Role purpose

CGIAR has an ambitious mission to deliver science and innovations that advance the transformation of food, land and water systems in a climate crisis to reduce poverty and inequity, enhance food and nutrition security, and improve natural resources and ecosystem services. CGIAR’s Integrated Partnership operates as a federated group of Centers and the CGIAR System Organization, united by common values and principles, and committed to achieving synergies that enhance their individual and collective contributions to CGIAR’s mission.

CGIAR’s 2025—30 science and innovation Portfolio encompasses eight Science Programs, a Scaling for Impact Program, and three Accelerators. The Portfolio is designed to harness CGIAR’s collective capabilities to address the most pressing global challenges. It aims to foster deeper and broader programmatic integration across Centers and disciplines, enabling science and innovation at a greater scale with enhanced reach and impact.

The Policy Innovations Science Program aims to position CGIAR as a global leader in generating and disseminating evidence to inform policies and institutions related to food, land, and water systems to drive rapid and inclusive transformation and foster futures where people and the planet thrive. By leveraging CGIAR's research network and fostering multi-stakeholder engagement, it bridges the gap between science and policymaking to develop and scale policy options that achieve multiple objectives, particularly in the Global South.

The Director, Policy Innovations Science Program provides scientific leadership, adaptive management, and strategic alignment of the Program and its components as a coherent, joint undertaking that spans multiple CGIAR Centers, partners, and sources of funding. 

Duties and Responsibilities

• Aligns research outputs with policy needs, promoting actionable, equitable, and sustainable solutions that integrate multidisciplinary research to deliver tangible societal benefits.
• Supports the integration of evidence from CGIAR research into global, regional, and national policy frameworks to address global challenges like climate change, food security, and inequality.
• Provides scientific and strategic leadership of the Program, ensuring continuous review and adaptive management of the Program’s vision, theory of change, and structure to maximize impact, relevance, and efficiency.
• Oversees Program execution, aligning activities with CGIAR’s overarching vision, mission, and 2030 outcomes, including developing and managing work plans and budgets for Program, and fostering alignment of relevant of other bilaterally funded projects and programs with the Program’s high-level outcomes and theory of change.
• Leads the Program’s Leadership team, comprising Area of Work Leads and Co-Leads, and Center Delegates defining a vision for the program and shared accountability.
• Actively participates in CGIAR’s Global Science Team, driving coordinated science and innovation leadership across the Portfolio to achieve collective impact.
• Guides and directs engagement with global enabling and engagement functions, a Program -level Independent Advisory Group, and CGIAR’s partnership-wide independent advisory and assurance bodies (i.e. Independent Science for Development Council, the Independent Advisory and Evaluation Service, the Standing Panel on Impact Assessment, and Internal Audit) combining scientific and political acumen.
• Acts as a spokesperson, engaging with partners, funders and – when required – CGIAR’s partnership-wide governing bodies on matters related to the Program, including the CGIAR System Council and CGIAR Integrated Partnership Board.
• Drives research for policy innovation, scaling, and impact at scale by building strategic partnerships with global and regional stakeholders, including research institutions, policymakers, private sector actors, development agencies, and community organizations.
• Directs the delivery, quality of science, and prioritization of activities and outputs, and assumes overall accountability for the use of such funds for their intended purpose under the Program.
• Establishes performance and results management of the Program, including the development of technical and financial reporting and the implementation of regular pause and reflect processes.
• Assigns and provides functional oversight of Area of Work Leads and Co-Leads and Program Management Unit staff in Centers.
• Develops and mainstreams the use of cutting-edge policy research methods within CGIAR and its partners
• Delivers scientifically rigorous, policy-relevant outputs that respond to critical policy demands and challenges.
• Advances policy solutions that meet multiple objectives such as inclusiveness, resilience, and sustainability, in collaboration with other Programs/Accelerators and regional/country structures to align outcomes with CGIAR’s impact pathways and drive systemic change.

Profile

Education and Experience

• Advanced degree (PhD or equivalent) in Economics, Public Policy, Political Science, International Development, or a related field, with a specialization relevant to policy research and innovation in food, land, and water systems.
• Postdoctoral experience or additional certifications in foresight and policy modeling, impact evaluations of policy innovations, science-policy intersections, policy analysis, governance frameworks, or systems-level approaches to undertaking research and innovation to tackle global challenges such as climate change, food security, or equity are highly desirable.
• Demonstrated expertise in leveraging research to inform and design policy frameworks, including experience in policy modeling, scenario analysis, impact assessment tools and political economy analysis.
• Proven track record of designing, implementing, and managing large-scale, interdisciplinary programs that connect science with policy development across diverse geographies and socio-economic contexts.
• Familiarity with emerging tools and methodologies for advancing policy innovations, including participatory approaches, data-driven decision making and governance frameworks for sustainable development.
• Extensive experience in resource mobilization, building strategic partnerships, and overseeing financial and operational management of multi-stakeholder programs, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities and maximizing impact.

Languages

• Fluency in English is essential to communicate in writing and speaking.

• Knowledge of a second language is desirable.

Key Competencies

• Strategically aligning Program goals with CGIAR’s organizational strategies and global priorities, ensuring that landscape-level solutions contribute to the transformation of food, land, and water systems.
• Strong strategic and adaptive thinking, with pragmatism required to design integrated and evidence-based solutions that address complex global challenges, such as climate change, food insecurity and social inequality.
• Systems thinking to understand interconnected challenges and design and scale impactful policy innovations.
• Effective communication with diverse stakeholders, including research partners, donors, policymakers, and private sector stakeholders, to articulate a compelling vision and drive engagement.
• Fostering collaboration and consensus, navigating diverse perspectives and influencing decision-making across multidisciplinary teams and multi-stakeholder networks to achieve shared objectives.

Terms of Appointment

• Benefits
  • The selected staff member will be offered terms and conditions commensurate with the grade of the position.

Role Location

This position will be based in a duty station to be determined in a location with significant CGIAR operations relevant to the Program.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, please ensure you complete the Application Form provided below by 15 April 2025 (23:59 hrs, GMT +1). It is essential that you submit your CV in English, specifically in Microsoft Word format (.doc/.docx), not exceeding 10MB.

Applications in other languages or formats will not be considered.

Rest assured, all information will be handled with the utmost confidentiality.

SRI Executive is exclusively retained by CGIAR to undertake this assignment.