Senior Crop Data Analyst, Food Program at World Resources Institute (WRI)

What will you do:

Research and analysis (80%):

• Develop a work plan for collecting crop-type, yield and use data for priority geographies and countries, aligned with the WRI Africa strategy
• Develop a work plan for collecting other data associated like climate data, soil data, precipitation data, and temperature data
• Perform field data collection (geolocation of crop-types and yields) and rapid rural appraisals in priority geographies and countries
• Collect relevant data from national research institutions, ministries and other government offices, research partners, and NGOs
• Conduct data cleaning and enter the data into a GIS database so it can be used for analysis
• Support colleagues in the food team in conducting data analysis from the database to answer specific research questions, including through other methods such as desk reviews and quantitative geospatial analysis
• Summarize findings on diverse topics such as: crop-type mapping and remote sensing, yield mapping, and methods
• Support production of written and graphic content for research reports, internal briefs, blogs, presentations, and press releases
• Support editing, peer review, and production process to publish research and communication outputs
• Support the Senior Associate in engagement of targeted decision makers
• Support policy teams to ensure country’s NDCs sections on agriculture and food systems is aligned with both mitigation and adaptation goals
• Help develop the WRI Africa food strategy with all aspects related to yields, nature and climate

Program development and administration (20%):

• Convene and work with different partners to gain their collaboration on all areas relevant for this work
• Work closely with Food team and Land and Carbon lab team to develop crop type analysis
• Contribute to concept notes, funding proposals, and donor reports
• Support development of workplans and related internal systems and procedures to ensure timely execution of activities and delivery of outputs
• Collaborate with external partners and WRI colleagues across programs and countries.

What will you need:

• Education: You have a completed bachelor’s degree in Geographic Information Sciences, Geo-Statistics, Remote-Sensing, Geography, or a related area
• Experience: You have 6+ years of relevant full-time work experience
• Demonstrated knowledge and expertise on issues related to food systems transformation in Africa, including international climate policy, and sustainability challenges related to land and natural resource management
• Experience in project management and implementation
• Experience working with farmers, government officials and researchers in the field
• Experience of remote sensing, photo interpretation, and earth observation technologies and methods, statistics and spatial statistics, and sampling design
• Experience in spatial analyses, GIS software, and photo interpretation
• Experience working with Excel in an advanced capacity
• Experience with Google Earth Engine, Python, or command-line is desirable
• Ability and willingness to work in the field in Africa and travel internationally
• Languages: Verbal and written proficiency in English. Working knowledge of French would be desirable.