Expression of Interest: Individual Consultant - (Computational Modeling) at International Institute of Tropical Agriculture

Scope of Work / Key Responsibilities

The consultant will be responsible for, but not limited to, the following:

• Produce fully refactored and modularized machine‑learning modelling scripts with improved architecture, abstraction, and parameterization.
• Optimize codebases by removing redundant routines and enhancing computational performance and reproducibility.
• Generalize modelling workflows to support multi‑crop, multi‑location, and multi‑scenario applications.
• Integrate empirical modelling frameworks to strengthen predictive performance and model robustness.
• Incorporate additional spatial covariates to improve explanatory power and computational efficiency.
• Prototype AI‑enabled or agent‑based agronomic decision‑support workflow integrations to enhance reasoning, automation, and recommendation quality. 
• Develop comprehensive technical documentation, including annotated code, methodology notes, and workflow descriptions.
• Prepare periodic progress reports reflecting milestones and technical achievements. 

Requirements

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Advanced degree (master’s or Ph.D.) in Agricultural Systems Modelling, Environmental Modelling, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence or any related discipline.
• Minimum of five (5) years of relevant professional experience, preferably in forest carbon assessment or ecosystem monitoring.
• Demonstrated expertise in GIS, remote sensing, carbon accounting and other quantitative methods.    
• Proven track record of scientific publications in forest inventory and tree carbon assessment.
• Experience mentoring graduate students, facilitating training, and contributing to capacity building.
• Strong analytical, communication, and scientific writing skills.
• Previous experience working with international organizations, donor-funded projects, or research institutions will be an added advantage.