Seed Systems Development-Associate Manager

Key skills

Seed systems Researc

Delivery research

Extension research

Leadership

Additional/Preferred Skills

Leadership

team leader

writing skills

Preferred Qualifications

MSC

Seed science

Dev Economics

Extension

Breeding

agronomy

Associate Manager - Seed Systems Development

ICRISAT seeks applications from dynamic Indian nationals for “Associate Manager - Seed Systems Development” under the supervision of Seed Systems Lead.  The incumbent will work around, strengthening seed systems through the science of delivery, promoting rural innovations, partnership and liaising, monitoring and evaluation of seed systems’ development apart from developing strategic collaboration with the seed systems stakeholders and conduct extension research, conceptualize, design strategies to scale the adoption of improved. The incumbent will report to Principal Scientist I - Seed Systems and Scaling, under Seed Systems in Accelerated Crop Improvement program.

ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square kilometers of land in 55 countries, the semi- arid or dryland tropics has over 2 billion people and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor. ICRISAT and its partners help empower these disadvantaged populations to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through better agricultural production systems.

ICRISAT is headquartered at Patancheru near Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs and eight country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. ICRISAT envisions a prosperous, food-secure and resilient dryland tropics. Its mission is to reduce poverty, hunger, malnutrition and environmental degradation in the dryland tropics. ICRISAT conducts research on its mandate crops of chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet in the arid and semi-arid tropics. The Institute focuses its work on the drylands and in protecting the environment. Tropical dryland areas are usually seen as resource-poor and perennially beset by shocks such as drought, thereby trapping dryland communities in poverty and hunger and making them dependent on external aid. Please visit – www.icrisat.org

Duties and Responsibilities:

§Monitor and manage the strategic collaboration around seed systems and extension research by conceptualizing, designing, executing collaborative research to improve seed demand and develop effective mechanisms and partnerships for seed scaling
§Promote innovation models in extension and seed systems, identify gender- and market-responsive seed systems interventions and extension approaches for enhancing livelihoods, including demonstration of new varieties to generate demand and capacity building of local institutions
§Recommend and promote approaches for promoting seed entrepreneurship amongst women and youth and their collectives
§Design, manage and monitor research activities including necessary protocols, research tools, data collection, analysis and interpretation
§Consult and collaborate with NARES/ Govt and non-Govt extension agencies, and private sector partners for strengthening seed systems and extension research and new approaches in seed and delivery systems
§Provide leadership for the implementation and growth of a high-impact research on seed systems on dryland crops
§Support the capacity development of ICRISAT’s partners in the region, including seed companies, extension programs, and national agricultural research centers, in themes related to dryland seed systems development
§Work closely with partners, facilitators, enumerators for executing surveys and various research-oriented interventions
§Collaborate with NGOs, Community based institutions, women’s groups for developing effective and context specific seed systems that are gender-responsive
§Engage with knowledge agencies, training institutions and experts for stakeholder capacity building and strengthening partnerships in seed sector
§Monitor and manage field technical staff for strengthening outreach programs, monitoring, evaluation, action research and experiments
§Writing quality reports, technical literature and research articles for publication
§Contribute to the development of concept notes and projects for funding

Essential Qualification

• At least 5-6 years of relevant experience with a Masters in Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Extension, Development Economics, Agronomy, Plant breeding.
• Strong quantitative research skills and experience
• Track record of publications in high-level peer-reviewed journals
• A high degree of personal organization and ability to work under pressure
• Ability to work with different nationalities and disciplines as a member of a diverse work team
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English

General:

This is a contractual role for a period of 36 months (3 years).

How to apply:

Applicants should apply on or before 17 May 2023, with their latest Resume, and the names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable about their professional qualifications and work experience. All applications will be acknowledged; however only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

ICRISAT is an equal opportunity employer