Senior Research Associate, Food Program at World Resources Institute (WRI)

What will you do: 

Research and portfolio development of food loss and waste line of WRI Africa (60%): 

• Develop a strategy for food loss and waste analysis for Africa in priority geographies and countries in alignment with the WRI Africa strategy
• Collect and analyse available data on food loss and waste, to understand key gaps and trends to determine location-specific interventions needs in each of our priority countries
• Develop a robust portfolio of work anchored, drawing from solid research, stakeholders consultations and best practices around food loss and waste reduction in Africa
• Support the ongoing work on contextualizing WRI Food loss and food waste protocol and building the capacity of relevant stakeholders (government, businesses, farmer associations) to use it in assessing the magnitude of FLW
• Develop the ongoing work of matching the demand for addressing food loss and food waste with potential technical, financial and other solutions
• Lead the ongoing work on FLW under the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) country platforms including research, partnership building and delivery
• Lead the development of theories of change, impact frameworks and rapid social assessment for the “Reduce” line of work as required under the WRI strategy
• Lead high quality research to build fit for purpose knowledge products and tools on food loss and waste in priority countries in Africa
• Lead the production of written outputs including, including regular writing, review and publishing of journal articles, peer reviewed reports, policy briefs, opinion pieces and strategic communication outputs
• Lead the editing, peer review, publishing of all research and communication outputs in this area of work
• Develop definitions of indicators for the FLW work, including data sources, and means of verification, that is cross-scale, cost-effective and scalable across priority countries in Africa
• Support the monitoring and reporting of the “reduce” elements of WRI Africa’s work, including working closely with managing for results team to develop and monitor

Portfolio growth, management and coordination (40%):

• Lead fundraising efforts by identifying strategic areas of growth, lead in proposal development while supporting other team members in all fundraising activities across the portfolio
• Contribute to the development of new projects for ‘reduce pillar’ while overseeing successful implementation of existing ones
• Act as the key point of contact for all work in WRI Africa relating to FLW, ensuring efficient internal and external coordination, cross learning and strengthening of “reduce” line of work across the WRI network
• Ensure FLW, being one of the key lines of work of the food program in WRI Africa, is achieving the outcomes set in WRI global and WRI Africa strategies, by setting clear goals and robust execution plans
• Provide overall support in the leadership and oversight in the day-to-management of the food loss and waste reduction portfolio with respect to financing, staffing, donor reporting and risk management
• Support fundraising activities with public, private and philanthropic funders to grow their own work in line with WRI’s catalytic role

What will you need:

• Education: A PhD degree in agricultural sciences, environmental sciences, or related fields with expertise on food loss and food waste
• Experience: You have 8+ years of relevant professional experience
• Strong publication records in peer reviewed journals
• Demonstrated knowledge and expertise on issues related to food systems transformation in Africa
• Demonstrated knowledge and expertise on the issue of food loss and waste in Africa
• Experience designing and managing complex, multi-partner projects in an NGO setting, with experience creating and communicating theories of change, results frameworks, and other components of a MEL for project donors, partners, and stakeholders
• Experience working in complex situations involving numerous and sometimes competing organizational constituencies
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail that drive the implementation of projects
• Willingness to travel internationally
• Enjoys working with a diverse group of experienced individuals across the globe
• Languages: Verbal and written proficiency in English. Knowledge of Swahili and French is preferable
• Requirements: Existing work authorization is required where this position is based. WRI is unable to authorize visa work authorization