Agricultural Risk Data Scientist at International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

Job Details

We are looking for a qualified person to coordinate and lead the development of data-driven analytical approaches to assess agricultural risk and risk-reduction interventions. The position will also provide thought leadership on new directions for CIAT’s data science research on agricultural risk management, financial services for agriculture (e.g. credit and insurance), and climate finance. The position will be full-time and based in Nairobi, Kenya, but will have a global mandate.

Main Responsibilities:

• Coordinate and contribute to the planning and execution of climate impact modelling and data analysis activities for agricultural risk and climate-smart agriculture (CSA) profiling, ensuring quality of outputs and coordination amongst team members.
• Lead the development of an agricultural risk profiling system and database targeted at financial services sector partners.
• Implement existing and develop new climate and crop data analysis approaches for assessing the impact of climate variability and climate change on agricultural value chains.
• Ensure timely delivery and quality control of modelling outputs, facilitate discussion and socialize results with other CIAT scientists.
• Build strong links with CIAT research teams to enhance the potential for agricultural risk management collaborations across CIAT.
• Lead a team of technical analysts, interns and students supporting data science work for ARM
  International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) Recruiting Agricultural Risk Data Scientist
• Lead the writing of peer-reviewed papers on agricultural risk analysis.
• Support relevant fundraising activities, as deemed important.
• Contribute to the expansion of CIAT's Agricultural Risk Management Strategic Initiative by exploring new potential opportunities to develop new agricultural risk management approaches and analytical products, and by seeking new partnerships and sources of funding related to agricultural risk management, financial services for agriculture (e.g. credit and insurance), and climate finance.

Technical Competencies

• PhD (or MA/MSc with extensive experience) in a field related to agricultural risk management.
• Deep experience in agricultural risk assessment, crop-climate modelling, climate data analysis, and/or climate change impacts research
• Strong data science, modelling and programming skills, including experience with statistical (e.g R), programming (e.g.) Python, spatial analysis/GIS, remote sensing, and/or other data analysis platforms
• Experience desired with big data analytic approaches (e.g. AI, Machine Learning) and platforms (e.g. Hadoop, Spark)
• Experience and knowledge in issues related to financial services (e.g. credit, insurance) and agricultural finance (including climate finance, impact investment, green bonds, etc.)
• Experience developing and analysing large databases of complex information
• Demonstrated ability to write scientific journal articles: scientific publication track record in agricultural risk assessment, climate impact analysis or crop modelling (at least 1 paper as first author)
• Ability to communicate complex scientific information to a broad audience
• Excellent written, oral, and reading skills in English
• Good knowledge of statistics for data analysis