Lead, Science of Scaling & Head, MELIA

ABOUT THE COMPANY

IITA is an award-winning, research-for-development (R4D) organization, providing solutions to hunger, poverty, and the degradation of natural resources in Africa. Since 1967, IITA has worked with international and national partners to we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity.
IITA is guided by an ambitious strategy–to lift 11.5 million people out of poverty and revitalize 7.5 million hectares of farmland–by 2020. As one of 15 research centers in the CGIAR, a global partnership for a food secure future, IITA is engaged in several CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs).
IITA has delivered more than 70% of the CGIAR’s impact in sub-Saharan Africa and remains committed to science-driven improvement of agriculture and related food value chains.
Our R4D programs are focused on four crucial areas: Biotechnology and Genetic Improvement, Natural Resource Management, Social Science and Agribusiness, Plant Production and Plant Health and Nutrition and Food Technology.
IITA’s R4D programs have attracted the best and brightest minds from all over the world. Thousands of scientists and professionals have been involved in IITA training and research programs and continue to benefit from the knowledge they have in turn passed on to others.
To help address poverty and the high number of unemployed young men and women in, IITA has initiated a Youth Agripreneurs program to create jobs by making agriculture and agribusiness appealing to the youth. The program is integrated in the Business Incubation Platform (BIP), the technology delivery arm of IITA, which serves as a model to stimulate product development and to provide opportunities for market expansion.

JOB SUMMARY

Requirements Educational QualificationsThe candidate should hold a Ph.D. degree from a reputable university in agricultural innovation systems, agricultural extension, agricultural economics, development economics, or related fields.Core CompetenciesAt least 10 years of relevant work experience in scaling science, adoption and impact assessment, innovation systems analysis, or broader socioeconomics researchExcellent track record of scaling research as demonstrated in scientific publications relevant to the workExperience in developing and implementing institutional and project-level ME&L frameworksExperience in grant proposal writing and resource mobilisationProven leadership skills and providing guidance to a team of staff across Science AreasExcellent communication skills as evidenced by the capacity to prepare and deliver clear and concise presentationsWork experience within multicultural teams and international organizations or companies, and highly knowledgeable of Africa's social, agricultural, and rural development and economic development issues, questions, and challengesExcellent written and oral communication skills in English, and French will be an advantage

RESPONSIBILITIES

Science of Scaling (50%)Lead the design and development of a Science of Scaling framework (e.g., research questions regarding the effectiveness of different scaling pathways being used) to implement the Science of Scaling across IITA projects and programs in collaboration with the R4D and P4D DirectoratesProvide strategic leadership in advancing the Science of Scaling aimed at generating evidence and lessons from IITA's scaling and delivery efforts to inform the co-design and implementation of effective scaling interventions tailored to African agricultureProvide guidance in identifying and assembling key components of the Science of Scaling in collaboration with the R4D and P4D DirectoratesIdentify potential scalable innovations, evaluate their readiness for scaling, and develop strategies for scaling following the Innovation Packages and Scaling Readiness (IPSR) framework of the CGIARMainstream the Science of Scaling framework in the overall ME&L activities of projects, programs, and the overall institutional ME&L framework, including processes and tools for verifiable data generation in order to document scaling pathways and resulting outputs and outcomesSynthesize the data and lessons learned from implementing the Science of Scaling framework to support the overall IITA KPIs and as input into the P4D strategic planDevelop staff capacity to conduct ME&L to support the science of scaling across hubs, country offices, and programs/projectsLead or contribute to publication of research results in international, peer-reviewed journals (Thompson-indexed journals with impact factor)Lead or contribute to the development of research proposals and other fundraising activitiesLead a team of scientists conducting both strategic and action research on innovation scalingInstitutional MELIA (50%)Develop an institutional ME&L framework and related infrastructure that supports data collection and analysis across IITA's programs and projects, with a focus on data related to the Institute's Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)Lead the alignment of IITA's Institutional KPIs and the CGIAR System Level Strategic Outcomes for overall performance and contributions of IITA to the CGIARCollaborate with the impact assessment team to streamline methodologies for measuring results and collate/aggregate impact assessment results to provide a broad picture of IITA's progress toward its KPIsReview progress on achieving institutional objectives and provide IITA Management with information about important lessons learnedCoordinate the institute-wide ME&L Community of Practice (ME&L COP) that includes ME&L professionals and focal persons of projects both at HQ and in hubsRepresent IITA on the CGIAR ME&L groups, and regional ME&L communities of practice and maintain/develop ME&L-related collaborative relationships with strategic partners on behalf of IITAPrepare, publish, and share communication materials documenting research outcomes and impacts and lessons learned across IITA, CGIAR Programs, and projectsSupport Program/project teams in the development and implementation of ME&L systems that satisfy institutional and donor standards, which include:MEL plans with a clearly-defined results framework (addressing institutional and donor needs) and reflecting causal modelsProcedures for data collection, collation, analysis, reporting, & use for decision-makingMonitoring, documentation, and learning approaches that are integrated, aligned, and mainstreamed into project activities and coordinated with stakeholdersPlans for evaluation studies on outcome and impact-level achievements

REQUIRED SKILLS

Reporting, Agriculture and natural resources, Economics and business

REQUIRED EDUCATION

Post-graduate education