(RFP301426) - Internal Call - Scientist I - Multifunctional Landscape

Palmira, Colombia

The Alliance ofBioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture(CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversityand sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutionsaddress the general crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss,and environmental degradation.

With novelpartnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations totransform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, driveprosperity, and nourish people.

The Alliance ispart of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.

Aboutthe position

The main objective of the position is toprovide scientific and technical leadership for the design, development,scaling and application of a portfolio of decision-support tools that supportsustainable land-use planning across multifunctional tropical landscapes,including conservation, tree-based restoration, cacao and coffee agroforestrysystems, timber plantations, silvopastoral systems and native food plantproduction. The position will generate scientific evidence, guide tooldevelopment and implementation, and foster strategic partnerships to supportrestoration and sustainable development initiatives across Latin America andother tropical regions globally.

Theposition will be based at the Alliance's Americas Hub, located on the Palmiracampus in Colombia, and will require periodic travel across Latin America tosupport the implementation of project activities and engagement with keypartners and stakeholders. Non-Colombians relocating willreceive an IRS contract.

Requirements

KeyResponsibilities

- Proposes, plansand executes the back-end development, enhancement, integration and scaling ofthe D4R (Diversity for Restoration), D4A (Diversity for Agroforestry) and C4R(Conservation for Restoration) decision-support platforms, ensuring theirscientific robustness and applicability across Latin America (Colombia, Peruand Ecuador), Central America, Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda) and Asia(India, Vietnam and Laos).
- Providescientific and technical leadership for the development, improvement andscaling of decision-support tools for silvopastoral systems and timberplantations,



supporting sustainable land-use planning and restorationinitiatives in Latin America.
- Implements andprovides technical guidance to the development and application ofdecision-support tools for edible plant species selection within the Vision forAdapted Crops and Soils (VACS) initiative, ensuring their adaptation anddeployment across diverse agroecological contexts in Latin America, Africa andAsia.
- Supervise andoversight of ecological, agronomic and ethnobiological data collectionstrategies, species suitability assessments, seed zone modelling approaches andfunctional trait analyses required to strengthen the scientific foundation ofdecision-support tools.
- Direct the development,validation and continuous enhancement of carbon sequestration, ecosystemservice and economic forecasting models, ensuring alignment with scientificstandards, organizational priorities and stakeholder needs.
- Provide technical leadership andcoordination between scientific teams, software developers and externalcollaborators to ensure the effective integration, functionality and continuousimprovement of digital decision-support platforms.
- Proposes, plans and executes fieldvalidation activities, pilot testing processes and applied research studies toassess the performance and scalability of decision-support tools acrossmultiple landscapes and production systems.
- Develop and implementcapacity-strengthening strategies, technical guidance materials and stakeholderengagement activities to support the adoption and effective use ofdecision-support tools by researchers, practitioners, development agencies andpolicymakers.
- Contribute to the preparation ofscientific publications, technical reports and knowledge products thatdisseminate research findings and advance the evidence base for restoration,agroforestry and sustainable land-use planning.
- Establish and maintaincollaborative relationships with research institutions, government agencies,development organizations,



donors and international networks to support projectimplementation and knowledge exchange. Contribute to the identification offunding opportunities and the development of research proposals related todecision-support tools, restoration
- and sustainable land-use initiatives.
- Ensures scientific quality,compliance with research protocols, and delivery of project outputs.

Qualificationsand requirements

- PhD infields related to Agricultural Sciences, Ecology, Biology or related fields.
- Minimum of5 years of experience in scientific research and program management in tropicalagriculture, tropical forest restoration or related fields.
- Demonstratedspecialized experience in at least one of the following areas: management ofagroecological systems, restoration of degraded lands; tropical (agro)biodiversity conservation
- Strongrecord of scientific publications in indexed journals, experience presentingresults to a range of stakeholders, and demonstrated ability to translatescientific evidence into strategic inputs for policy and decision-making.
- Provenexperience working with key stakeholders to identify pragmatic tailor-madescenarios for plantation co-design.
- Experience working in Latin America and small holder production systemsacross the tropics .

Competences

- Scientific and Technical Leadership.
- Ability to provide technical guidance,drive scientific excellence and influence research direction withinmultidisciplinary teams.
- Strategic Thinking.
- Collaboration and PartnershipBuilding.
- Communication and Knowledge Sharing.
- Innovation and ProblemSolving:Capacity to develop innovative approaches and address complexscientific, technical and operational challenges.
- Project Planning and Execution.
- Influencing and StakeholderEngagement.

TermsOf Employment

Non-Colombians relocating willreceive an IRS contract.

The position level is BG09,on a scale of 14 levels, with level 14 being the highest . The salaryrange will be established in accordance with the regional/country standards.The contract will be for a period of one (1) year, subject to a probationaryperiod, and is renewable subject to performance, project needs and availabilityof funds.

Applications

Closing date of the call: September 14th,2026

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📌 6) - Internal Call - Scientist I - Multifunctional Landscape (Palmira)
🏢 Swiss Forum for International Agricultural Research
📍 Palmira