Scientist (Gender, Social Inclusion and Development) at WorldFish

Key Responsibilities

Main Purpose of Job:

• Identify potential research proposal opportunities for resource mobilization purposes in collaboration with supervisor, actively collaborating with internal or external teams or programs to advance shared goals and outcomes.
• Lead research activities, including data collection, quality assurance, and analysis, aligned with project goals and objectives.
• Develop and implement capacity development initiatives with program or government stakeholders disseminate knowledge, including training materials and technical guidance.
• Conduct qualitative and/or quantitative research relevant areas to provide evidence for targeted decision-making and policy development.
• Play a lead role in the design and implementation of innovative, impactful, and high-quality gender research in value chains and market systems, focusing on aquaculture, and fisheries in and across Africa and Asia. This will include refining and consolidation cutting-edge, gender-inclusive market approaches and business models, including, but not limited to, women-led entrepreneurship and partnerships with the private and government sector. Also, co-lead and contribute to the research work on youth in aquaculture and fisheries sector that is expanding in Africa.
• Lead the development of high-quality science outputs and enable the effective communication of research findings and scaling of the lessons within SAAF, Gender Accelerator and DéSIRA+ Project in West Africa, among other projects with partners and to key policy actors.

Main engagement, collaboration and communication responsibilities:

• Supervise a team or area by identifying learning and development opportunities, overseeing performance, and fostering an inclusive and collaborative teamwork environment.
• Engage with other team(s) and other CGIAR centers in area of work, ensuring knowledge exchange, alignment, integration and synergy.
• Collaborate with external stakeholders and partners to advance research efforts, build capacity, and implement activities aimed at making progress in area of work.
• Engage with external partners to explore funding opportunities, develop proposals and establish partnerships that strengthen program outcomes.
• Organize peer-to-peer learning opportunities and knowledge-sharing platforms to foster collaboration, innovation, and knowledge uptake.

Main responsibilities in the delivery of timely and quality services:

• Supervise a team or area by identifying learning and development opportunities, overseeing performance, and fostering an inclusive and collaborative teamwork environment.
• Engage with other team(s) and other CGIAR centers in area of work, ensuring knowledge exchange, alignment, integration and synergy.
• Collaborate with external stakeholders and partners to advance research efforts, build capacity, and implement activities aimed at making progress in area of work.
• Engage with external partners to explore funding opportunities, develop proposals and establish partnerships that strengthen program outcomes.
• Organize peer-to-peer learning opportunities and knowledge-sharing platforms to foster collaboration, innovation, and knowledge uptake.

Requirements

This job might be for you if you have the below skills and qualifications:  

• A PhD or equivalent degree in a relevant discipline, such as Gender, Development Economics, Sociology, Anthropology, International Development, Rural Development Studies, Human Geography, or related fields.
• Completed a Post Doc / Fellow Program in relevant area
• Experience conducting independent applied research in relevant area
• Has several published international peer-reviewed articles, including as a lead author
• Exposure to developing and refining research proposals, designing research, and implementing data collection strategies.
• Experience in contributing to writing grant proposals.
• Experience collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, government agencies, and partners in implementing and scaling research.
• Experience working in or with an international not-for-profit organization is an advantage.
• High-level competency in quantitative or qualitative research methods (i.e., able to design, analyze and write up independently as well as mentor others) and commitment to interdisciplinary and mixed methods research approaches.

Desirable Skills/Experience

• Significant experience working in Africa, with established networks in government and the fisheries and aquaculture sector.
• Experience with donor engagement (EU, AfDB, World Bank, FCDO, Gates foundation, among other philanthropic organizations) and demonstrated success securing funding.
• Strong facilitation skills for multi-stakeholder platforms, policy dialogues, and private‑sector partnerships.

Key Competencies Required

Core competencies

• Accountability: Takes ownership of work, showing initiative in problem-solving and decision-making. Stands firm on ethical issues, even when faced with challenges.
• Collaboration and Communication: Communicates clearly, articulating thoughts in a straightforward manner while interpreting nonverbal cues to enhance responses and foster productive interactions. Actively participates, seeks and listens to others’ perspective. Demonstrates a willingness to learn from others and welcomes constructive feedback to improve personal and team performance.
• Respect and Inclusion: Promotes and advocates for respect and inclusion within team, program or organization. Actively seeks incorporates diverse ideas and experiences into decision making.
• Results and Impact Orientation: Establishes clear standards of excellence to achieve results, aligns individual and team goals with organizational objectives. Uses data and metrics to assess, monitor, and improve performance. Identifies improvement opportunities by evaluating and applying emerging technologies.

Functional and Technical Competencies

• Analytical, Critical and Systems Thinking: Synthesizes diverse information for well-informed conclusions and actionable recommendations.
• Scientific Ethics, Integrity and Writing: Ensures transparency and proper research documentation and upholds ethical standards in research by following scientific ethics standards, and in scientific writing by avoiding plagiarism and accurately representing data following FAIR principles. Constructs evidence-based scientific arguments for peer-reviewed publications.
• Data Analysis and Management: Integrates data from different sources to identify trends and patterns, proactively suggests areas for further exploration and communicates data-driven insights effectively through clear presentations and impactful visualizations.
• Capacity Building: Delivers engaging capacity building approaches using diverse methods, adjusting the needs to the audience while effectively responding to participant feedback.
• Resource Mobilization: Prepares tailored input to donor proposals while proactively engaging with potential partners to cultivate and secure new funding opportunities.
• Experience with gender transformative approaches, including for engaging men in change processes and gender training.
• Successful track record of and passion for supporting staff and partner capacity development, in particular in gender and gender analysis.
• Practical experience in fisheries, aquaculture, natural resource management or agricultural development in Africa or Asia.

Leadership and Management Competencies

Managing Team Dynamics

• Recognizes and identifies personal and others' emotions and the influence of personal behavior on team dynamics, showing understanding of the emotional intelligence concept.
• Builds trust and rapport with supervisees or team members by empowering and engaging them on tasks, supporting and guiding them to reach shared goals, while setting clear expectations, providing regular feedback, and conducting fair assessments.
• Takes time to connect and show an interest in the well-being of team members or supervisees.

Strategic Leadership

• Recognizes relationships and partnerships as essential to achieving goals, demonstrating willingness to work in partnership, understanding and clarifying needs and mutual expectations.
• Actively participates in and supports change initiatives, adapting processes or procedures to align with evolving organization needs, showing openness to new ideas and approaches.
• Proactively identifies potential risks within their team’s operations, assesses their impact, and suggests mitigation strategies to the manager.
• Seeks to understand the organization’s purpose and goals and identifies opportunities for team process improvements and emerging technologies in alignment with organizational goals.