Background: The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) invites applications for the internationally recruited position of Food Scientist/Technologist. IITA is an international non-profit agricultural research-for-development (R4D) organization established in 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and a member of the CGIAR Consortium. Our R4D approach is anchored on the development needs of the tropics. We work with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. We have more than 100 internationally recruited scientists from about 35 countries and 900 nationally recruited staff based in various stations across Africa. Please visit http://www.iita.org/ for more information on IITA.
Position: Background and Responsibilities
• Lead, with technical support staff, the food technology (and related nutrition) activities of the project in East DR Congo and Burundi in close cooperation with development partners, national research systems, and other relevant stakeholders. • Develop a food technology-related research program in the context of this project (and other initiatives in DR Congo) and publish research results in high quality, peer-reviewed journals. • Facilitate the implementation of project activities in East DR Congo (in close cooperation with the project coordinator) within the context Humidtropics partnership arrangements. • Manage the IITA component of the project budget (annual budgeting, budget execution monitoring, assisting with financial reports to ILRI, etc). • Compile technical reports from activities in East DR Congo for forwarding to the project coordinator in Bujumbura. • Advance the crop processing and value addition initiatives towards partner/agri-preneur-led, profitable ventures in DR Congo (in cooperation with the CEO of the Business Incubation Platform in Ibadan). • (Co) supervise PhD and MSc students. • Build capacity of partners to engage in food technology (and nutrition) activities. • Communicate research results to various audiences and in various forms, with specific focus on top quality, peer-reviewed journals. • Collaborate with CGIAR centers and other research institutes to support/ enhance project outputs and develop synergies with other projects to maximize impact. • Engage with other IITA staff and projects operating in the Great Lakes Region and beyond.
Qualification and Experience
The candidate should have a PhD in a food science/ technology with a minor in nutrition or a related discipline relevant to the skills listed above (the covering letter should expand on the relevance of your skill-set).
• Minimum 10 years' experience in sub-Saharan Africa. • Understanding of gender and social inclusion issues and experience with ways of addressing these in research for development programs in order to promote equality of opportunity and outcomes. • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, experience working and interacting effectively with a variety of stakeholders (farmers, extension workers and other service providers, public and private sector entities, national programs), and demonstrated ability to collaborate well across disciplines and with key collaborative institutions and agencies. • Strong publication record in peer reviewed journals. • Knowledge of crop-livestock farming systems and agro-business models in sub-Saharan Africa. • Fluent written and spoken English and French.
General Information
We offer highly competitive salary with equally attractive fringe benefits and excellent working conditions in a pleasant campus environment.
Duty station: Bukavu, DR Congo General information: The contract will be for an initial period of two years. IITA offers internationally competitive remuneration package paid in U.S. Dollars.
Method of Application:
Interested applicants should forward their applications with detailed curriculum vitae saved with their names in Microsoft word format. The application must include the names and e-mail addresses of three professional referees which must include either the Head of applicant’s current or previous organization or applicant’s direct Supervisor/Superior officer at work and evidence of current remuneration package to IITA website.
IITA is an equal opportunity employer and particularly welcomes applications from female candidates.
Please note that only short listed candidates will be contacted