Long-term Opportunities for Job Seekers

Senior Food Security and Early Warning Specialist

Research Triangle Institute (RTI)

Washington, DC or Remote

job profile:

SG&R’s Global Food Security and Agriculture portfolio is working to strengthen agricultural markets, engage youth and women as leaders of the on- and off-farm workforce, and tackle the dual burden of malnutrition around the globe. RTI’s work in data management, data warehousing, predictive modeling, and remote sensing is used to translate evidence into action to foster stronger food systems, reduce malnutrition in all its forms, build resilience and engage the next generation of food security leaders. 

The Senior Food Security and Early Warning Specialist will work in close collaboration with the Food Security and Agriculture team to develop advance technical leadership and strategic growth, foster external and internal cross-institute collaboration and partnerships. This position reports to the head of the Food Security and Agriculture Practice and will be based in Washington, DC or remote within the US. The position will be expected to travel internationally up to 25% of the time.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Technical Leadership

• Lead or participate in RTI research on topics related to food security, early warning and related topics such as disaster risk management systems, resilience, climate change, markets, and private sector engagement.

• Provide technical support to ongoing projects through tasks like development of technical reports, presentations, or short-term technical assignments as appropriate.

• Act as a subject matter expert for program and international staff on disaster response systems and early warning analysis including acute food insecurity monitoring, data collection, assessment, and early warning analysis; as well as communicating and disseminating early warning analysis in ways that decision-makers can action.

• Lead the development of strong, collaborative, and professional relations, both formal and informal, with key partners, such as host-government ministries, food security clusters, United Nations (UN) agencies (e.g., WFP, FAO, and UNICEF), and international, regional, and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), among others.

• Lead innovation efforts that showcase RTI as a global leader against initiatives like the UN’s “Early Warnings for All.” This will require engaging and coordinating with teams across RTI that work in areas such as artificial intelligence, remote-sensing and satellite technology, forecasting and modeling methodologies.

• Collaborate across IDG and SSES to expand RTI’s knowledge base in areas such as livelihood zone profiles, commodity trade flow maps, sub-national seasonal monitoring calendars, commodity price data, nutrition data, and other technical data covering rainfall, agricultural production, population, historical assistance flows.

Strategic Growth

• Contribute to updating and implementing AWE’s agriculture and food security growth strategy.

• Participate in design workshops and other proposal strategy, preparation and review activities and synthesize inputs from various data sources and stakeholders.

• Serve as a reviewer for FSA’s pipeline and/or proposals.

• Participate in collaborative business development opportunities across RTI’s technical divisions, including in roles such as technical advisor, reviewer, or other roles as appropriate.

• Analyze partner strategies and make priority recommendations.

• Develop high-quality proposals for pitches and responses to competitive solicitations for key partners. Serve as a lead or support writer, soliciting input from staff and partners to create effective proposals.

Positioning, Communications, and Marketing

• Position RTI as a leader in sustainable food security, agriculture, and early warning—including leading pre-positioning efforts for specifics bid.

• Work with government relations team as a technical expert on topics such as climate change and food security.

• Serve as a senior technical expert at events and presentations on technical topics.

• Write blog posts or articles about RTI project successes and research and share on/at social media, conferences, round tables, and other relevant events.

• Collaborate with communication, business development, and FSA colleagues to develop products demonstrating FSA’s areas of expertise, such as capability statements. 

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree and 15 years of experience, Master's degree and 12 years of experience, PhD and 8 years of experience.

• Minimum of 5 years of experience working with USAID and BHA, particularly on FEWSNET is required and experience with UN agencies, including coordinating platforms such as UNICEF cluster or other DR-related forums and communication platform is desirable.

• Minimum twelve years of relevant experience is required. Relevant experience includes working on food security information systems, food security analysis, early warning, or other related technical areas such as: 

  • Livelihoods and the Household Economy Approach (HEA)

  • Markets and trade

  • Agro-climatology (agro-meteorology, remote sensing, GIS, etc.)

  • Nutrition

  • Agricultural sciences (crops, livestock, pasture, etc.)

  • Field assessments (quantitative and/or qualitative)

  • Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysese.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Demonstrated experience working on business development tasks such as proposal development, pipeline development, leading capture & proposals, and/or writing proposals.

• Excellent verbal communication skills with an ability to communicate complex information to multiple audiences working in the international development.

• Excellent writing skills and ability to present information in an articulate and concise manner.

• Ability to manage and cultivate strong relationships, convene the right people at all levels, and collaborate inclusively with a wide variety of individuals.

• Demonstrated ability to contribute as part of a team to produce high-quality deliverables under tight deadlines. 

• Must be able to manage a multitude of tasks simultaneously and prioritize as necessary.

• Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking and problem-solving skills, with a capacity to articulate the big picture and provide attention to detail.

• Advanced knowledge and skill with using MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), collaboration platforms (Teams, SharePoint, Mural, Zoom), and information management systems.

• Fluency in oral and written English required. Working ability in French or Spanish a plus.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

To apply, please email your resume to yaniv@headgloballlc.com with “Senior Food Security and Early Warning Specialist, RTI” in the subject line.