Post Doctoral Fellow (Gender and Development)

Position description

Animals, plants and microorganisms harvested and grown in water play a significant role in sustainably feeding and nourishing the world. Globally, 800 million people depend on small-scale fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihoods. But these vital aquatic food systems are hindered by the insecure livelihoods of those in related jobs, their low capacity to adapt to climate change, and the loss of marine nature.

A Post-Doctoral Fellow in Gender and Development at WorldFish would contribute to CGIAR’s Sustainable Animal and Aquatic Food Systems (SAAF) and Multifunctional Landscapes Science Programs, as well as the Gender Accelerator and Climate Adaptation and Sustainability of Aquatic Systems (CASA) project, generating evidence on gender equality, women’s empowerment, and social inclusion in aquatic and food systems. The fellow would examine how gender norms and power relations influence access to resources, technologies, markets, climate adaptation, and decision-making, while supporting the design of gender-transformative solutions that enhance livelihoods, resilience, sustainability, and equitable development outcomes across Africa, Asia, and other regions where WorldFish works.

About the Position

WorldFish is seeking an internationally recruited Post-doctoral Fellow in Gender and Development based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Under the supervision of the Social and Economic Inclusion Lead and together with other scientists at WorldFish, the Post-doctoral fellow will be responsible for co-designing, co-leading and publishing innovative and impactful strategic research for development in the area of gender-inclusive and pro-poor value chains and markets; laying the foundation of the work on women’s empowerment in the fisheries sector; unpacking “better” strategies for community-based natural resources management, importance of social networks in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, among other aspects of social and economic inclusion in these sectors.

The successful candidate will undertake this interdisciplinary work through close collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of experts from different backgrounds, including data scientists, aquaculture, fish nutrition, production systems, gender, climate change, scaling of innovations, science communication, rural development, and bioprocesses.

Key Responsibilities

• The role is expected to be responsible for refining and consolidating cutting-edge, gender-inclusive market approaches and business models, including, but not limited to, women-led entrepreneurship and partnerships with the private sector and finding better ways to mitigate the losses from fish.
• Play a crucial role in catalyzing change for data collection from fishers, aquaculture actors and fish farmers and enhancing fisher communities' participation, especially women, youth, and poor men in community-based natural resource management centers/hubs/beach management units.
• Take primary responsibility for research implementation, data collection, data validation, quality assurance, and analysis to achieve the research deliverables of the assigned work of the SAAF and Multifunctional Landscapes Science Programs, Gender Accelerator and CASA project.
• Under the guidance of senior team members, including the work package(s) leads, lead the development of high-quality science outputs and enable effective communication of research findings and scaling of the lessons within the SAAF and Multifunctional Landscapes Science Programs, Gender Accelerator and CASA project with partners and key policy actors.
• Develop and maintain effective collaboration with project country teams and strategic partners in relation to each of the above to ensure the relevance, use, and influence of the research. Within the latter, specifically, support WorldFish’s efforts to influence and incentivize the private sector to be inclusive, especially of women, youth, and smallholders’ fishers, traders, and other actors within the fish value chain.
• Contribute to qualitative and quantitative monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) and reporting of the science programs, accelerator, CASA project and WorldFish investments in gender and market development, including refining tools for assessing gender-related outcomes and assessing program progress.
• Enable the development of research capacity amongst science programs, accelerator, project and WorldFish staff and partners, including through input, mentoring, and providing training on best practices in the areas of gender integration and analysis, as well as gender equality, women’s empowerment and social inclusion, including pro-poor targeting and gender transformative approaches.
• Work collaboratively with the work package leads of the science programs and accelerator, project coordinator, and other senior experts. This includes engaging with WorldFish and partner scientists across other geographies to learn from and contribute to a growing body of work on gender equality and social inclusion.
• Ensure timely reporting of project activities and outcomes per WorldFish and donor requirements.

Qualifications

• A PhD or equivalent degree in a relevant discipline, such as Gender, Development Economics, Sociology, Anthropology, International Development, Rural Development Studies, Human Geography, or related fields.
• Good understanding regarding gender, measuring women’s empowerment levels in agri-food systems, community-based natural resource management, and inclusive market/value chain approaches, such as strategies for enhancing market linkages, pro-poor women’s entrepreneurship, and inclusive business models.
• Proven experience in gender and in international development research include a strong academic publications record.
• High-level competency in quantitative or qualitative research methods (i.e., ability to design, analyze, and write up independently) and commitment to interdisciplinary and mixed methods research approaches.
• Strong interpersonal skills, in particular, the ability to work effectively in diverse and dynamic teams as well as develop a close and effective working relationship with partners.
• Strong mixed methods research skills, with the strong ability to carry out qualitative and/or quantitative research.
• Proven excellence in written and verbal English communication skills.
• A demonstrated ability to work constructively and effectively in complex contexts and a passion for equality, equity, inclusive poverty reduction, nutrition and food security, and environmental sustainability through research for development.
• Experience working with rural communities in Africa, Asia, or the Pacific.

Desirable Skills/Experience

• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Good organizational skills.
• Good leadership and mentoring skills.
• Project management experience.
• History of applying research outcomes to policy development.
• Experience developing information and education materials for government and community stakeholders.

Application instructions

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