Research Officer (Agricultural Economics and Impact Evaluation)

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an International Financial Institution and a specialized United Nations Agency whose mission is enabling poor rural people to improve their food security and nutrition, raise their incomes, and strengthen their resilience. To achieve these goals, IFAD develops and finances programs and projects aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and incomes and reducing rural poverty. IFAD's headquarters is in Rome, Italy, but has offices in 40 countries and finances programs and projects in more than 90 countries.

The Strategy and Knowledge Management Department provides IFAD's analytical leadership capacity, on the one hand enabling the Fund to effectively participate in, and contribute to, the international policy dialogue on agricultural and rural development (in particular, on smallholder agricultural development), and on the other helping ensure that IFAD's policies, programmes and projects are informed by state-of-the art thinking on these issues.

The Development Studies and Statistics Division, SSD, inthe SKM Department, manages statistics and studies for development programmes in IFAD, in close collaboration with other units within IFAD and networking with centres of excellence outside IFAD as partner institutions. Statistics and studies in IFAD aim to ensure: that high quality data, strategic rural intelligence (processed, quantitative and qualitative, information on rural poverty and productivity) and state-of-the-art-thinking on smallholder agricultural and rural development inform IFAD's strategies and policies, country programmes and impact/outcomes assessments, advocacy and resource mobilisation; and that state-of-the-art-doing (evidence-based best-practice) informs IFAD's research. A range of periodic publications and data visualisation constitute a cornerstone of the dissemination strategy. Job PurposeUnder the general supervision of the Director SSD, in direct collaboration with the SSD/SKM colleagues and in close cooperation with the other divisions and units including the Independent Office of the Evaluation, the incumbent is responsible for the coordination and management of corporate initiatives on identifying, adapting and mainstreaming state-of-the-art methods in agricultural economics analysis, in order to enhance IFAD's poverty analysis, impact evaluation and metrics of rural poverty and rural transformation.Duties and Responsibilities

• Design and coordinate meta-studies on topics related to agricultural development, rural transformation and poverty reduction pathways, based on analytical work and evaluation findings; and coordinate relevant peer reviews.

Provide policy advice on agricultural economics issues, as they emerge from the analytical work.Design, develop and improve related learning tools; and be responsible for providing training and other capacity building activities at HQ, IFAD County Offices and key IFAD partners in countries.Provide technical guidance on agricultural development M&E systems design in the context of quality assurance process as well as on economic analysis of agricultural development programmes, the design of impact evaluations and their analysis.Design, plan and prepare conferences, workshops, seminars, and other forms of the dissemination of the agricultural economics analysis, related poverty analysis and impact evaluation research outputs.Author analytically rigorous work on agricultural economics analysis and impact evaluation that is adapted for different audiences and needs.Represent the Fund in the global processes and outputs to improve agricultural and other rural data; be responsible for developing and maintaining a relevant open database.Create opportunities for expanding and managing partnership network with centres of excellence in the field of agricultural economics and impact evaluation.Participate in national or international seminars, conferences, workshops, symposia, and various policy making forums and present research/analytical papers as well as advocate IFAD¿s position on agricultural economics issues and agricultural development impact evaluation.Contribute to the strategic planning of the analytical work in SSD and IFAD. Qualifications and Skills RequiredEducation and Experience

• Advanced degree in agricultural economics, applied economics or related fields;
• At least eight years of relevant post-qualification professional experience in applied research and/or policy design and/or analysis in a field of poverty economics and impact evaluation, including relevant work experience at research institutions.
• Experience in agricultural research, possibly in managing agriculture research for development projects.
• Proven experience in economic analysis of agricultural development projects.
• Excellent knowledge of outcome mapping approaches and methods (i.e., logical framework or other theory of change methods) and of data management.
• Proven records of publications on methods and applications.
• Relevant experience with agricultural censuses, household surveys and Living Standard Surveys.
• Expertise in Impact Evaluation related to agricultural interventions will be an asset.
• Experience in RandomizedControlTrialsisa further advantage.
• Strong knowledge of quantitative methods and achievements in gender disaggregation are an advantage.

Technical/Functional Competencies

• Significant periods of travel to and work in developing countries.
• Judgement/decision maker:excellent judgement and the ability to think strategically, assessing and responding to new challenges in rural development.
• Analytical skills:Thorough understanding of socio-economic issues as well as the capacity to lead specific analytical work.
• Negotiator and communicator: work effectively with others to meet mutual goals. Negotiate to align parties and build networks and partnerships. Communicate effectively to engage others.
• Facilitator of change: produces adaptive change. Encourages others to seek opportunities for different and innovative approaches to addressing problems and opportunities, facilitating the implementation and acceptance of change. Communicates continuously and motivates and inspires people to overcome major obstacles toward achieving a vision and producing the change.
• Propensity for innovation and results-orientation.

Languages and Other Skills

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. Working knowledge ofFrench, Spanish, and/or Arabic would be an advantage.
• Excellent communicator, who can deliver analytical and policy messages clearly and convincingly; ability to communicate with rural development practitioners from the international to the grassroots level.

Other InformationApplicants should note that IFAD staff members are international civil servants subject to the authority of the President of IFAD, and they may be assigned by him/her to any of the activities of IFAD, including field assignments and/or rotation within IFAD.IFAD reserves the right to appoint a candidate at the appropriate grade commensurate with experience and knowledge.Interested candidates are requested to apply by completing IFAD's Personal History Form (PHF) in English. A separate CV may be attached if you so desire, only as a supplement and NOT a substitute to the PHF. The application should be made through the online system only. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY the instructions in 'How to Apply' before you start.In the interest of making most cost effective use of funds and resources, we are only able to respond to applicants who are short-listed for interview. Candidates who do not receive any feedback within three months should consider their application unsuccessful.Candidates may be required to take a written test and to deliver a presentation as well as participate in interviews.

IFAD is committed to achieving diversity and is seeking a balanced workforce from IFAD's member states. Women are particular encouraged to apply.