POSITION DESCRIPTION

POSITION TITLE: JDR 3^RD Research Team Coordinator

LOCATION:             Accepting applicants from Conakry or Faranah, Guinea; Dakar, Senegal; and Niamey, Niger

UNIT:                         AEMIP Grants Component

REPORTS TO:         Director of Winrock’s John D. Rockefeller 3^RD Scholars Program (based in US)

POSITION SUMMARY: 

Winrock International is seeking a consultant with a background in agricultural economics or another relevant discipline to develop and manage a policy research grant under Winrock’s USAID-funded Agriculture Education and Market Improvement Program (AEMIP). The research team will be located in Faranah, Guinea; the consultant will need to travel to Conakry and/or Faranah regularly. The consulting assignment will be 40% time for 15 months (a total of 135 days).

The AEMIP project intends to hold a grant competition and award one applied research grant using a model created by Winrock’s John D. Rockefeller 3^RD Scholars Program, a grant-making initiative that supports applied research on agriculture challenges facing rural communities. The grant will be for applied research on opportunities and business models to improve smallholder farming in the Faranah, Kindia and Mamou regions of Guinea. The goals of the research will be to assist the Ministry of Agriculture in making informed decisions on policies and programs to support smallholder farmers, and to equip the Institut Supérieur Agronomique Valéry Giscard d'Estaing de Faranah (ISAVF) with in-house capacity to conduct applied research on smallholder farming and deliver high quality analysis and evidence to the Ministry of Agriculture and the private sector.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Conduct a two-phase research grant competition

·      Work with AEMIP project staff, Winrock home office staff, and expert in-country advisors to prepare requests for planning grant concepts on the selected research topic

·      Identify two international experts, likely from Senegal and/or Niger, to serve on the grant competition judging committee

·      Conduct the grant competition, facilitating the judging committee to select winners in the planning grant and full grant phases

Manage a one-year applied research grant

·      Work with the team’s Advisory Committee to finalize the research grant budget and scope of work

·      Communicate with AEMIP project staff, JDR 3^RD home office staff, and expert in-country advisors about the progress and deliverables of JDR 3^RD research team to ensure the research is conducted on time and under budget

·      Assess the technical training needs of research teams and identify and organize appropriate support

·      Coordinate and host a 1.5-day JDR 3^RD Program training on Using Research Results to Inform Policy Coordinate Advisory Committee and JDR 3^RD home office staff review of draft and final research deliverables

·      Proactively identify and address problems and challenges faced by the research team and report them to AEMIP and JDR 3^RD home office staff

·      Plan and coordinate meetings and events for the research team and key stakeholders to share research progress and results, with the goal of informing policy

·      Maintain and update JDR 3^RD research team files on Winrock’s intranet

·      Coordinate transportation and accommodation for home office staff’s visit in Guinea

·      Represent Winrock at meetings and conferences as needed

·      Other duties as required

NOTE: All candidates must prepare a written response (no more than 1 page total) to both questions below. Please attach the response to the application. Applications received without a response to both questions below will not be considered.

1.     Why is it important to build local capacity in Guinea for independent analysis of complex agriculture and economic problems?

2.     What role should applied research play in formulating agricultural policies in Guinea?

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Excellent written and spoken English and French
• Minimum five years of experience, including management of development projects
• Excellent management, communication, and organization skills
• Demonstrated track record of effectively supervising staff and coordinating programs with partners from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences
• Strong analytic skills
• Experience with rural agriculture
• Basic computer skills (word-processing, spreadsheets, power-point, and databases)

·      Comfortable in high-level representational role as well as interacting with villagers

·      Comfortable networking and cooperating with other projects.

EDUCATION:

Master’s degree or Ph.D. preferred. Preferred disciplines include agricultural economics, agribusiness, or rural development.

Applications can be submitted electronically to: JDR3rdscholars@winrock.org [1] and should include the following documents:

1. A cover letter addressed to the Director of AEMIP;

2. A curriculum vitae (CV); and,

3. A copy of diplomas.

Interested applicants must submit their application before 16H00 (UTC) on October 14^th, 2016. Only shortlisted candidates will be called.