Oversee and execute core duties essential to the role, including managing daily operations, coordinating team activities, ensuring adherence to company policies, and maintaining high standards of productivity. Develop and implement strategic initiatives to enhance efficiency, streamline workflows, and achieve organizational objectives. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to foster innovation, resolve challenges, and optimize performance across departments. Prepare comprehensive reports, analyze key metrics, and provide actionable insights to senior leadership to support data-driven decision-making. Serve as a primary liaison between executives and employees, facilitating clear communication and alignment with company goals. Additionally, identify opportunities for professional growth and implement training programs to cultivate a skilled and motivated workforce.
The successful candidate will drive the evolution of local innovation ecosystems into dynamic knowledge hubs, engaging closely with youth, private sector entities, governmental bodies, policymakers, and strategic partners to foster collaborative progress.
Digital and AI-driven advancements are transforming smallholder agricultural systems, enhancing productivity, efficiency, and sustainability through innovative solutions. This role focuses on leveraging cutting-edge technologies—such as machine learning, data analytics, and automation—to address challenges faced by small-scale farmers, including resource constraints, climate variability, and market access. Key responsibilities include designing and implementing AI-powered tools for precision farming, optimizing supply chains, and providing data-driven insights to improve decision-making. Collaboration with interdisciplinary teams is essential to develop scalable, context-specific solutions that empower smallholder farmers and foster resilient agricultural practices.
Lead the collaborative design and engineering of socio-ecological systems by integrating precision agriculture, digital solutions, and AI-driven innovations in partnership with smallholder farmers, pastoralists, youth organizations, extension services, government entities, and private sector collaborators.
Promote the responsible, inclusive, and ethical application of data, AI, and automation while advancing gender equity, youth engagement, data sovereignty, and environmental sustainability.
Design innovative remote sensing, IoT, edge computing, machine learning, and decision-support systems specifically optimized for low-connectivity and resource-constrained agricultural environments, ensuring seamless deployment and operation.
Facilitate collaborative public–private initiatives, develop digital public infrastructure, and drive institutional innovations to foster sustainable and equitable value creation through digital and AI technologies.
We will develop, deploy, and continuously improve digital services—such as climate information platforms, credit systems, insurance solutions, and market-input-value chain linkages—to deliver integrated technical and market-based interventions. These solutions are designed to reduce risks in agriculture and pastoral systems while fostering dignified, meaningful employment opportunities for young people.
Enhance the contributions of digital public infrastructure, open science, open data, and pre-competitive collaboration and products to advance agricultural development globally, with a particular focus on smallholder-oriented contractual agriculture.
Disseminating research findings and fostering knowledge exchange are integral components of this role.
Prepare and disseminate scholarly articles in esteemed academic journals, thereby enriching INRI’s repository of knowledge concerning digital innovation and machine-augmented intelligence in agriculture and livestock systems.
Represent INRI at conferences, workshops, and training sessions to disseminate research findings, champion the organization’s expertise, and position INRI as a leading authority in this domain.
Craft engaging blogs, communication materials, and policy briefs that advocate for the ethical and responsible advancement of digital innovations and machine-augmented intelligence.
The role entails cultivating and nurturing strategic alliances to drive mutual growth and innovation. Key responsibilities include identifying potential partners, initiating meaningful conversations, and negotiating mutually beneficial agreements. Strong interpersonal and communication skills are essential to build trust and foster long-term relationships. A proven track record in partnership development or sales is required, along with the ability to align partners with organizational objectives. Additionally, proficiency in analyzing market trends and evaluating partnership opportunities is necessary to ensure strategic alignment and value creation.
Foster strategic alliances with adtech and fintech firms, youth organizations, financial and academic institutions, mobile network operators, policymakers, fellow CGIAR centers, NGOs, and investors to design, develop, and deploy digital innovations and machine-augmented intelligence solutions tailored for smallholder agriculture and livestock systems.
Leverage strategic partnerships across South-South and North-South collaborations to forge robust connections with esteemed institutions, thereby harnessing the transformative potential of artificial intelligence to address persistent development challenges within intricate smallholder systems.
Act as a knowledge broker, fostering strategic connections across the innovation ecosystem to facilitate collaborative growth and knowledge exchange.
Lead and/or assist in initiatives related to crafting project plans, conducting cost analyses, drafting business cases, and preparing supporting documentation to enhance the development, improvement, and ongoing maintenance of new digital tools.
You will play a key role in advancing fundraising initiatives that support INRI and CGIAR priorities, with a strong focus on precision agriculture, digital innovations, and machine-augmented intelligence, while actively engaging private capital sources.
The role involves enhancing professional skills and providing guidance to support the growth and development of individuals or teams. Responsibilities include facilitating training sessions, offering constructive feedback, and fostering an environment conducive to learning and improvement. The ideal candidate will have experience in leadership development, instructional design, or related fields, with a strong ability to communicate effectively and inspire others.
In collaboration with diverse stakeholders, design and implement training and capacity-building initiatives focused on the development and maintenance of digital platforms in designated countries.
Co-provide supervision for doctoral candidates and master’s degree students engaged in pertinent research areas.
Provide guidance and assistance to research technicians engaged in collecting field data, analyzing results, and sharing conclusions with stakeholders.
Candidates must possess a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, such as computer science, engineering, or business administration, along with a minimum of three years of professional experience in data analysis, project management, or a closely related discipline. Proficiency in statistical analysis software, database management systems, and advanced Excel is essential, as is familiarity with programming languages like Python or R. Strong problem-solving abilities, keen analytical skills, and exceptional communication talents are required to interpret complex data sets and convey insights effectively to stakeholders. The ability to work collaboratively in cross-functional teams, manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines, and maintain a high degree of accuracy is also critical. Prior experience in a leadership or mentorship role is a plus.
PhD in agriculture/environmental sciences/computer/geospatial sciences with over 7 years of experience in the capacity of technical project/program management and leading solution architecture development for large complex distributed systems.
Experience in technical management roles is desirable as well as a degree in Business Administration
A strong track record in designing, implementing, and launching digital innovations and machine-augmented intelligence solutions tailored for crop-livestock and pastoral systems is essential. Familiarity with Generative AI and computational social sciences would be beneficial.
Demonstrated expertise in authoring and disseminating scientific papers, alongside a strong ability to develop and present materials for conferences, workshops, and stakeholder meetings.
Skilled in developing informative communications, including research and policy briefs, that examine both the opportunities and challenges presented by the digitalization of agricultural and livestock systems.
Experienced in crafting grant proposals and securing funding through strategic donor and stakeholder engagement while mobilizing resources to advance INRI’s mission.
Skilled in working effectively within multidisciplinary research teams, including experts in climate science, livestock productivity, crop and soil management, socioeconomic, and gender studies, with a proven ability to communicate and present findings collaboratively.
Seasoned in guiding students and offering mentorship to research technicians engaged in data collection, field studies, and analysis.
Experts must demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of resource-constrained, smallholder agricultural systems in developing nations, with particular emphasis on semi-arid and tropical environments, while prioritizing strategies for climate adaptation and resilience.
Professional rewording:
Proven professional experience in Africa and/or Asia, along with a strong grasp of the agricultural and environmental landscapes in those regions.
Experience collaborating effectively with private sector organizations and familiarity with their business models and operational approaches will be advantageous.
Fluent in English and French, with a working proficiency in African languages being an additional asset.
Qualifications
PhD/Fellowship
Experience Required
7 years
