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Thinking Beyond the Canopy

Scientist

Climate Policy Research

Bogor, Indonesia (Ref. 1332)

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) advances human well-being, environmental conservation and equity by conducting research to help shape policies and practices that affect forests in developing countries. CIFOR is a member of the CGIAR Consortium. Our headquarters are in Bogor, Indonesia, with offices in Asia, Africa and South America.

Overview

In 2009, CIFOR started a multi-donor funded Global Comparative Study on REDD+ (GCS-REDD+) in 13 countries. This GCS-REDD+ is a 6-year global comparative research project on first- and second generation REDD+ activities in selected countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America. The project consists of 5 modules: national initiatives around policy processes and strategies (Module 1), sub-national demonstration activities, monitoring and reference levels, carbon management at the landscape level (incl. adaptation and mitigation synergies and multi-level governance) and knowledge sharing. The overall goal of the project is to provide REDD+ policy makers and practitioner communities with the information, analysis and tools they need to ensure effective and cost-efficient reduction of carbon emissions with equitable impacts and co-benefits such as poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation – the ‘3E+’ criteria.

The aim of the research in module 1 is to identify how opportunities and potential barriers related to governance, institutions and the political economy of forests in national REDD+ policy arenas can be addressed through policy design and implementation. The project will use comparative research to analyze the country specific circumstances and factors that explain varying 3E outcomes from the national policy processes.

The scientist’s research will contribute to the development of policy-relevant conclusions on REDD+ design for specific country, regional and global contexts and policies. The scientist’s work will be integrated and supported by the GCS-REDD+ module 1 on national REDD+ strategies component and other relevant REDD+ projects, and also will form part of CIFOR’s climate policy research team. The Scientist will be responsible to the lead Senior Scientist, GCS REDD + Module 1.

Specific duties and responsibilities:

• Conduct, design, and lead research in one or two of the following research areas:
• selected international underlying drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and its implication for national REDD+ efforts,
• research on international governance regimes and their impact on national REDD+ policy design,
• research on performance measurement of policies and measures relevant for REDD+.
• Contribute to the management of data bases in Access and lead quality management process and conduct analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, for example with UCINET, Nvivo and other network and text analysis software, and statistics software where applicable
• Backstopping of GCS-REDD+ M1 activities globally, and contributing to the development and maintenance of partnerships as well as supervision and mentoring of researchers and consultants .
• In addition, the scientist is expected to represent CIFOR when appropriate and requested, to contribute to CIFOR's fund-raising efforts and develop new research proposals when appropriate, and to publish in peer-reviewed journals.

Education, Experience and Technical Skills

• At least 5 years related professional work experience.
• PhD in the social sciences, preferably in political sciences or economics, with background in environmental governance, institutional analysis, social network analysis.
• Knowledge of REDD+, governance and political economy of land use and deforestation.
• Experience with analysis of larger quantitative and qualitative data sets, and comparative analysis.
• Experience in supervision of junior scientists or doctoral students.
• Experience in project management and partner liaison.
• Fluency in English is required. Fluency in other languages used in countries where CIFOR works will be appreciated (e.g. French, Spanish, Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesia, Kiswahili, Vietnamese).

Personal Attributes and Competencies

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, experienced in working with multicultural and multidisciplinary research teams, team worker.
• Have initiative and capable of working independently as well as in team environments.
• Excellent analytical skills.
• Competency in personal organisation, priority setting and managing multiple tasks.
• Values the sharing of information and continuous improvement in a cooperative atmosphere of constructive evaluation and learning.

Terms and Condition:

• Competitive remuneration in US dollar commensurate with skills and experience.
• The appointment will be for a period of 2 (two) years with a possibility of extension contingent upon performance, continued relevance of the position and available resources.
• The duty station will be at CIFOR's headquarters, Bogor, Indonesia (with travel to research sites).

Application:

Please send your letter of interest and CV, no later than 30 September 2013, to: Human Resources Department, CIFOR cifor-hr-jobs@cgiar.org Please indicate the position title in the email subject line.

To learn more about CIFOR, please visit our website at http://www.cifor.org.