Job Description

Under the minimum supervision of the Senior Scientist, this position will be responsible for undertaking action research, monitoring and learning on womens agribusiness and entrepreneurship development, with a particular focus on FPOs and FPCs and, publish and communicate results. This position would conceptualize, design and lead analyses that would aid womens entrepreneurship development ensuring womens empowerment and strategies to scale the same. He/she will assist in identifying, developing and expanding evidence-based agribusiness income generation opportunities for women. S/he will collaborate with the ag specialists and other experts in planning, developing, and facilitating comprehensive technical assistance, agribusiness market linkages, and agriculture extension support with emphasis on increasing profitability of agribusiness income generation opportunities. S/he will lead and support research and analysis geared towards systematically improving womens economic empowerment (WEE) outcomes. He/She will play a critical role in IRRI projects in Odisha and beyond and lead components on womens agribusiness and entrepreneurship development. The responsibilities include co-leading evidence-based design, planning, coordination, monitoring of components on womens agribusiness and entrepreneurship development in research for development projects in close collaboration with the development partners. He/She will design and implement systematic and robust monitoring and learning strategies to generate evidence and distil learning on what works and what does not for womens agribusiness and entrepreneurship development in different contexts and develop scaling strategies based on this. He/She will lead development of manuscripts for reports/publications as well as presentations/posters and other communication products.
This position will be based at Bhubaneswar, Odisha and may only be filled by permanent citizens of the India.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Lead empirical research to create demand-driven, policy-relevant evidence on WEE to provide cost-effective, scalable solutions to policymakers and implementing agencies so they can advance the agenda of WEE in Odisha and India
• Lead evidence synthesis, generation and communication on what works for addressing barriers to womens work, facilitating womens access to decent work and economic resources, and enhancing womens agency by leveraging the transformative potential of womens empowerment collectives
• Analyse technical and policy issues, strategies and programmes to support the development, competitiveness, inclusiveness and improved impacts of women-led agribusiness, food systems and value chain development with a focus on womens empowerment
• Conduct agribusiness research to provide market information and analysis relevant to new business decisions by womens groups in IRRI projects
• Review and develop information materials and technical papers related to gender-responsive agribusiness, value chain development, market and policy analysis, business enabling environment, institutional strengthening; inclusive business models, entrepreneurship; digital solutions/technologies for value chain development, marketing and market linkages; value chain finance, business support services; public-private platforms and partnerships.
• Contribute to the appraisal of capacity building needs related to the development, competitiveness, inclusiveness and improved impacts of womens agribusiness and value chain development via collectives; and contribute to developing training materials & training courses.
• Contribute to the design and implementation of programmes and projects related to womens agribusiness, value chain development
• Lead the collection and dissemination of relevant data on womens agribusiness and entrepreneurship development ; support global learning, exchange of information through internet and other channels
• Lead the planning, designing and implementation of required qualitative and quantitative surveys
• Develop gender indicators, methods and tools to track for M&E and, evaluate changes in womens empowerment as a result of engagement in agribusiness and business-focused FPOs and FPCs
• Co-ordinate/oversee/lead data analysis using the most appropriate and advanced statistical tools
• Lead the development of reports, scientific publications and communication products
• Lead/contribute to the development of research proposals on womens agribusiness and entrepreneurship development
• Manage and nurture engagement with partners and collaborators
• Represent IRRI at national and international workshops, conferences & meetings
• Represent IRRI with donors, government institutions, project partners, coordinating bodies and other stakeholders as per project requirements
• Conduct a landscaping of all policies and schemes linked to WEE in India; and a mapping of digitisation efforts to support business-oriented womens collectives
• Develop proof-of-concepts by testing gender-transformative interventions with policy and scale-up potential, with a focus on womens empowerment collectives, and strengthen womens digital capacity
• Publish research results in high quality disciplinary and interdisciplinary journals
• Lead project monitoring and progress reporting
• Lead the validation and analysis of data and, interpretation of results
• Manage, drive and generate reports for internal and donor reporting
• Lead development of scientific publications, project reports and, communication products
• Undertake literature reviews, prepare contextual analysis based on the program/project research needs

Qualifications

Masters Degree in agribusiness management; business management, rural development, Economics, Public Policy, Political Science or, another discipline which provides suitable basic knowledge; and 5 years relevant work experience.

Skills Required

Mandatory:

Has extensive experience in research on gender and agribusiness development and entrepreneurship in agriculture including agribusiness, marketing, agro-processing, post-harvest handling, enterprise development, business development services, business linkages


Sound understanding of mixed methods research


Strong interpersonal and organizational skills


Proficient in qualitative and quantitative data analysis


Strong oral and written communication skills


Team player and able to work independently


Has ability to multi-task and work in a fast-paced environment


Can effectively establish priorities and meet deadlines


Excellent technical report and journal article writing skill
Preferred: Has experience working in and international work environment In addition to the Base Salary indicated above, IRRI also offers allowances as listed below:
Dearness Allowance: 113% of basic salary
House Rent Allowance: 40% of base salary
Transport allowance: INR 5000 per month
Educational Allowance: INR 1000 per month per child up to two children, as applicable
Leave Travel Allowance: Equivalent to one month of basic pay per calendar year
Provident Fund: 12% of basic pay and dearness allowance 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.This position will remain open until filled.