Background: The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) invites applications for the
internationally recruited position of Root crop agronomist, Tanzania.
IITA is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and
poverty. Its award-winning research-for-development (R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is a nonprofit organization founded in 1967 in Nigeria and governed by a Board of Trustees. IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam, cassava, and maize. It is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future. Please visit http://www.iita.org/ for more information on IITA.
We are seeking a Root crop agronomist to lead implementation in Tanzania of a 5-year Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded project that aims to increase the availability of appropriate and affordable technologies to sustainably improve short and long-term agricultural productivity in cassava in the target countries. The project is composed of six Work Streams [(i) Strategic cassava agronomy research, (ii) Geo-spatial information, (iii) Cassava agronomy decision support tools, (iv) Facilitating use of these tools, (v) Capacity development, and (vi) Project management]) and will operate primarily by improving the capacity of both the public and private sector actors in their respective roles in development and dissemination of cassava agronomy technologies. The Project will be closely integrated with other IITA and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initiatives and development partner projects in the region.
Position Responsibilities:
- Lead the planning, implementation and analysis of agronomy activities of the project in Tanzania in close cooperation with development partners, national research systems, and other relevant stakeholders.
- Cooperate closely with team members transforming agronomy information into applications for use by stakeholders.
- Manage the monitoring and accounting of the project budget in Tanzania.
- Compile technical reports from activities in Tanzania for forwarding to the East Africa project leader and project coordinator.
- Contribute to the preparation of project reports and new proposals for funding.
- (Co) supervise PhD and MSc students.
- Provide technical and administrative support to the Tanzanian partners in the implementation of their activities.
- Communicate research results to various audiences and in various forms, with specific focus on top quality, peer-reviewed journals.
- Supervise national project staff as designated.
- Represent the project leader in meetings, conferences, workshops etc. as delegated.
- Collaborate with CGIAR centers and other research institutes to support/enhance project outputs and develop synergies with other projects to maximize impact.
- Engage with other IITA staff and projects operating in the East Africa Region and beyond.
The candidate should have a PhD in Agronomy or related fields, with at least 10 years of experience in cassava research and development.
Core Competencies:
- Minimum 10 years' experience in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Good knowledge of and at least 3 years’ experience in working with the agronomy research community in Tanzania, as well as development organizations in Tanzania
- Experience in managing teams effectively.
- Experience in collecting, processing, and analyzing experimental data recorded in field trials with relevant statistical software packages.
- Expert knowledge of cassava agronomy and smallholder production systems in sub-Saharan Africa
- Excellent inter-personal skills and ability to work in multi-disciplinary and multicultural settings.
- Experience working and interacting effectively with a variety of stakeholders (farmers, extension workers and other service providers, public and private sector entities, national programs), and demonstrated ability to collaborate well across disciplines and with key collaborative institutions and agencies.
- A proven track record in publishing research results in peer-reviewed journals.
- Proficient in spoken and written English.
Duty station: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Applications: Applications must include covering letter which should address how the candidate’s
background/experience relates to the specific duties of the position applied for, curriculum vitae, names and addresses of three professional referees (which must include either the Head of the applicant’s current or previous organization or applicant’s direct Supervisor/Superior at his/her present or former place of work). The application should be addressed to the Head of Human Resources. Please complete our online application form using this link: http://www.iita.org/careers
Closing Date: 12th October 2016
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