ILRI vacancy: research assistant (closing 15 January 2012)

Vacancy Number: RA/MARKETS/12/11
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Duration: 2-year contract

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works at the crossroads of livestock and poverty, bringing high-quality livestock science, communications and capacity building to bear on poverty reduction and sustainable development. ILRI is one of 15 centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). ILRI has campuses in Kenya (headquarters) and Ethiopia, with other offices located in other regions of Africa (Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria) as well as in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka), Southeast Asia (Laos, Thailand, Vietnam) and East Asia (China).

ILRI seeks to recruit a research assistant to join a small team of professionals working on the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) initiative. The objective of ReSAKSS is to provide data, information and knowledge to stakeholders in order to improve the formulation, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of agricultural and rural development strategies in Africa. The successful candidate will work with the Eastern and Central Africa Node of ReSAKSS based at ILRI-Nairobi which is set up to serve the COMESA region in the implementation of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP).

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to ReSAKSS' analytical work specifically, in designing and managing the collection and analysis of gender disaggregated data on agriculture and rural development indicators, agricultural value chains and trade;Contribute to synthesis of studies and literature around gender issues affecting agriculture and rural development in the region to generate policy relevant messages;
• Participate in the communication of ReSAKSS' work, e.g. through preparation of ReSAKSS publications such as working papers,  policy briefs, technical reports, journal publications, conference papers, posters, brochures and presentations at various policy forums;
• Contributing to the capacity building component of ReSAKSS including organizing and implementing training activities for ReSAKSS' stakeholders;
• Contributing to the organization of conferences, seminars, and workshops organised or co-organised by ReSAKSS.

Requirements

• A Master's degree in development economics, agricultural economics, or economics with emphasis on gender and poverty analysis;
• A minimum of 3 years relevant work experience;
• A good understanding of gender issues in agriculture and rural development and how to design, collect, and analyse sex disaggregated data;
• Knowledge and experience in agricultural and rural development issues in Sub Saharan Africa;
• Experience with econometrics and other forms of quantitative analysis, demonstrated in appropriate written outputs; conducting literature searches and writing professional papers;
• Proficiency in using MS office and statistical packages like STATA, SPSS and SAS;
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize a large body of knowledge into simple, easy to understand papers and policy documents;
• Demonstrated good organisational skills and ability to work under minimum supervision;
• Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain professional contacts, and to interact with national officials and experts, other researchers, international organizations, development partners, and other ReSAKSS' stakeholders
• Ability to work in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams in a developing country setting;
• A willingness to travel frequently within and outside the COMESA region;
• Knowledge of French is an added advantage.

Terms of appointment: This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position based at ILRI's Nairobi campus and is open to Kenyan nationals only. The position is on a 2-year contract renewable subject to satisfactory performance and availability of funding.

Applicants should send a cover letter and CV explaining their interest in the position, what they can bring to the job and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate's professional qualifications and work experience to the Human Resources Director by registering  at this link:  http://www.myjobsinkenya.com/?s=view_recr_profile&i=100018 before 15 January 2012. Only applications that are received via this link will be considered and only short listed candidates will be contacted. The position title and reference number RA/MARKETS/12/11 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the online application.

To find out more about ILRI, visit our websites at http://www.ilri.org.

To find out more about working at ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org/ilricrowd/

ILRI is an equal opportunity employer.