Job Summary:

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks a qualified candidate to serve as a Postdoctoral Fellow or Research Fellow for its Uganda Agricultural Strategy Support Programme (USSP) for a two year, fixed-term, renewable appointment. Under the USSP, IFPRI supports the government of Uganda by undertaking policy research and developing practical and comprehensive conceptual frameworks and decision support systems for agricultural strategy development in a manner which strengthens the capacity of appropriate national institutions to formulate and implement relevant strategies and to monitor and evaluate their progress against targets.

Within a capacity building context, the Fellow will be responsible for a) conducting evaluations of development programs or projects in Uganda with a strong emphasis on the use of quantitative methods, b) strengthening the abilities of counterparts from Ugandan institutions in quantitative program evaluation methods, design, and implementation, and c) supporting policy outreach activities to a wide range of stakeholders concerned with development programming in Uganda. The Fellow will be responsible for the timely completion of research projects, actively publish papers and books, and participate in various conferences, policy advisory forums, and capacity strengthening training programs.

The position will be based in Kampala, Uganda and reports to the Director of IFPRI's Development Strategy and Governance Division. The final grade level will be determined by demonstrated experience and track record of publications.

Please note that Postdoctoral Fellow appointments at IFPRI have a maximum term of three (3) years, inclusive of any approved appointment extensions.

Essential Duties:

The particular role of the Postdoctoral Fellow or Research Fellow includes the following responsibilities:

- Develop a capacity building program in quantitative evaluations around a group of early-career researchers at a leading economic research organization in Uganda. The Fellow will be responsible for leading this team of researchers in successfully undertaking quantitative evaluations of rural development projects or programs in Uganda, including in designing the evaluations, implementing the data collection and analytical phases, and writing up the evaluation findings. The Fellow must ensure that the partner researchers engaged in this work acquire the requisite theoretical and methodological skills to permit them to be productively engaged in all facets of the evaluations undertaken.

- Draft proposals for undertaking evaluations of appropriate programs and projects in Uganda with donor support. The Fellow will be responsible for managing any contracts with donor agencies for funding to carry out the program or project evaluations.

- Support the design of monitoring and evaluation systems for programs and projects being implemented by the Uganda Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries and its allied agencies.

- Policy Communication: Maintain active policy communication with national counterparts through participating in a regular policy seminar series, producing policy briefs and making submissions to a discussion paper series; and establishing active links with various national research institutions. Peer reviewed publications are expected from the Fellow.