Agricultural Economist Associate Scientist

Agricultural Economist Associate Scientist (Ref.: 14-01 AE/IRS/HQ)

The International Potato Center (CIP) is seeking an agricultural economist to work in the Global Futures and Strategic Foresight Program, which is a research collaboration of the CGIAR with the objective to provide analyses and guidance for strategic planning and priority setting in the CGIAR. The successful candidate will apply cutting edge modeling tools to develop foresight analyses within the Global Program -Social and Health Sciences and with colleagues in other disciplines and at other CGIAR centers that collaborate in the project. The position also calls for making a contribution to CIP’s institutional impact assessment facility as agreed with the leader of this facility. CIP seeks diversity and gender balance in its staff. Women and citizens of developing countries are particularly urged to apply.

The Center: CIP is a not-for-profit international agricultural research-for-development organization with a focus on potato, sweet potato, and Andean roots and tubers. Its vision is of roots and tubers improving the lives of the poor. CIP is dedicated to achieving food security, improved well-being, and gender equity for poor people in root and tuber farming and food systems of the developing world. CIP works with partners to contribute high quality science, technology, and capacity strengthening for sustainable science-based solutions. CIP is headquartered in Lima, Peru, with staff and activities in over 30 locations across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. CIP is a member of CGIAR, a network of 15 research centers mostly located in the developing world and supported by more than 50 donor members.

Global Program - Social and Health Sciences (GP-SHS): The organization has over 40 years of interdisciplinary research experience, where social and biological scientists jointly generate research outputs and impacts related to on-farm conservation of genetic resources, varietal improvement and adoption, integrated crop management and value chain upgrading. The social science and health team plays a key role in ensuring the relevance of CIP research by functioning as a compass for the Center’s overall research program. This involves setting priorities, engaging the right set of partners and stakeholders in regional settings, addressing nutritional needs and opportunities through potato and sweetpotato and documenting adoption processes. The team also ensures that the widespread impacts of CIP’s research are systematically documented.

The position: Based at CIPs headquarters in Lima, Peru, and reporting to the Head of GP-SHS, the successful candidate will work on the Center’s foresight activities within the Global Futures and Strategic Foresight Program, which is a multi-Center research collaboration of 12 agricultural research institutes of the CGIAR, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the CGIAR. The main responsibility of the successful candidate will be to develop and carry out ex ante assessments of new potato and sweetpotato technologies applying a suite of crop growth models and economic partial equilibrium models. The position involves extensive interdisciplinary collaboration with crop scientists and crop modeling experts and with partners in other collaborating institutions. For approximately 20% of the time the successful candidate will support the team working on institutional impact assessment within CIP.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Lead CIP’s research in the area of Global Futures and Strategic Foresight which is supported by the CGIAR Research Programs on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (CRP-PIM) and Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CRP-CCAFS) for the simulation model based assessment of new potato and sweetpotato technologies.
• Manage collaborative activities  with partners, including advanced research institutes (ARIs)
• Develop scenarios for future potato and sweetpotato technology development and analyze these with the modeling suite developed in the project.
• Contribute to the improvement of the IMPACT global economic partial equilibrium agricultural sector model.
• Coordinate and carry out the project activities in interdisciplinary and cross-center teams, involving strong collaboration with crop scientists and crop modelers and a willingness to learn about those areas of expertise.
• Provide economic analysis and guidance that will assist in strategic foresight, scenario building and priority setting.
• Participate in and provide support to other activities of GP-SHS in the area of the impact assessment of agricultural technologies.
• International travel in America, Africa, and Asia is required to fulfill the above duties.

Selection criteria:

• PhD degree in Economics, Applied Economics, or Agricultural Economics, with a strong interdisciplinary background and proven experience in the application of quantitative methods.
• Experience in carrying out economic impact assessment analyses in an agricultural development context.
• Willingness and ability to engage in interdisciplinary work and to conduct research in a multi-cultural environment and in interdisciplinary teams.
• Experience with applied economic simulation models and knowledge on partial or general equilibrium modeling is desirable.
• Knowledge of GAMS programming is an advantage.
• Excellent communication skills to collaborate effectively.
• Fluency in English is required and Spanish and other languages are an asset.

Conditions: Employment contract will be for an initial three-year term with possibility of renewal. Salary will be internationally competitive, paid in US dollars, and commensurate with experience. CIP provides additional benefits including employer-paid medical, life and disability insurance and retirement benefits. Allowances toward relocation, housing, home leave travel, dependents’ education, and annual leave are also provided. CIP prides itself on its collegial and supportive working environment, which allows space for personal and professional growth.

Applications: Applicants should apply by email, sending a letter of motivation, a full C.V., and the names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable of the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to: CIP-Recruitment@cgiar.org. The reference name of the position should be clearly marked in the subject line of the email message. Screening of applications will begin on April 21, 2014 and will continue until the post is filled. All applications will be acknowledged, however only short listed candidates will be contacted.