Research Specialist - Energy and Livelihoods

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a CGIAR Research Center, is seeking a research professional specialized in Energy and Livelihoods to join its office in Anand, India, as a Research Specialist Energy and Livelihoods. The Research Specialist will primarily contribute to the ongoing initiative, Indo-German Cooperation on Agrivoltaics (IGCA). IGCA aims to accelerate and mainstream the adoption of agrivoltaics in India, generating benefits for the rural population without compromising food security. The initiative establishes demonstration agrivoltaics projects across diverse agro-ecological regions, generates evidence on agricultural productivity, water use and socioeconomic benefits, develops viable business and financing models, strengthens institutional and individual capacities, and supports evidence-based policymaking. The role also contributes to relevant IWMI-India projects and partnerships including those with ICAR, Tata Trusts and other collaborators. The Research Specialist is responsible for planning, designing, overseeing, and monitoring research activities, including protocol development, data collection, analysis, and interpretation to achieve research goals and objectives in agrivoltaics, energy and livelihoods. The role engages with stakeholders, assigns and mentors support staff, organizes capacity development sessions, and produces knowledge products to enhance collaboration, outreach, and stakeholder expertise. The Research Specialist ensures timely recording and analysis of data, maintains optimal data pipelines, and develops comprehensive reports and provides inputs to publications to disseminate findings and support evidence-based decision-making. The position contributes to the development and assessment of equitable and sustainable agrivoltaics business models and deployment strategies through qualitative and quantitative research, action research, field experimentation, comparative assessments, case studies, stakeholder consultations and policy engagement. DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:Main Purpose of Job: Plan, design, oversee, and monitor research activities, including developing protocols, data collection, analysis, and interpretation, based on a defined research plan to achieve project objectives and development outcomes.Gather and synthesize information and literature to design studies, experiments, surveys, and case studies that generate evidence on agricultural productivity, water use, livelihood benefits agrivoltaics deployment approaches.Select, develop and organize research tools, methodologies, and equipment based on project requirements to ensure effective and accurate implementation and provide suggestions for the development of research instruments and analytical tools to enhance the accuracy of the selection of the proposed agrivoltaic interventions and to ensure that the viability gap funding support is routed to the appropriate interventions.Design and implement monitoring system to assess the performance, impacts and scalability of farmer-centric and developer-led agrivoltaics modelsCollaborate, engage, communicate and coordinate with stakeholders on research activities to ensure project objectives and milestones are met including organizing meetings, dialogues, field visits and workshops.Calibrate and validate assessments, models (e.g. alternate business models) and deployment strategies to enhance precision and achieve viable implementation of agrivoltaics projects.Main engagement, collaboration and communication responsibilities: Identify and assign appropriate support for research activities, providing clear task responsibilities, technical information, and logistical guidance to ensure smooth implementation of experiments or studies.Provide input to performance appraisals of team members, providing constructive feedback and identifying opportunities for professional development to enhance team performance.Engage with colleagues, implementation partners, consultants, farmers and other stakeholders exchange conceptual ideas and effectively gather feedback and research-related requirements for the research's advancement or to align the execution of research.Align and synchronize project activities with stakeholders to ensure consistency and mutual reinforcement of efforts.Develop training materials and organize tailored capacity development sessions to build expertise in area of work.Design and produce knowledge products, informational resources, and communication materials for to amplify the impact and outreach of project and organizational work.Identify and communicate key information to policymakers and non-scientific audiences to promote knowledge transfer and evidence-based decision-making.Main responsibilities in the delivery of timely and quality services: Prepare, compile and submit updates and reports of research outputs in a timely manner.Lead the synthesis and analysis of data to support the development of publications and .