Senior / principal scientist - climate change

You will be a natural or social scientist with a PhD and strong track record of research related to climate change impacts, adaptation or mitigation in a developing-country agriculture or natural resource management context. Your research demonstrates a commitment to interdisciplinarity and you have a strong track record in project or programme management and in securing research funding. You will lead the WorldFish Center’s programme of research on climate change, so you will need to have an international profile as a climate and development researcher and be good at collaborating with others to achieve greater impact.

A major part of your responsibility will be to co-ordinate the Center’s role in the CGIAR CCAFS programme in South Asia and in East and West Africa and to ensure that science from this programme is published in leading peer-reviewed journals and is also taken up in adaptation and mitigation practice, to benefit poor and vulnerable people dependent on aquatic agricultural systems (AAS). AAS include fisheries, aquaculture, wetland rice, horticulture, coastal plantation crops, so experience of coastal or wetland agriculture or fisheries and aquaculture is an advantage.

You will also provide intellectual leadership and technical advice to the Center’s climate change research activities in SE Asia and the Pacific, and in Southern Africa, and help secure additional funding for its implementation. Finally, you will also strengthen the center’s engagement with climate change policy development, for example by participating in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change meetings.

Key Responsibilities

*Act as focal point/coordinator for the WorldFish Center’s engagement in the CGIAR-wide CCAFS programme.
* Coordinate the linkages between CCAFS and the AAS programme, ensuring that climate change issues are mainstreamed in the latter, and that AAS issues remain prominent in CCAFS.
* Represent the WorldFish Center at key global and regional climate change policy forums and at relevant international science conferences.
* Build and sustain productive working relationships with key research, policy and implementation partners.
* Maintain the coherence, quality and relevance of the WorldFish Center’s research programme on climate change.
* Direct fund-raising activities for the Center’s climate change research programme.
* Build and mentor a team of researchers in WorldFish to ensure the entire Center’s country offices (in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Egypt, Malawi and Zambia) have capacity to address the challenges of climate change.

Qualifications, Experience, Skills and Abilities

* Ability to provide intellectual leadership, technical guidance and inspiration to researchers across the Center working on climate change.
* Proven record of scientific team leadership – either of a research group, major project or programme.
* PhD degree and strong record of publications in international peer-reviewed journals related to climate change impact, vulnerability, adaptation or mitigation.
* At least 5 years experience of field-based social science or interdisciplinary research on issues of rural livelihoods, gender, poverty, agriculture or environmental management in developing countries.
* Sound knowledge of current approaches and methodologies for climate vulnerability analysis, adaptation or mitigation.
* Record of fund-raising and/or securing successful competitive research grants.
* Experience of engagement in national, regional or global climate change-related policy processes (e.g. UNFCCC, formulation of NAPAs).
* Broad knowledge of either fisheries/aquaculture or international development issues – preferably both.
* Experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams in project contexts and under tight deadlines.
* Excellent written and spoken English language capability. The WorldFish Center has a non-discriminatory policy and provides an innovative work environment.