Senior Research Officer - Geographic Information System Specialist

at  International Water Management institute

The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, a CGIAR Research Center, is seeking a dynamic & multi skilled Geographic Information System Specialist.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

Essential,

• Master’s degree in GIS, Geography, or a related discipline coupled with a minimum of 4-6 years of relevant work experience.
• Proven experience and skill in the use of ArcGIS, R, Python, QGIS, or similar tools.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES:

Essential,

• Strong working knowledge of spatial data.
• Strong drive to learn new topics and skills and to see research and ideas having a positive impact in practice.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment.
• Ability to communicate complex ideas effectively, verbally & in writing.
• Excellent oral and written language skills in English, including effective listening and strong verbal and written communication abilities.
• Ability to work independently and remotely.

THIS POSITION IS A REMOTE ROLE TELECOMMUTING TO PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA, AND WILL BE HOSTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (IWMI).

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 people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. 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 primary objective of this role is to support and enhance the spatial analysis capabilities of the Climate Security team. The team is dedicated to understanding the interconnectedness of climate, the environment, and security, with a specific focus on identifying drivers and causes of food insecurity in regions affected by climate-related challenges.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Conduct geospatial analysis to identify and assess areas vulnerable to climate-induced food insecurity and fragility.
• Lead the development of spatial models and simulations to assess the impact of climate-related variables on food security and displacement.
• Create and maintain GIS databases, ensuring accuracy, relevance, and accessibility of spatial data.
• Conduct research to locate and obtain existing databases, thematic layers, and grid data, including but not limited to existing spatial data such as maps of land cover, climate, socioeconomic data, conflict, and terrain information etc.
• Produce high-quality maps and visualizations to communicate complex spatial information effectively.
• Collaborate with the Climate Security Team to integrate GIS outputs into broader research and analysis.
• Provide technical support in utilizing GIS tools and software to team members.
• Contribute to backend development to help integrate outputs into the GIS platform/tool with clean, well-documented code that utilizes APIs to pull in different types of spatial and temporal data and perform operations on the data layers to produce new layers such as risk heat maps, etc.
• Propose or adapt existing tools or applications as applicable to meet project requirements and enhance efficiency.