Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist Assessment Consultant

Under the guidance and supervision of the BRS Platform Head and, indirectly, the Assessment Chair, the consultant will evaluate the CtEH investment in infrastructure development, capacity building, and efficiency improvement through a series of in-depth case studies on assigned sub-projects to reveal the lessons learned, the outcome achieved and projected future benefits.

The consultant will engage directly with program leaders, scientists, and stakeholders, assess breeding stations, and develop actionable recommendations for improving breeding stations and overcoming challenges.

Deliverables:

• Conduct thorough evaluations of the Crops to End Hunger program, with a focus on Breeding Resources Support across three primary locations, likely Kenya, Senegal, and Nigeria.
• Analyze and measure progress toward CtEH program objectives, particularly those related to the acceleration and modernization of crop breeding programs.
• Review and assess the six specific funder requests, ensuring their effective implementation across various CGIAR centers.
• Collect relevant data from breeding farms and field trialing locations and analyze the effectiveness of modernized breeding processes, capacity-building efforts, and infrastructure upgrades
• Provide insights into investments towards genetic gain improvement, varietal turnover strategies, and optimization of breeding pipelines.
• Develop comprehensive reports with actionable recommendations for breeding program improvements, including potential innovations, automation opportunities, and efficiency strategies.
• Highlight challenges and opportunities related to CtEH’s innovations and automation in breeding stations and propose strategies for overcoming these challenges.
• Engage with breeding managers, scientists, and other stakeholders to gather insights and ensure the practical applicability of recommendations.
• Analyze how breeding stations manage staff displacement resulting from mechanization.
• Assessing the safety and ethical protocols in place, particularly in the context of post-mechanization changes.
• Evaluate the breeding stations’ sustainability plans for the mechanization and automation of operations.

Requirements:

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Plant Breeding, Agricultural Science, or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience in plant breeding R&D, either in the public or private sectors, with a solid understanding of breeding program operations.
• Experience with tropical crops, particularly in Africa, with a focus on cassava, banana, maize, and wheat.
• Strong knowledge of breeding activities’ management within farms and breeding stations.
• Familiarity with breeding operations management and innovations related to automation.
• Fluency in English (written and spoken); knowledge of French is desirable.
• Excellent communication and reporting skills, with the ability to convey complex technical findings to diverse stakeholders.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to work independently and within cross-functional teams.
• Familiarity with developing and optimizing breeding pipelines to enhance genetic gain.
• Experience working with not-for-profit organizations towards capacity building and the development of strategic breeding program plans is a plus.
• The selected requires the following competencies: Communication, Negotiation, Client Orientation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving.

Source: https://apply.workable.com/cimmyt-1/j/8D18E200F0/