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CONSULTANT CLIENT ENGAGEMENT, SUPPORT AND ADOPTION
Job Location:
Monthly Salary:
Not provided by the employer
Monthly Salary:
Experience Required:
4-5years
Experience Required:
Posted:
24 May 2026 (30+ days ago)
Posted:
Application Deadline:
21 August 2026
Application Deadline:
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Vacancies:
Job Summary
THE ORGANIZATION
The Alliance of Bioversity International () and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) () delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve peoples lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition climate change biodiversity loss and environmental degradation.
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 in a climate crisis.
The Alliance is part of CGIAR a global research partnership for a food-secure future.
Background
Artificial Intelligence has opened up new opportunities for anyone to collect high quality data from anywhere. However such tools have largely bypassed the Global South as they were not adapted to local conditionswhether because they were too expensive too complex or not transferable to Global South contexts. This hampers data-driven decision making especially in critical areas such as food systems.
Tatu formerly known as the Artemis project leverages AI that is appropriate to the context in the Global South. Tatu represents the convergence of people AI and plants and the bridge between research innovation and impact. The Tatu team consists of a multi-disciplinary team of 30 experts in product development Machine Learning field operations user design and scaling. Tatu has primarily been focusing on improving crop breeding so that varieties better adapted to climate change emerging diseases and changing consumer demands can be developed better and faster.
Under Tatu two products have been under development:
Ona: Over the last four years the Artemis projectsupported by the Gates Foundationhas pioneered R&D into cost-effective smartphone-based computer vision phenotyping. Through extensive field and AI research across multiple countries and crop species the team has moved beyond proof-of-concept to launch a deployable end-to-end product:Ona (Swahili for to see). Using Ona alongside the companion field tool Bruno crop breeding teams can image entire breeding plots in under 30 seconds. This system delivers same-day data that meets gold-standard benchmarks while exceeding traditional human estimation in both precision and accuracy. With support from Tatu is now scaling Ona as a primary smartphone phenotyping tool for the CGIAR.
NDIZI & Sikia: In parallel Tatu is leveraging three years of research from the NDIZI project (NLP to Develop and Innovate Zero-shot Intelligence). Also supported by the Gates Foundation NDIZI develops Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Vision-Language Models (VLMs) to capture rich conversational and visual data directly from the farm. By processing this data through LLMs the team extracts critical insights into farmer preferences and in-season plant performance. These outputs are being integrated into the deployable product Sikia (Swahili for to listen). Having developed performant models for Swahili the team is now expanding into other African languages and exploring offline on-device deployment of small VLMs for areas without internet connectivity.
Ona is currently being piloted with breeding teams in Tanzania and Uganda for beans. By Q3 2026 models for cowpea and sorghum will be ready while parallel field campaigns collect training data for new crops like rice. Additional campaigns and pilots are planned for the coming year while Ona remains under development. Tatu has invested in scalable digital support materials and is now moving to deploy a support bot. Sikia is also being tested in Tanzania and Kenya and further tests are planned in Africa and beyond.
Since its launch in 2022 Artemis has worked with partners including TARI IITA CIMMYT CIP Colorado State University Google Research Mineral and the London School of Economics. The project is funded by the Gates Foundation and coordinated by the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT from its Arusha office in Tanzania.
About the position
We seek a dedicated National Consultant Client Engagement Support and Adoption Coordinator (the consultant) to be the central point of contact between the users that test or use Ona and Sikia (the clients) and the Tatu team. The consultant coordinates field campaigns where new and existing clients go through a process of adapting Ona to their context either for model development (new crops) or for use with beans sorghum or cowpea (existing crops that Ona can serve) and supports field tests and pilots for Sikia.
The consultant manages client needs and coordinates responses from the different teams in Tatu. The consultant focuses on ensuring responsive and well-organized client support so that clients can use the technology effectively in real field conditions. The focus is first and foremost on managing client engagement across campaigns and pilots and on setting up clear systems workflows and quality standards that strengthen customer support issue tracking follow-up and learning across Tatu teams.
The role also supports adoption and market development for Tatu tools in the primarily public breeding sector including market validation market scoping representation outreach and feedback collection to inform product direction service models and scale-up planning.
This is an 8-month full-time consultancy position valued at USD 16000 (potential for fixed-term extension) based in the Alliance office in Arusha. The consultant coordinates Tatus engagement with an expected 1020 clients in and beyond East Africa. This position combines strong client engagement internal coordination quality control service system development and support to adoption and market development.
Specific Terms of Reference include:
Stakeholder Engagement and Quality Control
Lead and manage client engagement across Ona campaigns and Sikia pilots including regular communication follow-up troubleshooting support and coordination with relevant Tatu teams.
Refine the Ona Client Engagement Checklist into a practical quality assurance and service delivery tool and use it to track engagement and support across campaigns and pilots.
Provide weekly status updates for each field campaign or pilot including client needs issues raised actions taken and follow-up required.
Act as the single point of contact for clients: plan and manage client engagement support breeding teams access to hardware and software and coordinate issue resolution across Tatu teams for crop-specific campaigns.
Collaborate with breeding teams to integrate Ona into their workflows.
Support client and Tatu learning by documenting recurring issues feedback and practical lessons from implementation.
Monitor and support Sikia field tests and pilots including coordination of client feedback issue follow-up and reporting to the Tatu team.
Customer Support Systems and Service Delivery
Establish and implement a clear internal workflow for customer support including intake triage escalation response tracking follow-up and closure of client issues.
Set up practical frameworks templates and service standards that improve the quality and consistency of client support across campaigns and pilots.
Track support performance across 1020 client engagements including response times issue types resolution status and common support needs.
Identify recurring support gaps and propose improvements to product operations documentation and client service processes.
Adoption Outreach and Market Development
Support Tatu representation with public breeding programs research partners and related stakeholders in Tanzania East Africa and beyond.
Contribute to market validation and market scoping for Ona and Sikia in public sector and subsidized-use contexts.
Support outreach to prospective partner programs document interest and readiness and feed lessons into Tatus scaling strategy.
Assess client segments likely use cases and conditions needed for sustained use of Tatu tools.
Cost Assessment
Assess and document the costs of client engagement customer service and general maintenance for Ona Sikia and related Tatu support systems.
Develop a practical cost framework covering staff time travel hardware and software support communications field support and routine system maintenance.
Provide recommendations on cost categories and assumptions to support future budgeting subsidized deployment planning and possible service model design for public breeding partners.
Deliverables and Payment Schedule
Deliverable 1: Inception Report and Client Engagement Workplan (Month 1 Week 4)
Submit an inception report that defines the consultancy approach priority clients and pilots engagement plan for Ona and Sikia users coordination arrangements with Tatu teams and a detailed 8-month workplan. This deliverable should clearly show how client engagement support follow-up issue management outreach and cost assessment will be organized from the start.
Payment: USD 4000 (25%)
Deliverable 2: Client Engagement and Support Implementation Report (Month 3 Week 12)
Submit evidence of active client engagement and support across ongoing campaigns and pilots including documented follow-up with clients key issues identified actions taken coordination with Tatu teams and early lessons from implementation. This deliverable should also include the initial customer support workflow service standards and practical tools or templates being used to manage and improve client support.
Payment: USD 4000 (25%)
Deliverable 3: Campaign and Pilot Performance Report with Support and Costing Tools (Month 5 Week 20)
Submit a report on engagement and support performance across Ona campaigns and Sikia pilots including status across clients service response trends issue resolution progress client feedback outreach progress and lessons for adoption. This deliverable should include the refined Client Engagement Checklist updated support tools and a practical costing framework for client engagement customer service and maintenance.
Payment: USD 4000 (25%)
Deliverable 4: Final Report with Client Engagement Results Learnings and Recommendations approved by supervisor (Month 8 end of assignment)
Submit a final report covering the full period of client engagement and support across campaigns and pilots including key results client feedback adoption and market development insights lessons from Ona and Sikia implementation and recommendations for future scaling. The report should include final versions of the client engagement tools support systems and cost assessment outputs developed through the assignment.
Payment: USD 4000 (25%)
Requirements
Masters or Bachelors degree in Agricultural Sciences Business Development Education/Adult Learning or related technical fields.
Experience
Minimum 3 years experience in stakeholder coordination client monitoring and technology adoption preferably in digital innovation in agricultural research.
Minimum 3 years experience in customer support service delivery coordination capacity development or adult learning.
Experience in field coordination pilot management or support for digital tools in low-resource settings is an advantage.
Technical Competencies
Excellent people skills; excellent communicator in multicultural teams.
Skilled in coordination tools (e.g. checklists shared drives issue trackers); digital savvy with apps bots and related support systems.
Organized disciplined problem-solver with field coordination experience.
Able to track client support performance document service needs and contribute to practical service frameworks and cost assessments.
Terms of employment
This is a nationally recruited position based in Arusha Tanzania. The initial contract will be for up to Eight (8) Months.
Applications
Applicants are invited to visit to get full details of the position and to submit their applications. Applications MUST include reference number Ref: RFC: CONSULTANT - CLIENT ENGAGEMENT SUPPORT AND ADOPTION as the position applied for. Application and CV should be saved as one document using the candidates last name first name for ease of sorting.
Note: The Alliance does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application interview meeting processing or training). The Alliance also does not concern itself with information on applicants bank accounts.
Applications closing date: 17th May 2026
Please note that email applications will not be considered.
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
We invite you to learn more about us at:
Required Skills:
Educación y requerimientos Diploma de bachiller. Un (1) año de experiencia en operaciones de laboratorio básicas. Conocimiento y cumplimiento comprobado de normas de calidad aplicadas al trabajo de laboratorio incluyendo la identificación correcta de muestras la operación segura de equipos y herramientas y la entrega de resultados dentro de los tiempos establecidos. Habilidad para seguir protocolos escritos e instrucciones para la preparación y análisis de muestras para calidad de arroz con énfasis en molinerÃa. Competencias Trabajo en Equipo y colaboración Atención al detalle Seguimiento de procesos establecidos Flexibilidad y adaptación al cambio
Required Education:
Educación y requerimientos Diploma de (1) año de experiencia en operaciones de laboratorio bá y cumplimiento comprobado de normas de calidad aplicadas al trabajo de laboratorio incluyendo la identificación correcta de muestras la operación segura de equipos y herramientas y la entrega de resultados dentro de los tiempos establecidos. Habilidad para seguir protocolos escritos e instrucciones para la preparación y análisis de muestras para calidad de
