Associate Scientist - Agronomy and Climate Change

About IRRI

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger through rice science; improving the health and welfare of rice farmers and consumers; and protecting the rice-growing environment for future generations. IRRI is an independent, nonprofit, research and educational institute, founded in 1960 by the Ford and Rockefeller foundations with support from the Philippine government. The institute, headquartered in Los Baños, Philippines, has offices in 17 rice-growing countries in Asia and Africa, and over 1,000 staff.

Working with in-country partners, IRRI develops advanced rice varieties that yield more grain and better withstand pests and disease as well as flooding, drought, and other harmful effects of climate change.

Job Purpose

Under various Research for development (R&D) initiatives and projects, IRRI Vietnam Office is working with a number of research partners in Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh to improve rice-based systems towards high value, sustainability and climate-resilience production, and enhance the income and welfare of rice farmers.

Working under the general directions of IRRI scientists, the Associate Scientist will provide scientific contribution to the activities related to climate change adaptation and mitigation, including literature review, project implementation, reports, policy briefs, scientific articles, training and partnership development. The Associate Scientist will contribute directly to IRRI’s climate change and GHG emission research and support for the scaling of climate-smart agriculture in the rice sector of Vietnam. She/he will also work closely with scientists for development of the MRV system for low emission rice cultivation of Vietnam. It is expected that these will include, but is not limited to, working with the existing IRRI Vietnam team on private sector initiatives such as carbon finance, public sector initiatives such as enabling policy and building and maintaining relationships with Development Partners. The Associate Scientist is expected to have knowledge of GHG emission from agriculture, Geographic Information system, modeling as well as organizational skills.

This position will be based in Hanoi, Vietnam and may only be filled by permanent citizens of the Vietnam.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Analyze project data related to cost-benefit of low emission practices, spatial maps of climate-risks, multi-objective optimization of low emission rice-based systems
• Recommend strategies to improve research design, implementation and efficiency of project activities when necessary
• Ensure the timely completion of deliverables on all related projects to achieve agreed milestones and ensure compliances with project funders’ requirements
• Coordinate with research partners for implementation of data collection, participatory risk mappings, land evaluation, etc.
• Contribute and work as a resource person for training/ exposure visits being organized at project sites
• Contribute to research communication in a broad range of research products, such as peer-reviewed journals, communication materials, reports, policy briefs, presentations for national and international scientific conferences
• Align with internal and external stakeholders in order to effectively manage the implementation of the experiments/surveys and other related research studies
• Secure the experiment/research study by constantly coordinating with the supervisors, project partners, leaders and collaborators
• Consult and collaborate with project teams and key stakeholders of projects in the integration of the execution of the project activities.
• Develop and sustain partnerships and nurture effective relationships with various international and NARES partners and key government partners
• Ensure the efficiency of the research activities by continuous monitoring and coordination with other units and/or contractors
• Provide findings from data analysis in ways that non-experts understand them
• Significant contributions to the writing of reports, scientific papers, articles, posters, database for publications and presentations in the local and international events
• Significant contributions to trainings and partnership engagement

Qualifications

• At least Master's degree (PhD preferred) in Agricultural Science (crop, soil, environment), sustainable natural resource management, and/or related fields
• Proven of publication records
• At least 3 years of experience in agricultural system, GHG emission, GIS

Skills Required

Mandatory

• Good written and communication skills including report writing and presentation skills in English
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work well in multi-cultural teams
• Strong character, multitasking person and able to work under pressure
• Generating creative, practical approaches to overcome challenging situations
• Computer literate including MS offices, GIS (e.g. Mapinfo, ArcGIS, QGIS) and modeling
• Experience of climate change researches, GHG emission sources and calculation methods
• Good knowledge of negotiations
• Good understanding of time management
• Desire and ability to work collaboratively and respectfully and inclusively in a diverse, multicultural, multidisciplinary work environment

Preferred

• Demonstrated capacity to publish research findings in reputable peer-reviewed journals
• Experience of proposal development and fund raising

How to apply

• Application is supposed to be submited via the link below:

Here's the link for your reference.

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.