Job Description

Scientist I

Multifunctional
Landscape

The Organization

The Alliance of
Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
(CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity
and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions
address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss,
and environmental degradation.

With novel
partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to
transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive
prosperity, and nourish people.

The Alliance is
part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.

About
the position

The main objective of the position is to
provide scientific and technical leadership for the design, development,
scaling and application of a portfolio of decision-support tools that support
sustainable land-use planning across multifunctional tropical landscapes,
including conservation, tree-based restoration, cacao and coffee agroforestry
systems, timber plantations, silvopastoral systems and native food plant
production. The position will generate scientific evidence, guide tool
development and implementation, and foster strategic partnerships to support
restoration and sustainable development initiatives across Latin America and
other tropical regions globally.

The
position will be based at the Alliance's Americas Hub, located on the Palmira
campus in Colombia, and will require periodic travel across Latin America to
support the implementation of project activities and engagement with key
partners and stakeholders. Non-Colombians relocating will
receive an IRS contract.

Requirements

Key
Responsibilities

  • Proposes, plans
    and executes the back-end development, enhancement, integration and scaling of
    the D4R (Diversity for Restoration), D4A (Diversity for Agroforestry) and C4R
    (Conservation for Restoration) decision-support platforms, ensuring their
    scientific robustness and applicability across Latin America (Colombia, Peru
    and Ecuador), Central America, Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda) and Asia
    (India, Vietnam and Laos).

  • Provide
    scientific and technical leadership for the development, improvement and
    scaling of decision-support tools for silvopastoral systems and timber
    plantations, supporting sustainable land-use planning and restoration
    initiatives in Latin America.

  • Implements and
    provides technical guidance to the development and application of
    decision-support tools for edible plant species selection within the Vision for
    Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) initiative, ensuring their adaptation and
    deployment across diverse agroecological contexts in Latin America, Africa and
    Asia.

  • Supervise and
    oversight of ecological, agronomic and ethnobiological data collection
    strategies, species suitability assessments, seed zone modelling approaches and
    functional trait analyses required to strengthen the scientific foundation of
    decision-support tools.

  • Direct the development,
    validation and continuous enhancement of carbon sequestration, ecosystem
    service and economic forecasting models, ensuring alignment with scientific
    standards, organizational priorities and stakeholder needs.

  • Provide technical leadership and
    coordination between scientific teams, software developers and external
    collaborators to ensure the effective integration, functionality and continuous
    improvement of digital decision-support platforms.

  • Proposes, plans and executes field
    validation activities, pilot testing processes and applied research studies to
    assess the performance and scalability of decision-support tools across
    multiple landscapes and production systems.

  • Develop and implement
    capacity-strengthening strategies, technical guidance materials and stakeholder
    engagement activities to support the adoption and effective use of
    decision-support tools by researchers, practitioners, development agencies and
    policymakers.

  • Contribute to the preparation of
    scientific publications, technical reports and knowledge products that
    disseminate research findings and advance the evidence base for restoration,
    agroforestry and sustainable land-use planning.

  • Establish and maintain
    collaborative relationships with research institutions, government agencies,
    development organizations, donors and international networks to support project
    implementation and knowledge exchange. Contribute to the identification of
    funding opportunities and the development of research proposals related to
    decision-support tools, restoration

  • and sustainable land-use initiatives.

  • Ensures scientific quality,
    compliance with research protocols, and delivery of project outputs.

Qualifications
and requirements

  • PhD in
    fields related to Agricultural Sciences, Ecology, Biology or related fields.

  • Minimum of
    5 years of experience in scientific research and program management in tropical
    agriculture, tropical forest restoration or related fields.

  • Demonstrated
    specialized experience in at least one of the following areas: management of
    agroecological systems, restoration of degraded lands; tropical (agro)
    biodiversity conservation

  • Strong
    record of scientific publications in indexed journals, experience presenting
    results to a range of stakeholders, and demonstrated ability to translate
    scientific evidence into strategic inputs for policy and decision-making.

  • Proven
    experience working with key stakeholders to identify pragmatic tailor-made
    scenarios for plantation co-design.

  • Experience working in Latin America and small holder production systems
    across the tropics.

Competences

  • Scientific and Technical Leadership.

  • Ability to provide technical guidance,
    drive scientific excellence and influence research direction within
    multidisciplinary teams.

  • Strategic Thinking.

  • Collaboration and Partnership
    Building.

  • Communication and Knowledge Sharing.

  • Innovation and Problem
    Solving:Capacity to develop innovative approaches and address complex
    scientific, technical and operational challenges.

  • Project Planning and Execution.

  • Influencing and Stakeholder
    Engagement.

Benefits

Terms
Of Employment

Non-Colombians relocating will
receive an IRS contract.

​

The position level is BG09,
on a scale of 14 levels, with level 14 being the highest . The salary
range will be established in accordance with the regional/country standards.
The contract will be for a period of one (1) year, subject to a probationary
period, and is renewable subject to performance, project needs and availability
of funds.

At Impactpool we do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.
Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify. Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.