Scientist/Senior Scientist Forests and Governance Programme, ILEA

Scientist/Senior Scientist Forests and Governance Programme, ILEA (Ref: 1133)

Forests and Governance Programme

The Center for International Forestry Research 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 15 centres within the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Our headquarters are in Bogor, Indonesia, and we have offices in Asia, Africa and South America.

CIFOR is looking for a Senior Scientist to join its Forests and Governance Programme

Overview

CIFOR’s Forests and Governance Programme has pioneered the Integrated Law Enforcement Approach (ILEA) which aims to curtail illegal logging by focusing on improving forest governance, addressing corruption in the forestry sector, and following the money from forestry and forest-related crimes.

Under the leadership of the Forests and Governance Programme Director, the work of the Scientist/Senior Scientist will focus on, but not be limited to, ILEA-related research of particular relevance to Component 5 (Impacts of trade and investment on forests and people) of the CGIAR Research Programme on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (CRP6). The Scientist / Senior Scientist will build on the research findings and outputs of earlier Norwegian-Embassy, UNODC-funded projects, and IACC conferences. These tasks are grouped in four key result areas:

1. Research related to legality, forest-related crime and money laundering
2. Developing partnerships and capacity building
3. Providing management assistance including fund raising
4. Providing cross-programme or CRP6 component support if needed.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Senior Scientist/Scientist will develop, facilitate and manage research projects at different sites globally, focusing on the design of, at minimum, two research projects (one national and the other a global comparative study), providing scientific leadership and management, developing new partnerships with global and national organisations, developing and maintaining donor relationships, supporting capacity building initiatives amongst CIFOR staff and partners, and publishing research findings.

Participate in research:

• The design and implementation of a Phase 2 ILEA research building on the lessons learned from Phase 1 (prospective donor identified)
• The design and implementation of a global comparative study (GCS) on preventing the risks of corruption in forest-related financing (donor to be identified)
• Define impact pathways for CIFOR’s ILEA research
• Selection of strategically important countries to implement the GCS research projects
• Provide scientific leadership to the relevant staff in terms of guiding:
  • literature reviews, and other tasks supporting research
  • project design in terms of data needs, collection, synthesis and analysis
  • data management and retrieval, and databases related to the project
  • fieldwork as required.
• Maintain appropriate communications with key stakeholders and partners — these may include local and national government agencies; environment, development, and social advocacy NGOs; private businesses; and donor organisations
• Publish research findings in English for international journals, and other CIFOR publications
• Contribute to CIFOR’s outreach and dissemination efforts by writing Polex, blogs etc.

Participate in capacity building:

• Provide mentoring support to relevant nationally recruited staff
• Provide scientific leadership to ensure the quality of ILEA training modules, which will be developed to provide refresher courses for relevant Government of Indonesia agencies and officials of other institutions such as Bank of Indonesia
• Provide scientific leadership to ensure the quality of training materials for staff of Indonesian law enforcement agencies to assist them in understanding and adopting ILEA to address forest-related crimes.

Provide management assistance:

• Develop Concept Notes and funding proposals to support CIFOR’s ILEA activities
• Manage ILEA research projects once funded
• Assist the Forests and Governance Programme’s Director, Secretary and Senior Project Officer and Finance in the development of budgets, and in managing contracts and agreements with research partners, donors, consultants, and interns
• Contribute to annual CRP6 planning and reporting exercises with a particular focus on CRP 6.5
• Contribute to the organisation of workshops, meetings and conferences, lectures for courses and other related activities
• Assist in project reporting (progress reports, minutes, translations, etc)
• Provide cross-programme or CRP6 component support as needed.

The Senior Scientist/Scientist will work principally with other scientists from CIFOR’s Forests and Governance Programme and CRP6 Component 5, and will be expected to work closely with relevant research staff from other CRP research programmes, such as CRP2. The details of duties, assignments and objectives will be further discussed annually with the Forests and Governance Programme Director, and laid out in the staff’s annual performance contract.

Requirements

Education, Experience and Technical Skills

• PhD degree in social science or other related discipline, good understanding of forest governance and familiarity with forest-related financial issues, with 5 years experience post PhD
• Previous experience with the Integrated Law Enforcement Approach or similar approaches
• Demonstrated experience in multidisciplinary collaborative research
• Demonstrated accomplishments in influencing forest policy reforms and decision makers
• Proven publications record especially in terms of peer-reviewed publications
• Demonstrated experience in fund raising and in proposal development/writing
• Excellent spoken and written English; proficiency in other international languages is preferred, and knowledge of Bahasa Indonesia would be advantageous
• Familiarity with bilateral donor activities and processes would also be considered advantageous.

Personal attributes and competencies

• Sound project management, facilitation and organisational skills
• Competent in personal organisation and priority setting, with the ability to work effectively under time pressure and manage multiple priorities
• Has initiative and capable of working independently as well as an effective team player
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to effectively interact with people in a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural environment
• Experience working with a wide and diverse network of groups and individuals.

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

Terms and Conditions:

• This is an internationally recruited position. CIFOR offers competitive remuneration commensurate with skills and experience.
• The appointment is for three years with a possibility of extension contingent upon performance, continued relevance of the position, and available resources.
• The duty station will be at CIFOR headquarters in Bogor, Indonesia, with travel to research sites and/or to other locations to participate in meetings and conferences.

Application process

• We will keep receiving applications until the candidate is identified.
• We will acknowledge all applications, but we will contact only short-listed candidates.

Please send your letter of interest and CV, including contact information for three 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.