Senior Specialist - Seed System and Product Management

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger through rice science; improving the health and welfare of rice farmers and consumers; and protecting the rice-growing environment for future generations. IRRI is an independent, nonprofit, research and educational institute, founded in 1960 by the Ford and Rockefeller foundations with support from the Philippine government. The institute, headquartered in Los Baños, Philippines, has offices in 17 rice-growing countries in Asia and Africa, and over 1,000 staff.

Our work aims to improve the health and livelihoods of rice farmers and consumers, promote environmental sustainability in the context of climate change, and empower women and youth in the rice sector. IRRI’s research-for-development approach is rooted in collaboration with advanced research institutions, national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES), governments, the development sector, and the private sector to ensure scientific innovations are translated into real-world impact.

Working with in-country partners, IRRI develops advanced rice varieties that yield more grain and better withstand pests and disease as well as flooding, drought, and other harmful effects of climate change.

The IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) serves as a regional hub supporting collaborative research, capacity building, and service provision for stakeholders from India, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. ISARC aims to enhance South-South cooperation, strengthen rice production and seed quality, increase farmers’ incomes, deliver research services through its advanced laboratory facilities, and facilitate knowledge transfer through short courses and IRRI Education offerings.

The World Bank-supported UPAGREES project aims to enhance agricultural productivity, strengthen rural enterprises, and improve market access in 21 districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh by promoting resilient agri-food value chains, empowering farmers and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), and encouraging private sector participation. As part of this initiative, the IRRI South Asia Regional Center (ISARC) will collaborate with the Uttar Pradesh Diversified Agriculture Support Project (UPDASP) and its Project Coordination Unit (PCU) to provide technical support for interventions in rice-based systems, while a designated Support Organization (SO) will coordinate on-ground implementation, including demonstrations and trainings.

Under the minimal guidance and supervision of Scientist II, the selected candidate will lead and manage research activities focused varietal evaluation, deployment, demonstrations, relevant data collection, seed intelligence gathering, and research documentation. The position requires extensive field travel and stakeholder outreach and close coordination with UP Government and UP Seed Corporation. The other critical workincludes inputs for donor reporting, preparation of research articles, proposal development, and coordination with stakeholders for program design and implementation. The role will also contribute to building strategic partnerships to accelerate seed systems—engaging public and private agencies, as well as community-based seed networks. The position requires strong research management skills, stakeholder engagement, and an understanding of seed system dynamics.

• Supporting the SSPM unit through research data management, high-end data analytics, research insights, and high-level documentation of impact, process, and research approaches.
• Strengthen and maintain effective coordination with donors, implementing partners, and support agencies, ensuring alignment on project priorities, expectations, and delivery requirements.
• Providing data-centric technical contribution, and fact-based inputs in formulating project proposals, developing an implementation plan, and tracking progress of projects.
• Lead the development of project progress reports in accordance with donor and stakeholder requirements, ensuring accuracy, clarity, and strategic relevance of all submitted deliverables.
• Data accuracy management and contribution to journal publications, policy papers, impact cases, portals, and other platforms.
• Lead the development and strengthening of partnerships with key stakeholders including State Departments of Agriculture, State Seed Corporations, Seed Certification Agencies, NARS, SAUs, implementing NGO partners, farming communities, and women’s collectives.
• Close engagement with agriculture and rural development departments around technology delivery and varietal promotion, seed enterprise, and promotion in specific. 
• Coordinate research with NARES/Govt. and Non-Govt. extension agencies for germplasm selection, evaluation, varietal dissemination.
• Manage partners, facilitators, enumerators for executing surveys, FGDs, and various research-oriented interventions.
• Engage with knowledge agencies, training institutions, and experts for stakeholder capacity building and strengthening partnership.
• Monitor and manage field technical staff for strengthening outreach programs, monitoring, evaluation, action research, and experiments.
• Lead the overall planning and execution of seasonal activities, including seed sourcing, partnership coordination, and implementation oversight to ensure timely, high-quality delivery of project interventions.
• Strongly tracking the project progress in terms of quality, numbers, documentation and impact notes, be the focal for SSPM for internal and external forums.
• Coordinate cross-project collaborations on shared mandates by working closely with cross-functional leaders to ensure effective monitoring, reporting, and scientific interpretation of activities through high-quality research documentation.
• Design and facilitate capacity-building programs for internal teams, extension agents, seed dealers, community-based organizations, women’s groups, and research professionals from partner institutes and agencies.
• Developing periodic project reports, research papers and preparing other associated documentation required by external and internal stakeholders.
• Provide strategic oversight of data systems, ensuring effective collection, consolidation, management, and use of research and program data to support evidence-based decision-making.
• Systematic knowledge generation and interpretation of research findings to guide on best formulation for rapid upscaling rice technologies.
• Provide ongoing technical support and handholding to field teams and partner organizations to ensure effective implementation of research interventions aligned with project goals.
• Document key project achievements for internal learning and external sharing, including impact assessments, success stories, and most significant change narratives.

• A master’s degree in agriculture/Rural Management/agribusiness management.
• Minimum of 5 years work experience in farm technology transfer is desirable.
• Experience in seed system research and evaluation and implementing technology dissemination models in rice-based food systems is also desirable.

• Has extensive work experience in documentation, data management, and research publication in the field of technology dissimilation, such as seeds and varieties.
• Proven experience in monitoring and evaluation, results reporting, data utilization for program decision-making and knowledge management.
• Experience in advanced data collection tools like Kobo.
• Proficiency in using databases and statistical software is a strong plus (eg
  R, STATA, supporting AI tools etc).
• Persuasive communication skills (oral and written)

Allowances

In addition to the base salary mentioned above, IRRI also offers the following allowances:

• House-Rent Allowance: IRRI provides a house rent allowance of 40% of base pay per month.
• Transport Allowance: A monthly transport allowance of INR 10,000.
• Dearness Allowance: One Hundred and Thirteen percent (113%) of employee’s base pay.
• Leave Travel Allowance (LTA): One-month base pay per annum, on availing minimum 2 days of vacation leave.
• Education Allowance: INR 1000/- per child per month (limited 2 children).

IRRI offers a highly extensive employee benefits package inclusive of globally-covered medical insurance, retirement plan, life and accident insurance and other allowances.

Join our team and be part of our story!

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

This position will remain open until filled.