Post Doctoral Fellow, Economist

Post Doctoral Fellow, Economist (Ref. 1210)

Forests and Livelihoods Research Team
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) advances human wellbeing, environmental conservation and equity by conducting research to inform policies and practices that affect forests in developing countries. We are one of the 15 CGIAR research centres. Our headquarters is located in Bogor, Indonesia and we have offices in Asia, Africa and South America.

CIFOR is looking for a Post Doctoral Fellow, Economist

Overview

The Post Doctoral Fellow will perform economic analysis of subnational REDD+ projects and national policies and measures for its Global Comparative Study (GCS) on REDD+.

Working under the direct supervision of Dr. Sven Wunder, who is based in the CIFOR Brazil office, and in close collaboration with the team under Dr. William Sunderlin at CIFOR Headquarters, the Post Doctoral Fellow will deliver research articles/papers related to study and contribute to the development of a wider research agenda on forests and climate change, with a focus on REDD+.

Dr. Wunder and Dr. Sunderlin are both Principal Scientists in the Forests and Livelihoods team at CIFOR will supervise the Post Doctoral Fellow, as needed.

Duties and Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities:

• Support the collection, compilation, and analysis of the opportunity, and facilitate in the implementation and transaction costs of REDD+ projects on one hand, and the REDD+ policies and measures in the GCS REDD+ project countries, on the other. The Post Doctoral Fellow will support two (2) GCS REDD+ sub programs at different scales; working collaboratively with, and serving as, a liaison between associate researchers based in the GCS countries, the US and Europe.
• As part of this team, the Post Doctoral Fellow will consolidate data and build on models and methods under development. 
• Help develop an easy-to-use system for estimating costs of other REDD+ projects operating in the voluntary carbon offset market, or for future national or nested REDD+ systems including tools for assembling and analysing data and projecting costs.

The Post Doctoral Fellow is expected to:

• Draw on or develop their own area of expertise, e.g. applying theoretical insights and analytical methods from other areas of public economies such as, natural resource and infrastructure concessions, public finance and subsidy reform, payments for environmental services, protected areas or regulatory environmental policies. 
• Independently and collaboratively, develop research articles and reports, contribute to GCS management tasks, communicate with partners, and assist in developing grant proposals, among others, as requested.

Requirements

Education, experience and technical skills

Primary requirements:

• PhD degree in economics (those who have completed the academic requirements for the degree may also be considered) or a related field of applied economics (agricultural, environmental, natural resource, development, forest, etc.) or business (including accounting or finance as applied to environment and natural resources).
• Strong background in a relevant field of economics (public, development, natural resources, environmental) and experience with applied economic research methods (econometric analysis or cost-benefit analysis). 
• Fluent in spoken and written English and Portuguese. Ability in spoken and written Spanish will be an advantage.

Desirable requirements:

• Experience relevant to forest conservation and/or low-carbon development in Brazil, including field work.
• Familiarity with REDD+ and/or with related fields of public economics (e.g., transactions costs, liability and risk-sharing, natural resource and public works concessions, public utility regulation, performance/results based funding).
• Knowledge of, and experience with, programming methods to develop user-friendly interfaces for models.

Personal Attributes and Competencies

• Excellent analytical and synthesis skills;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, experienced in working with multicultural and multidisciplinary research teams. Ability and desire to work with an interdisciplinary, international, and geographically dispersed research team is critical;
• Excellent facilitation capacity;
• Demonstrated good management and organisational skills with experience in project management;
• Values the sharing of information and continuous improvement in a cooperative atmosphere of constructive evaluation and learning.

We are looking for people who share our mission and our commitment to professionalism, innovation, impact and collaboration.

Terms and conditions

• Competitive remuneration in US dollars commensurate with skills and experience.
• The appointment will be for an initial period of one (1) year. This may be extended thereafter up to 2.5 years total, contingent upon performance, continued relevance of the position and available resources.
• The duty station will be at CIFOR's Office in Rio de Janeiro, with travel to research sites and to the CIFOR Headquarters in Bogor, Indonesia.

Applications process

• We will be processing applications until a suitable candidate has been identified.
• We will acknowledge all applications, but we will only contact short-listed candidates.
• This is a RE-ADVERTISEMENT. Candidates who have applied previously for this position need not re-apply as earlier applications will be reviewed.

Please send your letter of interest and CV, including contact information for three (3) referees to:

Human Resources Department, CIFOR 
cifor-hr-jobs@cgiar.org

Please indicate the position and its reference number in the email subject line.

CIFOR is an equal opportunity employer.
Staff diversity contributes to excellence.