Senior Researcher

The Senior Researcher / Researcher – Agriculture Water Management will be part of the Strategic Program “Water, Food, and Ecosystem.” The successful candidate will have demonstrated skill sets and experience in modeling, including groundwater, water resources assessment, and hydrology, and knowledge of interdisciplinary approaches for water/irrigation management (e.g., climate-resilient agriculture, Integrated Water Resources Management, water accounting, and productivity). The Researcher will lead research on building farmers’ resilience to climate change and water risks, and watershed/landscape management for resilience building and livelihoods.

Working closely with the Country Representative and researchers, CGIAR colleagues, and national and international partners, the Researcher will be involved in fundraising, people management, partnership, and representation roles supporting the Country Representative. The person will lead in conceptualizing and leading Research for Development (R4D) portfolios on the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) nexus, agricultural water management transformation, and next-generation irrigation systems in which multinational and interdisciplinary teams are engaged to achieve organizational mission and strategic outcomes. The person will bring excellent experience in stakeholder engagement processes and mentoring early career researchers.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Strategize, develop and manage the research for development portfolios on agricultural water management and irrigated agriculture, climate-resilient agriculture, and the WEFE nexus.
• Ensure integration of gender equality, social inclusion, governance, digital innovations, and water data in R4D project management.
• Provide scientific leadership to ensure the quantity and quality of research publications with due attention to the quality of publication outlets, accessibility to their target group, citations, and bibliometric measures of impact.
• Lead and participate in surface and groundwater resources assessment, piloting, and scaling of water management tools and approaches that enhance resilience at the local, watershed, and basin scales.
• Lead a participatory process and ensure high-quality project co-design, implementation, learning, and research outputs, and effective team engagement and reporting.
• Oversee the research of and mentor early career research staff, students, and interns; identify learning needs that contribute to both skills enhancement and career progression, and provide guidance on individual goals and support development feedback.
• Develop and manage partnerships with governments, development partners, academia, businesses, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to deliver IWMI’s research for development mission.
• Engage in relevant scientific, policy, and development practitioner networks, and communities of practice of water professionals to foster the uptake of research results and knowledge to achieve outcomes and impacts.
• Enable a working environment that promotes a culture of respect, trust, openness, collaboration, inclusion, effective knowledge sharing and transfer, interdisciplinary teamwork, and performance.
• Disseminate findings through peer-reviewed publications; convene and attend workshops, conferences, and webinars in a range of international, regional, national, and sub-national settings.
• Contribute to the overall direction of IWMI’s research agenda under One CGIAR and provide support in project development and implementation, capacity building, and information dissemination activities to programs and partner organizations within the new One CGIAR structure.
• Represent and promote IWMI, including its values and principles.

Requirements:

Educational Qualifications & Experience:

Essential:

At Senior Researcher level:

• A PhD in irrigation engineering, hydrology, agricultural engineering, water management, or a closely related water resources discipline coupled with minimum of 10 years of relevant post-doctoral experience.
• At Researcher level:
• PhD in the aforementioned fields coupled with a minimum of 05 years of relevant post-doctoral experience OR;
• Master’s degree in the aforementioned fields coupled with a minimum of 10 years of relevant experience.
• At least 5 years of extensive field experience in designing, monitoring, and analyzing water management interventions in agricultural systems with farmers and multi-stakeholders.
• Experience in irrigation system performance, water productivity, hydrological, groundwater, and water allocation modelling.
• Demonstrated experience in project development and management, fundraising, and people management in a developing country context.
• Experience working on a diverse range of irrigation scales, and a good knowledge of irrigation design and the operation and maintenance of irrigation systems.
• A good track record of relevant scientific publications and experience in applied research, policy, and capacity development in the fields of water resources at the basin scale.
• Experience engaging with regional and international professional networks and building strong partnerships with different categories of stakeholders.
• Sound experience in leading, managing, and/or providing technical contributions to complex donor-funded research projects, preferably in Asia, specifically the Himalayan region, as well as in other regions.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

Essential:

• Excellent skills and knowledge of water resources (both surface and groundwater) assessment, climate change impact and resilience, hydrological analysis tools/models, and the WEFE nexus concept.
• Excellent understanding of challenges and opportunities in developing countries and emerging economies related to sustainable water, land, and agricultural development in the face of a changing climate.
• Demonstrated evidence of participatory processes; ability to work with a wide range of stakeholders; and excellent project management skills.
• Ability to manage people and work in and lead multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with various stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain development challenges and complex interdisciplinary water systems and livelihoods issues in simple terms.
• Capacity to respond to the requirements of decision-makers and, otherwise, work with others to translate research results into forms that lead to impacts and outcomes.
• Excellent oral and written language skills in English, including effective listening and strong verbal and written communication abilities.

Source: https://apply.workable.com/international-water-management-institute/j/591BDED142/