The Organization

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the world’s largest agricultural research and innovation partnership for a food secure future dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources. With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people.

The Alliance delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. The Alliance has a global mandate and experience in tropical agriculture on a wide range of commodities including beans.

About PABRA and SABRN

The Pan Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA-Africa) is a network focused on delivering high impact in bean research-for-development. It includes over 650 partners across 31 countries in Africa, the diversity of these partners and projects are a core strength to achieving impact. As a result of PABRA’s interventions, more farming families have access to improved and marketable bean varieties, new crop management techniques, micronutrient rich bean-based products, niche market varieties and products, and bean related skills and knowledge that help to increase incomes and boost food and nutrition security.

The Southern African Bean Research Network – SABRN, supported by the PABRA aims to encourage bean breeding and germplasm exchange throughout the southern African region. SABRN works to ensure wider availability and increased utilization of demand driven bean-based technologies that increase agricultural sustainability and productivity, add value to bean commodity and are utilized for improving nutrition and food security and incomes of rural and urban poor in Southern Africa.

About the position

Beans provide a highly nutritious food, containing protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, and micronutrients; about 400 million people in the tropics eat beans as part of their daily diet. Beans also provide income for millions of people, particularly in Africa.

With our partners, The Alliance &PABRA develops improved beans that show resilience under harsh growing conditions, which are worsening as a result of climate change impacts. Decades of the Alliance &PABRA research on bean have led to massive uptake of improved varieties, with significant impacts on food security in major bean-producing countries including members of the Southern Africa Bean Research Network (SABRN). With the aim of successfully keep tackling these challenges and ensure bean research products changes lives and livelihoods of millions of people, the Alliance is looking for a strategic, highly motivated, and experienced Bean Breeder and SABRN Coordinator.

Key Responsibilities

Regional Bean breeding activities

• In coordination with Breeding Lead and other breeders, make crosses to generate populations targeting major market segments in countries in the SABRN region and advance them into new breeding lines that can be compiled into PABRA regional nurseries to be tested following the stage gate system
• Support and coordinate regional germplasm bulking, exchange, and monitor regional trial evaluation following standard operating procedures of common bean in SABRN Region
• Work with the breeding lead and other breeders to compile and share all breeding data (field trials in the SABRN region) in stipulated formats and databases for various purposes including future genetic gain measurements
• Contribute to all other bean breeding activities including rapid cycling, applying quantitative genetics-based plant breeding, genomic selection, phenotyping, data management (BMS) and analysis to achieve faster genetic gain in collaboration with the Alliance and SABRN NARS breeders
• Capacity building: support various training activities including training NARS and private sector breeders, and technicians in bean breeding methods, data collection (phenotyping) and data management and analysis
• Engage in developing and maintaining linkages between advanced research and education institutions, private breeding companies, bean seed companies, farmers, and other actors in bean value chain to ensure a vibrant and responsive breeding program
• Participate in mobilization of resources to support Bean research activities
• Publish scientific and technical findings in international peer-reviewed journals
• Fund raising through new projects targeted at increasing bean research capacity

As SABRN coordinator, roles and responsibilities

• Strengthen the bean research in the region through joint planning, joint priority setting and joint implementation of activities and reporting
• Facilitates collaborative research among/within NARS in the region
• Provide support to NARS breeding program with new breeding tools: Interact with Lead breeder and other bean breeders through field visits, exchange of information and ensure consistency in implementing breeding protocols
• Provides a forum for building linkages among multiple partners including NARS, NGOs, seed companies and policy makers
• Support in catalyzing strong scaling-up approach (Seed system) in the region
• Support and backstop bean research along value chain in collaboration with PABRA theme leaders
• Strengthen intra- and inter-network collaboration within and outside of networks
• Engage donors and develop project to support bean value chain activities in SABRN region
• Support and contribute to the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the network’s annual work plans and budgets of the funded activities,
• Lead, support and contribute to the network and PABRA’ reports, scientific and policy document writing processes.
• Lead and contribute to organization and writing of the network’s annual workplans /budgets annual/semi- annual reports and other documents
• Organize annual SABRN steering committee
• Organize joint publication with NARS and other partners
• Provide leadership to the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT –Malawi country office

Requirements and Qualifications

• PhD or MSc with 10-year experience of active bean/legume breeding with good understanding of the role of breeding in sustainable agricultural development, food and nutrition security and inclusive economic development
• International experience of 5 years managing scientific programs. Management experience in bean programs and/or agricultural research and development in Africa would be considered a plus.
• The program/projects managed will have included the management of resource mobilizations, identification of new partnership opportunities and proposal development.
• Proven ability to lead and develop multidisciplinary teams, communicate a common vision among diverse partners, and effectively work with diverse stakeholders, including senior government officials.
• A demonstrated ability to elaborate high quality publications meeting international standards.
• Full English language proficiency, both written and oral.

Terms of employment

This is an international recruited position, will be based at the Alliance office in Lilongwe, Malawi. The initial contract will be for up to two (2) years, subject to a probation period of six (6) months and is renewable depending on performance and availability of resources. This position is graded at a level BG10 in a scale of 14 levels being BG14 the highest level.

The Alliance offers a multicultural, collegial research environment with competitive salary and excellent benefits. We are an equal opportunity employer, and strive for gender, diversity and inclusion in our staff, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic.

Applications

Applicants are invited to send a cover letter illustrating their suitability for the above position against the qualifications, competencies, skills together with a detailed curriculum vitae, including names and addresses of three referees knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience.

All correspondence should be addressed to the Human Resources Office, at (t.solis@cgiar.org) and should clearly indicate “Application: Bean Breeder and SABRN Coordinator”.

Closing date for applications: November 26, 2021

We invite you to learn more about us at: https://alliancebioversityciat.org/ ; https://alliancebioversityciat.org/2020-annual-report