The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT, is a not-for-profit research and training organization with partners in over 100 countries, focused on increasing food security and reducing poverty at an international scale.
We are seeking for a dynamic, and self-motivated professional with excellent organizational and people skills for the position of Senior Research Associate in CIMMYT.
The position will be based in Bihar/ Assam/ Odisha, India.
Specific duties:
Work with senior staff to facilitate the research and partnership activities implemented in TAFSSA’s Work Package 2 on ‘Transforming agroecosystems and rural economies to boost income, generate jobs, and support diversified food production within environmental boundaries’.
Lead efforts to develop, propose, and implement complex research techniques at the cropping-system level, and through a network of researcher-led strategic research platforms established as long-term experiments and farmer-led, on-farm adaptive experiments managed as innovation systems ‘hubs’ in TAFSSA’s research locations.
Aid in explore field- and landscape-scale crop and animal farm diversification options supporting multiple benefits, including potential nutritional yield (the number of adults equivalents who could source at least 100% of their recommended dietary intakes for macro- and micro-nutrients for one year from the crops grown on one hectare of farmland), across environmental and socioeconomic gradients of rice-based farming systems.
Supplement datasets from prior projects, with multicriteria analysis employed to assess economic performance, environmental sustainability, and nutritional yield.
Collaborate with simulation modelers to identify pathways toward multi-objective optimization farm management, including improved livestock feeding options that reduce GHGs and minimize trade-offs between economic performance, environmental sustainability, and nutritional yield. under current and future climate scenarios.
Lead efforts coordinating research teams in the design, the research, and the implementation of techniques for modeling the environmental sustainability and resilience of food systems in South Asia.
Take lead responsibility in assuring that analytical techniques and/or fieldwork are developed in compliance with established quality standards.
Perform statistical analysis of the information collected on ecological boundaries and footprints and lead the development of a database to present the results achieved by the project, under the supervisor’s guidance.
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.
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.
Participate in the publication of research results through annual reports, presentations, and publications.
Participate in special projects with other research institutions and international organizations.
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.
Visit and supervise other CIMMYT field work programs and/or field programs of collaborators.
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 project lead).
Required qualification, skills, and attitudes:
Masters’ degree in agronomy, soil science, systems analysis in agriculture, ecology, or another related field.
Advanced knowledge of relevant administrative and operating protocols and policies required for research associates.
Demonstrated experience with agriculture-nutrition linkages is beneficial.
Specialized knowledge of environmental systems (esp. water, nitrogen, carbon cycles, live cycle analysis and/or environmental foot printing) and their interactions with agricultural systems
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 and remote sensing is a benefit.
Familiarity with crop modelling and 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.
Information Technology needed: Proficiency to use standard software at an advanced level; knowledge of R and potentially Python for data analysis.
The selected candidate must exhibit the following competencies: Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Critical and Creative Thinking, Team Leadership, Communication and Team Work.
