Head of Social Science and Impact Assessment Unit

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT (Ref No. IRS/98/022015) 

HEAD OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT UNIT

 

icipe — African Insect Science for Food and Health is a world-class research centre with a mission to alleviate poverty by ensuring food security, improving health, protecting the environment and building the capacity of researchers and communities across the developing world through the application of insect sciences.  Employing more than 450 national and international staff, icipe is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya with outposts in Ethiopia and on the shores of Lake Victoria in western Kenya.icipe has a proud reputation and history of delivering world-quality science that has made crucial contributions to African food and health policy, delivered development outcomes to rural communities and has been at the forefront of building Africa’s biological research capacity. The Centre’s research activities span the African continent with partnerships linking research organsiations not only accross Africa but also the globe.

 

icipe is seeking to appoint a senior Social Scientist with a background in monitoring & evaluation (M&E) and impact assessmnet to lead our Social Science and Impact Assessment Unit.

 

The position is tenable in Nairobi at the icipe Duduville campus. This is a two-year contract, with a possibility of extension. A competitive compensation package will be offered to the right candidate. Only shortlisted candidates will be acknowledged.

 

Overall purpose of the job

 

The succesful candidate will lead the developemnt of a centrewide strategy for monitoring & evaluation and impact assessment.  With the support of the existing team, she/he will be responsible for working with the Centre’s research community to ensure monitoring & evaluation and impact assessment are embedded within icipe’s research portfolio at the project, technology and Centre levels.  The succesful candidate will also be encouraged and supported to develop their own portfolio of reserach activities.  The succesful candidate should be self-motivated with a desire to make a difference to the health and food security of Africans.

 

Responsibilities

• Generate knowledge relating to the drivers of adoption for icipe technologies and ensure the lessons learned are incorporated into project and Centre-level strategies, with the aim of contributing and fostering a learning environment and to further the impact of the Centre.
• Develop approaches to effectively assess the social, economic and environmental impacts resulting from the adoption of technological and institutional innovations, and build capacity of partners through training and research.
• Work with other scientists to evaluate the multidimensional impacts of priority interventions, including their distributional effects, especially on the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers, consumers and women.
• Develop strategies, policy options and recommendations to set research priorities, guide policy decisions, and stimulate widespread adoption of new and existing icipe technologies.
• Strengthen the impact culture and monitoring process within icipe and beyond through better articulation of impact pathways and ex ante and ex post evaluation of impacts of targeted interventions.
• Contribute to priority setting, strategy and project definition through ex ante impact studies.
• Publish and communicate research findings, and participate in centre-wide strategy development and priority setting.

Knowledge required for performing the job

• Excellent analytical and interpersonal skills, along with strong organisational ability.
• Must be able to obtain, analyse and evaluate a variety of information.
• Must be able to organise, interpret and present it in meaningful oral or written form for varied audiences, and provide solid analysis leading to sound decision-making.
• Must possess ability to think strategically.

Requirements/Qualifications

• A PhD with a minimum of 5 years postdoctoral experience in a relevant area of social/economic sciences, including monitoring and evaluation, impact assessment or gender analysis.
• Experience in working with a team of scientists to evaluate the multidimensional impacts of priority interventions, including their distributional effects especially on the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers, consumers and women.
• Proven track record in attracting donor support for a platform of independent research.
• Strong record of publishing research findings in peer reviewed journals and participation in centre-wide strategy development and priority setting.
• Excellent interpersonal and team working skills with a track record of leading productive teams.
• Experience working with and maintaining good relationships with a broad range of local and international stakeholders.
• Experience in developing a technology and centre-level M&E and impact assessment strategy would be an advantage.

Reporting

 

This position reports to the Director of Research and Partnerships.

 

The selected candidate should be available to start as soon as possible.

 

HOW TO APPLY

 

All applications must arrive via email on or before 6^th March 2015. Please quote the job reference number IRS/98/022015on the email subject line. Interested applicants should submit: (a) a confidential cover letter, (b) detailed CV with names and addresses of 3 referees (including e-mail addresses, fax numbers), and (c) a one-page write-up on how you consider yourself suitable for the job, to:

headsocialscienceunit@icipe.org

 

icipe is an Equal Opportunity Employer