Director Policy Innovations Science Program

Reports to: CGIAR Chief Scientist

Location: This position will be based in a duty station to be determined in a location with significant CGIAR operations relevant to the Program. Montpellier shown above is a default system setting and not the confirmed duty station.

Grade: SO8 / CG13 (Equivalent to UN D1

Date Published: 24 March 2025

Closing Date for Applications: 15 April 2025 at 16:00 CEST.

About CGIAR

CGIAR is a global research partnership for a foodsecure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to reducing poverty enhancing food and nutrition security and improving natural resources and ecosystem services. Its research is conducted closely with hundreds of partners including national and regional research institutes civil society organizations academia development organizations and the private sector.

About the position

CGIAR has an ambitious mission to deliver science and innovations that advance the transformation of food land and water systems in a climate crisis to reduce poverty and inequity enhance food and nutrition security and improve natural resources and ecosystem services. CGIARs Integrated Partnership operates as a federated group of Centers and the CGIAR System Organization united by common values and principles and committed to achieving synergies that enhance their individual and collective contributions to CGIARs mission.

CGIARs 202530 science and innovation Portfolio encompasses eight Science Programs a Scaling for Impact Program and three Accelerators. The Portfolio is designed to harness CGIARs collective capabilities to address the most pressing global challenges. It aims to foster deeper and broader programmatic integration across Centers and disciplines enabling science and innovation at a greater scale with enhanced reach and impact.

The Policy Innovations Science Program aims to position CGIAR as a global leader in generating and disseminating evidence to inform policies and institutions related to food land and water systems to drive rapid and inclusive transformation and foster futures where people and the planet thrive. By leveraging CGIARs research network and fostering multistakeholder engagement it bridges the gap between science and policymaking to develop and scale policy options that achieve multiple objectives particularly in the Global South.

The Director Policy Innovations Science Program provides scientific leadership adaptive management and strategic alignment of the Program and its components as a coherent joint undertaking that spans multiple CGIAR Centers partners and sources of funding.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Aligns research outputs with policy needs promoting actionable equitable and sustainable solutions that integrate multidisciplinary research to deliver tangible societal benefits.
• Supports the integration of evidence from CGIAR research into global regional and national policy frameworks to address global challenges like climate change food security and inequality.
• Provides scientific and strategic leadership of the Program ensuring continuous review and adaptive management of the Programs vision theory of change and structure to maximize impact relevance and efficiency.
• Oversees Program aligning activities with CGIARs overarching vision mission and 2030 outcomes including developing and managing work plans and budgets for Program and fostering alignment of relevant of other bilaterally funded projects and programs with the Programs highlevel outcomes and theory of change.
• Leads the Programs Leadership team comprising Area of Work Leads and CoLeads and Center Delegates defining a vision for the program and shared accountability.
• Actively participates in CGIARs Global Science Team driving coordinated science and innovation leadership across the Portfolio to achieve collective impact.
• Guides and directs engagement with global enabling and engagement functions a Program level Independent Advisory Group and CGIARs partnershipwide independent advisory and assurance bodies (i.e. Independent Science for Development Council the Independent Advisory and Evaluation Service the Standing Panel on Impact Assessment and Internal Audit) combining scientific and political acumen.
• Acts as a spokesperson engaging with partners funders and when required CGIARs partnershipwide governing bodies on matters related to the Program including the CGIAR System Council and CGIAR Integrated Partnership Board.
• Drives research for policy innovation scaling and impact at scale by building strategic partnerships with global and regional stakeholders including research institutions policymakers private sector actors development agencies and community organizations.
• Directs the delivery quality of science and prioritization of activities and outputs and assumes overall accountability for the use of such funds for their intended purpose under the Program.
• Establishes performance and results management of the Program including the development of technical and financial reporting and the implementation of regular pause and reflect processes.
• Assigns and provides functional oversight of Area of Work Leads and CoLeads and Program Management Unit staff in Centers.
• Develops and mainstreams the use of cuttingedge policy research methods within CGIAR and its partners
• Delivers scientifically rigorous policyrelevant outputs that respond to critical policy demands and challenges.
• Advances policy solutions that meet multiple objectives such as inclusiveness resilience and sustainability in collaboration with other Programs/Accelerators and regional/country structures to align outcomes with CGIARs impact pathways and drive systemic change.

Education and Experience

• Advanced degree (PhD or equivalent) in Economics Public Policy Political Science International Development or a related field with a specialization relevant to policy research and innovation in food land and water systems.
• Postdoctoral experience or additional certifications in foresight and policy modeling impact evaluations of policy innovations sciencepolicy intersections policy analysis governance frameworks or systemslevel approaches to undertaking research and innovation to tackle global challenges such as climate change food security or equity are highly desirable.
• Demonstrated expertise in leveraging research to inform and design policy frameworks including experience in policy modeling scenario analysis impact assessment tools and political economy analysis.
• Proven track record of designing implementing and managing largescale interdisciplinary programs that connect science with policy development across diverse geographies and socioeconomic contexts.
• Familiarity with emerging tools and methodologies for advancing policy innovations including participatory approaches datadriven decision making and governance frameworks for sustainable development.
• Extensive experience in resource mobilization building strategic partnerships and overseeing financial and operational management of multistakeholder programs ensuring alignment with strategic priorities and maximizing impact.

Key Competences

• Strategically aligning Program goals with CGIARs organizational strategies and global priorities ensuring that landscapelevel solutions contribute to the transformation of food land and water systems.
• Strong strategic and adaptive thinking with pragmatism required to design integrated and evidencebased solutions that address complex global challenges such as climate change food insecurity and social inequality.
• Systems thinking to understand interconnected challenges and design and scale impactful policy innovations.
• Effective communication with diverse stakeholders including research partners donors policymakers and private sector stakeholders to articulate a compelling vision and drive engagement.
• Fostering collaboration and consensus navigating diverse perspectives and influencing decisionmaking across multidisciplinary teams and multistakeholder networks to achieve shared objectives.
• Exceptional leadership skills with a proven ability to inspire and integrate multidisciplinary teams and manage talent while promoting knowledge sharing staff development and diversity.
• Adherence to the highest ethical standards fostering trust and treating all people with respect.

Languages

The selected staff member will be offered terms and conditions commensurate with the grade of the position qualifications and experience.

The selected staff member will be offered terms and conditions commensurate with the grade of the position.

Submitting Your Application

If you face challenges in submitting your application please email with the position title in the subject line.

Please note that shortlisted candidates will be contacted by our partner SRI Executive.