AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center is seeking a highly experienced visionary leader for appointment as Director General starting April 2016. The Center is the leading vegetable research and development organization in the developing world. It is the only global institution in the public domain conserving vegetable germplasm, conducting vegetable research, and addressing related nutrition and health issues.

The Challenge

The potential of vegetables to contribute to prosperity for the poor and the health of all in the developing world has yet to be fully realized. To enable AVRDC to achieve this goal, the Director General will provide strategic leadership, ensure research excellence, and drive resource mobilization.

The Director General will position AVRDC as a partner with global and national research and development organizations, particularly in South and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The DG will cultivate relations with the Center’s founding governments, current partners and existing donors while also seeking new partners and funders to engage with vegetable research and development. The new DG will be an enthusiastic and tireless advocate for vegetables in international forums, and a significant expansion of Center efforts and activities is expected.

Leveraging the efforts of an outstanding team of research leaders, the Director General will foster interdisciplinary teamwork; insist on the relevance of research to achieving impact; promote a strong commitment to partnerships with public, nongovernmental, and private sector organizations; and ensure effective administrative support to research in a geographically distributed multicultural organization. The Director General reports to, and is an ex officio member of, the multinational Board of Directors that governs AVRDC.

About AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center

The Center's overarching goal is the alleviation of poverty and malnutrition for rural and urban poor through increased production, profitability, and consumption of nutritious and health-promoting vegetables. Vegetables contribute both to crop diversity and better-balanced diets. They are important as sources of income for rural and peri-urban producers, including especially small-scale women producers; as high value commodities with expanding market potential in rapidly growing urban areas; and as a high quality source of human nutrition. The Center’s work directly contributes to the attainment of the newly proposed UN Sustainable Development Goal #2: "….to Improve Agricultural Systems and Raise Rural Prosperity."

AVRDC is an internationally funded, autonomous, nonprofit, global research and development organization headquartered in Taiwan. Founded initially to focus on Asia in the early 1970s, the Center currently has activities in approximately 40 countries. The Center leads high-profile work at its four regional centers in India, Mali, Tanzania, and Thailand and has a modest presence in country offices in Bangladesh, Cameroon, Fiji, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan, the Solomon Islands, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

The Center currently has an annual budget of US$18-20 million, about 50 internationally recruited scientists, and more than 300 support staff. The Center seeks a highly experienced professional as Director General who will bring an exceptional combination of the following experiences, qualities and skills to the leadership of AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center:

• A Ph.D. or equivalent, including significant research experience, in an agriculturally related biological or social sciences discipline.
• Strong motivation to make a difference in the world by increasing incomes of the rural poor and improving the nutrition of all.
• The strategic vision, good judgment, and ability to inspire and lead a multicultural team of highly qualified scientists and professional managers.
• The sensitivity to nourish productive partnerships with a wide range of institutions, especially in member countries and with countries hosting headquarters and regional centers.
• Demonstrated ability to increase financial, technical, intellectual, and political support for an innovative, integrated, multidisciplinary research and development program.
• Proven record of team building, effective delegation, and staff empowerment. 
• Experience in the leadership, management, and administration of interdisciplinary and geographically dispersed scientific research.
• Extensive familiarity with agricultural and food security issues in the developing world, preferably including the vegetable sector.
• A solid knowledge of current science relevant to the Center's mission.
• Commitment to results-based management principles, with the capacity to generate and use evaluative data to validate and guide program direction.
• The capacity to exercise sound management of fiscal resources to achieve strategic plans and to inspire the confidence of funders.
• A record of success in securing funds from a wide array of international funding sources and contributors.
• Experience and skill in the dissemination of research outputs and outcomes to varied audiences using multiple communications technologies.
• Effective communication and presentation skills in written and spoken English (required); additional language skills are desirable.
• Compelling advocacy to promote vegetables as critical elements of safe, nutritious, and healthy diets in low- and middle-income countries around the world, and as an income-generating opportunity for resource poor farmers.
• Diplomatic talents, excellent people skills, and a keen awareness of global affairs. 
• Willingness to travel extensively, often under demanding conditions, from the AVRDC home base in Taiwan.
• Familiarity with AVRDC priority regions of Southeast (ASEAN) and South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

The salary scale and benefits package for the Director General is attractive and comparable with those of similar international institutions. The Director General’s term is four years, renewable once. Further information about the Center can be found at avrdc.org

Application procedure:

Applications should be submitted by 30 June 2015 for full consideration and must include a detailed curriculum vita, a cover letter stating interest in and qualifications for the position, and the names/full contact information for four referees. Completed applications should be sent by email to the Chair of the World Vegetable Center Director General Search Committee at dgsearch@worldveg.org Strict confidentiality will be observed in all cases at the outset of the search.