 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 project lead).
• Any other assignment as instructed by your supervisor.

Required academic qualifications, skills and attitudes:
Academic requirements:

• Masters’ degree in biological sciences, agronomy, agricultural economics, or relevant social sciences of agriculturally related discipline.
• Additional experience or degrees related to project coordination and management are desireable

Specific experience/skills:

• Experience working in rural Bangladesh and ideally in Nepal
• Systems Agronomy, field experiments, and livestock
• Understanding of crop-livestock modeling and systems analysis
• Advanced knowledge of relevant research protocols and advanced research methods.
• Data analysis
• Demonstrated research project coordination experience at senior levels
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.

Preferred qualifications / skills:

• At least 5 years of professional research and senior research coordination work experience in agricultural research projects.
• Advanced managerial competence.
• Comfortable mixing research and managerial and partnership activtieis.
• Ability to work with a leadership team consisting of multiple CGIAR institutions other than CIMMYT
• Demonstrated record of contribution to peer-reviewed publications.
• Requires conceptual knowledge of theories, practices, and procedures within agricultural and farming systems research science.
• Demonstrated ability to write, publish, and disseminate technical reports.
• 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.
• Ability to identify and finalize solutions to field problems (seeds, soil and water management, integrated pest management, farm machinery, nutrient management, post-harvest operations). 

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; the 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 must motivate and provide leadership.

Information Technology skills:

• Proficiency to use standard software at an advanced level; may include some use of database or research applications.
• Demonstrated experience with data visualization tools.
• Proficiency in computer programming and/or statistical computing (e.g. Python, R, STATA, MATLAB) is desirable.
• Understanding of online and project management tools is a bonus.

Preferred Competences:

• Critical thinking
• Creative thinking
• Teamwork
• Team leadership
• Self-motivated

Physical Demand & Work environment:

• This position may require sitting for long periods of time and/or physical fieldwork under challenging conditions.
• Travel of up to 50% time is also anticipated as is significant international travel

The position is for Bangladesh Nationals for an initial fixed-term contract of 1-year subject to completion of probationary period as per policy, after which further employment is subject to performance and the continued availability of funds. CIMMYT will provide a nationally competitive salary and benefits that include comprehensive health and life insurance, paid vacation, contributions to a retirement plan, and a range of other benefits as required by Bangladesh law.

CIMMYT is an equal opportunity employer. It fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equality, teamwork, and respect for diversity. Women are encouraged to apply.