The Organization

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people in a climate crisis. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.

The IT Innovations and Business Development Unit of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, focuses on providing advanced technological solutions to support data integration and open access, as well as developing digital tools that facilitate the collection, synthesis, and aggregation of results.

About the Consultancy

We are seeking to hire a UX Designer consultant to support several ongoing projects and new projects on the horizon. A key area within our unit is the Insights Team, responsible for capturing the user needs and effectively addressing real problems when designing the solutions, ensuring these are user-friendly and well-received by the community. Due to this emphasis, we are seeking to hire a UX/UI Designer consultant to:

• Define user personas and draft a user experience journey for selected priority users.
• Document the results of the findings and provide actionable design suggestions and recommendations.
• Develop and refine prototypes that align with user needs and business goals.
• Conduct a user experience evaluation of existing digital products using an appropriate set of standardized usability metrics
• Work with the team and maintain regular two-way communication with the product development.
• Advocate for and implement best practices in UX design and product management.
• Facilitate remote workshops and design sprints to engage stakeholders, gather insights, and foster a collaborative environment for continuous improvement and innovation.

Deliverables

Category	Details
User Personas and Experience Journey	Define user personas and draft a user experience journey for selected priority users.
	Support the systematization of existing user analysis results and identify further research needs.
	Communicate additional needs with the Product Manager and engage directly with users for key aspects where current knowledge is insufficient.
Prototypes Development	Develop and refine prototypes that present usable interfaces for capturing information and displaying entered data, including dashboards and interactive maps.
	Create mockups for new digital products and improve existing interface designs based on user needs.
	Document proposals and provide actionable design suggestions and recommendations.
	Ensure prototypes are compatible with the technological constraints of the existing systems.
User Experience Evaluation	Conduct a user experience evaluation of existing digital products using standardized usability metrics.
	Assess usability issues, gather user feedback, and provide recommendations for improvements.
	Keep this knowledge well documented and make sure to implement it in the new designs.
Collaboration and Communication	Maintain regular two-way communication with the product development team.
	Ensure the team is informed about the results of UI/UX activities and feedback.
	Capture and communicate the needs of the product development team regarding user needs and interface design.
	Facilitate workshops and design sprints to gather insights and foster a collaborative environment for continuous improvement.
Support for Multiple Projects	Assist in the discovery and mockup development for interactive projects.
	Provide UX design support for enhancing existing educational software, identifying usability issues, and proposing improvements.
	Contribute to the design of various dashboards, ensuring they are user-friendly and visually appealing within the constraints of the chosen technologies.
	Engage with clients to develop user-centered designs for their specific data visualization needs.

 

Requirements

Qualifications and Requirements

The criteria for selecting successful bids are as follows:

• Relevant academic and professional qualifications.
• Relevant professional experience inUX/UI Design, preferably with international organizations.
• Experience with design and analysis tools.
• Quality of work samples.
• Satisfactory references.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects simultaneously.
• Proficiency in applying UX methods for optimal results.
• Strong fluency in the English language, both written and verbal.

 

Benefits

Terms of the Consultancy

This a national short-term consultancy located in Cali and Palmira – Colombia. The Alliance Bioversity-CIAT is committed to fair, safe, and inclusive workplaces. We believe that diversity powers our innovation, contributes to our excellence, and is critical for our mission. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects our global character is a priority. We encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability statuses, sexual orientations, marital status, and gender identities. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Aplications

The interested candidates shall submit the following documents as three (3) separate documents:

• A technical proposal with a brief statement of no more than two (2) pages of text identifying the type of service proposed and highlighting three (3) examples of the type of service offered (for functional/image examples, please provide links).
• A CV including two (2) references (no more than two pages).
• A budget proposal consisting, at a minimum, of hourly or daily rates, travel expenses, and other direct and indirect costs.

Please submit documents to Taisa Marotta  T.Brosler@cgiar.org via email with the subject “IT IBD Request for proposal: “IT UX/UI Designer consultant.–“ Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Only electronically submitted proposals will be considered.

Applications closing date: July 19th, 2024

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.