Senior Research Associate, Nourishing Food Pathways At Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition

About the Role

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is seeking a Senior Research Associate, Nourishing Food Pathways to support the Nourishing Food Pathways (NFP) research work within Tanzania. This role will be offered on a 3 years’ fixed term contract, subject to availability of funding. You will be based in GAIN’s Tanzania office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Reporting to the Research Advisor and Project Manager, you will provide technical input on and have substantive involvement in the research. This will include supporting the development of research methods, supporting data collection and analysis, and supporting interpretation and communication of the results.

The postholder will also support project management and implementation of research activities through coordinating research with partners (e.g., local think tanks and data collection firms), supporting logistics and meetings related to the work, and contributing to project management tasks (e.g., budgeting and forecasting, work planning, and contracting.)

Key Responsibilities include:

• Supporting the implementation of high-quality, technically sound research activities in alignment with GAIN and other relevant research good practice guidelines, including refining research questions and methodology, developing research plans, and interacting with partners and contractors as needed to carry out the activities
• Carrying out literature reviews, stakeholder consultations, evidence synthesis, and other desk activities from development of the approach through to implementation, report writing, and publication/dissemination
• Supporting in-country field implementation of research, evaluation, learning, and knowledge management activities, including visiting study sites and interacting with project partners (e.g., implementing partners, consultants, contractors) to ensure timely and quality progress
• Contributing to or leading the development of project reports and other knowledge products, including research articles, briefings, presentations, and associated tables/figures
• Communicating technical topics to colleagues and external partners by preparing and presenting reports, and blog posts, organizing and delivering presentations, and facilitating events as needed
• Managing and organising processes such as procurement of goods and services, budgeting and forecasting, and contracting as related to the NFP research work, particularly in Tanzania
• Serving as the main contact point with local partner organizations, such as data collection firms, and overseeing their work in both technical and logistical aspects
• Supporting the Project Manager in preparing donors’ reports in collaboration with project teams, technical teams, funding team and support teams.
• Proactively identifying and reporting any issues with implementing the project, addressing them where feasible, and proactively seeking support where issues require wider attention and resolution.

About You

The ideal candidate will have demonstrated experience in critical analysis skills to support with evidence generation and reporting. You will have experience in research using both quantitative and qualitive methodologies in policy analysis, political economy, food/nutrition or related field. You will have hands-on experience doing programmatically relevant research in Tanzania, independently, and in collaboration with local research counterparts.

Candidates with experience in other countries, particularly in East Africa and demonstrable understanding of nutrition and food systems, the policy process or of environmental sustainability or gender issues related to food systems would be an asset.

The postholder should have strong communication and presentation skills and willing to work with diverse groups/individuals. You will be proficiency in written and spoken English, candidates will knowledge in French would be an advantage. In addition, you should be highly flexible and able to travel domestically regularly and international occasionally.

A Master’s degree in nutrition, agriculture, sustainable development, economics, development studies, policy/political economy or related field. You will have skills with data analysis software, such as R, Stata, SAS, or SPSS; or nVivo or ATLAS.ti and formal training in research methods.

The ideal candidate will also have knowledge on both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, including analysis of survey data, in nutrition, agriculture, or closely related field. Candidates with ability to create high quality and innovative data visualizations (for communication of findings to expert and non-expert audiences) would be an advantage.

About our Offer

The starting salary on offer for this role is from USD 25,730 – USD 29,422 per annum (gross salary), depending on experience.

GAIN has a fair and competitive salary structure that allows for annual progression subject to good performance. In addition, GAIN offers a total of 37 days holiday per year (including annual leave, public holidays and additional office closure days), an attractive pension scheme and competitive insurance cover including health, travel and life assurance.

We are committed to the health of our staff, especially in these challenging times, and have developed a programme of wellbeing that includes flexible working, additional leave allowances, wellbeing days, mindfulness coaching and access to independent and confidential counselling.

GAIN also has a strong commitment to professional development. We will support you to grow in your career through both formal and informal training, and are committed to providing opportunities through internal recruitment, secondments and promotion. All of this is delivered in a supportive and collaborative environment.

About GAIN

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a Swiss-based foundation launched at the United Nations in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Due to COVID19, conflict in Ukraine and climate change, malnutrition and hunger have worsened significantly since 2019, reversing a decade of progress. There is growing recognition that our food systems need to change if we are to reverse these trends.

GAIN’s Strategy aims to transform food systems to make healthier diets from sustainable food systems accessible to all people and especially those whose are most vulnerable to shocks. By 2027, we aim to improve the access of 1.5 billion people to nutritionally enhanced staple foods, improve the access of 25 million people to healthier diets, and support positive food system change in 10 countries. This is bold and complex, and the only way to achieve this is to work together with partners including governments, businesses, and civil society at the country and global level. These goals, and the ways of achieving them, build on our twenty-year legacy of transforming people’s lives with improved nutrition through concerted action and effective policy change.

Our Working Culture and Environment

We provide a flexible working environment that includes a combination of home and office working opportunities through our global hybrid working policy. This encourages our staff to have a healthy work-life balance and increases staff motivation, enriches employee wellbeing, and improves performance and productivity.

All of our positions are based in one or more of GAIN’s designated offices as stated on our job advertisements. Successful candidates will be based in one of GAIN’s country offices and must have the existing right to live and work within a reasonably commutable distance of the relevant city / cities in which the role is advertised. Please note, that GAIN does not sponsor working visas and relocations.

GAIN reserves the right to withdraw an offer of employment for candidates who are considered to ineligible under the above conditions during or after the recruitment process.

Applicants must be currently based and have the existing right to live and work in the Dar es Salaam, Tanzania region to be eligible to apply for this position.

This advert closes on 5th January 2024. Early applications are encouraged. GAIN reserves the right o close this advert early should we receive suitable candidates ahead of the closing date.

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition is committed to equality of opportunity and creating an inclusive environment where diversity is valued. We are keen to reflect the diversity of our society at every level within our organisation and therefore welcome applications from talented and committed people from all backgrounds, representing the diverse societies we operate in.