The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger through rice science; improving the health and welfare of rice farmers and consumers; and protecting the rice-growing environment for future generations. IRRI is an independent, nonprofit, research and educational institute, founded in 1960 by the Ford and Rockefeller foundations with support from the Philippine government. The institute, headquartered in Los Baños, Philippines, has offices in 17 rice-growing countries in Asia and Africa, and over 1,000 staff.

Working with in-country partners, IRRI develops advanced rice varieties that yield more grain and better withstand pests and disease as well as flooding, drought, and other harmful effects of climate change.

The Assistant Scientist will contribute to the implementation of research activities of the Work Package 6 on ‘Scaling equitable access to quality seed’ in the new OneCGIAR Delivering Genetic Gains in Farmers Fields (SeEdQUAl) Initiative. The incumbent will support the implementation of activities of work package 6 in Asia under the supervision of the Senior Scientist and Work Package Co-Lead. The Work Package focuses on enhancing inclusive access to quality seed of preferred crops and varieties to women and other vulnerable groups to enhance their resilience, augment their productivity and income. The research focuses on developing, testing and evaluating gender responsive seed information delivery pathways; capacity building and business models for engaging women and youth in seed production and marketing; strategies for enhancing synergies between formal and farmer-managed systems and; metrics and mechanisms for tracking inclusive access to seed. The incumbent will contribute to integrating gender and social dimensions taking an intersectional lens across the initiative, working closely with the other five work packages.

The incumbent will work closely with the Senior Scientist and support implementation of activities in Asia and monitoring and reporting. 

This position is based at Bhubaneswar, Odisha and is only open for the permanent residents of India.

• Contribute to mixed methods research design and implementation of inclusive seed systems
• Design and develop survey instruments for data collection for strategic and applied gender and socio-economic analysis
• Conduct literature reviews and write reports
• Facilitate the planning, designing and implementation of qualitative and quantitative surveys and other activities related to Gender and Social Research on seed systems
• Perform data analysis using the most appropriate and advanced statistical tools to support gender research studies
• Assist in the synthesis of internal and external reports from partners including, archival
• Communicate with internal and external project partners and collaborators to gather feedback on research-related requirements for the advancement of work package activities
• Provide assistance and guidelines to internal and external stakeholders considering the implementation of surveys and other research activities, including logistics
• Constantly monitor, evaluate and provide recommendations to improve research activities/tasks performed by survey enumerators and partner staff in order to maintain the smooth conduct of mixed-methods surveys as well as to foster a productive working environment
• Contribute to the interpretation of results and contribute to the writing of manuscripts for reports/publications as well as presentations/posters for national and international conferences.
• Supervise and lead the maintenance of accurate data recording and update database for efficient storage and retrieval of information
• Administer effective implementation of training by ensuring that the training materials, logistical arrangements, and resource persons are appropriate to the defined objectives

Masters degree in Gender Studies. Sociology, anthropology, Agricultural Economics, or other related fields and 5 years of relevant work experience in research design, implementation, data analysis, and interpretation.

Ph D degree in Gender Studies. Sociology, Anthropology, Agricultural Economics, or other related fields with experience in fieldwork, data analysis, interpretation and report writing.

Mandatory: 

• Proven technical proficiency in designing social science research protocols/tools and conducting qualitative and quantitative surveys
• Understanding of gender in agriculture concepts, research methods and tools
• Understanding of mixed-methods research and participatory research approaches
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Strong analytical and report-writing skills 
• Experience in Research Management
• Good presentation skills
• Experience in writing research reports
• Experience and knowledge in digital data collection like ODK, survey CTO, CSPro, etc
• Experience in supervising data collection teams
• Demonstrated experience in interacting with local stakeholders (governments, non-governmental organizations, and research organizations)
• Demonstrated ability to handle multiple tasks and produce completed products on time
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English

 Preferred: 

• Willing to travel and work independently with NARES partners

Allowances: In addition to the base salary indicated above, IRRI also offers the following allowances:

• House-Rent Allowance: IRRI provides a house rent allowance of 40% of base pay per month

• Transport Allowance: A monthly transport allowance of INR 4000

• Dearness Allowance: One Hundred and Thirteen percent (113%) of employee’s base pay

• Leave Travel Allowance (LTA): One-month base pay per annum, on availing minimum 2 days of vacation leave

• Education Allowance: INR 1000/- per child per month (limited 2 children) IRRI offers a highly extensive employee benefits package inclusive of globally covered medical insurance, retirement plan, life and accident insurance and other allowances. Join our team and be part of our story!

Please note only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.