Consultant for Data Management for the Agroecology and Safe Food System Transformations (ASSET) Project

 Consultant for Data Management for the Agroecology and

Safe Food System Transformations (ASSET) project

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people in a climate crisis.

The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.

About the ASSET project

Agricultural systems in South East Asia are at a crossroad between conventional intensive models and emerging agroecological approaches. The continuous intensification of conventional models is leading to a simplification of agricultural landscapes, land degradation and biodiversity depletion, and to increased health risks for farmers and consumers. Interestingly, agroecological approaches provide an increasing range of agricultural and market innovations towards healthier, environmental and sustainable practices.

The overall objective of the ASSET Project is to transform food and agricultural systems in Southeast Asia more sustainable, safer and inclusive, through harnessing the potential of Agroecology.

• ASSET will develop and promote a shared vision of Agroecology and Safe Food System Transitions through a comprehensive approach that includes research, networking, policy advocacy, capacity development, awareness raising and communication.
• ASSET will help support opening a dialogue on linking agricultural and markets transformations in policy frameworks at local, national and regional level by fostering technical, organizational and institutional innovations at territorial level in flagship programs, generating robust evidence on their performances and impacts, bringing successful approaches to scale and by building upon regional reliable initiatives and institutions

The ASSET project will take advantage of the existing online resources of ALiSEA, and consolidate and integrate them into an essential knowledge hub for agroecology issues in the Mekong Region. This hub will support the production, valorization and dissemination of knowledge on agroecology for a wide range of stakeholders and beneficiaries.

The hub will use an intuitive and user-friendly structure to present the ALiSEA repository, data and knowledge acquired in the project’s flagship sites, as well as secondary data. Linkages will be established between the hub and other strategic online platforms, such as the FAO’s Agroecology Knowledge Hub, ASEA and MALICA, the Global Land Programme, or the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture.

Novel technical tools, such as mobile solutions, crowd-sourced information generation, and spatial representation of agroecology initiatives will be piloted during the project. Successful options will be added to the hub for long-term productive use.

About the position

As part of the ASSET project, the Alliance is seeking a consultant for data management to support the development of the Knowledge Hub through organizing and streamlining data management in the project.

The candidate will work with a multi-disciplinary team composed of national and international experts based in Vietnam and in other countries, such as experts on geo-spatial analysis, semantics, oncology, and data mining process, as well as leading experts on agroecology in Southeast Asia. As part of the work the candidate will assist the ASSET partners in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, to implement and adapt the project’s data management plan and to conduct other related data management activities. He/she will coordinate and streamline different data production and storage processes with a view to supporting efficient internal and external data sharing and use.

The ideal candidate has demonstrated experience in guiding, supporting, and overseeing data management within a project context. The position requires excellent skills in designing, setting up, and managing / maintaining a complex data repository consisting of different data types and formats including:

• Text data repositories in PDF and similar formats;
• Survey, experimental and monitoring data (both narrative and numerical);
• Spreadsheets, relational databases, time series, etc.;
• Spatial data in vector and raster format;
• Audio-visual files and graphical representations of data.

The candidate shall be used to work or collaborate with international and national research organizations in Vietnam (and/or other countries in the region). The candidate might also have the skills required to make the database available to a broad audience via a web-based interface, this is not required for the position, but having those skills will be a plus for the applicants.

Other important qualities of any candidate will be that they are independent, rigorous, have excellent social skills, and are passionate and motivated by the impact potential of their work.

Key responsibilities

• Organize the core project knowledge hub team in specifying data coordination needs across the different data production activities and ensuring proper data design and shaping for integration into the knowledge hub. And contribute to the development and implementation of the project data management strategy accordingly;
• Develop, maintain and enhance project databases, wherever located, while maintaining data quality standards in accordance with the project’s data management strategy;
• Interact with researchers within the project and beyond, and support them on issues related to data access and management, including the production of data that can be archived and published via project databases;
• Collaborate with relevant project staff to coordinate the organization and publishing of databases using web interfaces and languages, including web-based visualisation of spatial data and maps;
• Keep abreast of developments in information technology and assist in advising the project team on latest information technology solutions;
• Assist, liaise, and guide Data Technicians from the different ASSET project partners to perform the following activities:
  
  • Developing data entry systems for data collection;
  • Running quality assurance checks on data;
  • Extracting data for analysis;
  • Writing data management guidelines;
  • Helping to train project members on data management issues;
  • Assisting teams with the creation and management of a data and document store (DDS).

Required qualification and experience

• A University, professional, or similar degree in related fields (IT desirable);
• Comprehensive knowledge and up-to-date understanding of computing systems, databases and programming;
• Good knowledge of data management science, spatial and non-spatial data analysis, data and metadata standards;
• A sound topical understanding of Agroecology is a plus;
• Web development skills are a plus as well.

Skills and competence

• Value the sharing of information and continuous improvement in a cooperative atmosphere of constructive evaluation and learning;
• Be a team player with excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to effectively interact with people at all levels in a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environment;
• Have the ability to write and produce clear documentation;
• Be a completer-finisher and have the ability to notice details while keeping in mind the big picture.

Terms of employment

This is an initial six-months consultancy that can turn into a full-time position and available for Vietnamese nationals based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Once the consultancy is finished and depending on demonstrated skill-level, a full-time contract could be issued and renewed annually, based on performance and availability of resources. The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT is an equal opportunity employer and strives for staff diversity.

Applications

To be considered for this position, please send an email to [email protected] (Dr. Ricardo Hernandez, Agrifood Economist) and [email protected] (Ms. To Mai Trang, HR Unit)  with the subject line “Application – Consultant for Data Management – Candidate’s full name”.  In your email, please include:

1. A cover letter illustrating your motivation to apply and suitability for the above position against the listed qualifications and work responsibilities.
2. A detailed curriculum vitae, including the names and email addresses of three professional referees who have worked either as your professional or academic supervisors and are knowledgeable about your skills and professional abilities.

Only qualified applicants with relevant skills and experience will be contacted. We recommend applying as soon as possible and no later than 15 August 2022.

We invite you to learn more about us at: https://alliancebioversityciat.org/

We invite you to learn more about the ASSET project at: https://www.asset-project.org/activities/knowledge-hub