Program Director (Deputy Director General level)

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Program Director (Deputy Director General level)

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has been reforming its structure and governance to develop a
programmatic and partnership-based focus that will lead to increasing development impacts. The CGIAR’s key objectives are food security, poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability in the developing world. As lead Center of the new CGIAR Research Program (CRP5) on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is seeking a dynamic scientist to head this new research program, which will involve collaboration across (CGIAR) Centers and external partners. The successful applicant will be appointed at Deputy Director General level of IWMI. The position will be based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and will involve extensive international travel to field sites and partner agencies. It is anticipated that approximately US$0.45 billion will be committed to the program over a five-year period. The Program Director will head the program management committee and be responsible for the strategic implementation of the research, integration of science across the program, partnership development and program outputs. He/she will report to the Director General of IWMI, be assisted by a Program Manager and supported administratively by IWMI staff. The successful candidate will have proven experience of scientific leadership in natural resources and environmental management as well as a strong ability in forming effective research partnerships to tackle key issues in the CGIAR’s focus areas.

CRP5 Water Land and Ecosystems
This is a new CRP that will determine how agriculture interacts with its natural resource base and how drivers of global and regional change may affect agriculture, livelihoods and the environment through water scarcity, soil degradation and changes to ecosystem services. This CRP aims to find agricultural governance and management solutions that minimize environmental decline, will operate at basin and landscape scales in several major geographic regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America, and will have themes focusing on irrigation systems, rainfed and pastoral systems, and resource recovery and reuse. Significant attention will be paid to maintaining, improving, supporting and regulating ecosystem services on which agriculture depends, while at the same time minimizing the agricultural impacts on ecosystems. Outputs will include improved land, water and ecosystem models, knowledge, policy advice and management practices that will be facilitated by new integrative information systems. Currently, 13 CGIAR Centers, the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are major partners in this CRP.

IWMI
IWMI is one of 15 Centers supported by the CGIAR. IWMI’s vision is ‘Water for a food-secure world.’ The Institute is planning to contribute to five of the new CRPs, including regional programs on Water, Land and Ecosystems, new dryland, humid and aquatic agricultural systems and the program on Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and Food Security. The headquarters of IWMI is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and the Institute employs nearly 300 staff, hosts the CPWF and has major offices in Lao PDR, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, India, Ghana, South Africa and Ethiopia. IWMI’s management team includes Research Theme Leaders (4); Regional Directors (2); Director CPWF; Director WLE; and Directors of Finance, Human Resources, Business Development, and Communication and Marketing.

Selection Criteria
 

Prerequisite
1. A PhD or equivalent experience in a subject area relevant to the position (environmental and earth sciences, agricultural science, civil
engineering, social science, economics).

Essential
2. Significant experience in natural resource management research and development (R&D).
3. Demonstrated experience of working in and/or applying the above R&D to problem solving in developing countries.
4. Proven scientific capabilities as demonstrated by publications and on-the-ground impact resulting from the work in an area relevant to the position.
5. Demonstrated experience in leading and managing large multidisciplinary research programs.
6. Demonstrated experience of fostering effective partnerships between research agencies, national agricultural research and extension
systems (NARES) or their equivalent, and development partners including civil society organizations (CSOs).
7. Clear track record demonstrating written and oral communication skills including public speaking and working with the media.
8. Demonstrated people management skills in team building and managing teams that are geographically dispersed.
9. Demonstrated experience in management of budgets and finance, human resources, and information and knowledge management for large programs.

Desirable
10. Demonstrated experience of the importance of ecosystem functions and ecosystem services in the context of sustainable agricultural and environmental systems.
11. Demonstrated understanding of the potential to use new information technologies to assist in providing information to policymakers,
farmers and project partners.
12. Understanding of the political economy and global drivers of change that impact food security, livelihoods and environmental sustainability in the developing world.

Please submit your application online at: www.iwmi.org/About_IWMI/Vacancies/
 

Complete Application Form + attach your résumé + attach your letter which addresses IWMI’s requirements shown above
with names and email addresses of 3 professional referees, to be contacted if you are short-listed

Your application will be acknowledged automatically within 24 hours. If not, please email us at work-at-iwmi@cgiar.org

Closing date: September 9th, 2011