Evidence Advisor (ESPA Programme)

Job opening ID	179
Department	The Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA)
Posting title	Evidence Advisor (ESPA Programme)
Designation	Evidence Advisor (ESPA Programme)
Job Summary	The Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme is an international research programme funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), as part of the UK’s Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. With a budget of £40m over 7 years, ESPA provides evidence of how ecosystem services can alleviate poverty and enhance well-being for poor people in low-income countries around the world. Projects are highly interdisciplinary, linking the social, natural and political sciences to address a series of focussed research questions and evidence challenges. ESPA’s projects are delivered through collaborative partnerships linking the world’s best researchers including specifically those in developing countries. The ESPA Directorate, based at the University of Edinburgh, has the responsibility of supporting the global ESPA community, providing leadership to ESPA researchers to help deliver excellent science and significant development impact and transforming research into policy and practice. This post will be supported remotely from the UK in partnership with ICRAF. ICRAF is a partner with ESPA and is supporting the role in East and Southern Africa.
Deadline	06/29/2015
Number of positions	1
Job type	Full time
Location	Nairobi
Country	Kenya
Posted on	06/16/2015
Job Category	Nationally Recruited Staff
Roles and responsibilities	1. Identify and facilitate opportunities to put ESPA’s research into use in the region • By way of researching, organising and analysing information, identify synergies with other UK Government investments in the region (in particular those of the UK’s Research Councils and DFID) and seek to make links with relevant ESPA projects or groups of projects • Identify and facilitate links with relevant DFID development activities and with other key research and development actors in the region • Identify the development priorities of, and opportunities to engage with, regional governments, civil societies and the private sector in the region • Support projects in scaling up their impact activities, connecting projects within and across regions • Working in conjunction with other ESPA Impact staff, engage with policy-makers, NGOs, private sector and the development community to influence policy and practice in the region. • In conjunction with the ESPA Directorate, engage and integrate with other, non-ESPA, research initiatives in the region as appropriate and encourage them to uptake the ESPA approach by way of utilising the ESPA knowledge and impact strategies. 2. Interact with ESPA projects in the region, and globally, when appropriate • Identify and facilitate opportunities to bring ESPA projects and users of ESPA research together to share ideas and drive research uptake • Design, organise and attend events (seeking budgetary approval from the ESPA Operations Manager) in the region which brings together ESPA researchers and potential users of research to enhance ESPA’s development impact. • Support ESPA projects by advising them where there are opportunities for them to attend external events and interact with other processes which will assist them in enhancing their development impact • Identify and facilitate links between ESPA projects in the region and globally, as appropriate, with the aim of enhancing overall programme impact • Represent the programme appropriately either alone or, in some cases, in support of senior colleagues at meetings with internal and external colleagues 3. Understand and map demand for ESPA research in the region • Working with the ESPA Directorate, understand and map demand for ESPA research in the East and Southern Africa region • Build a thorough understanding of the potential users of ESPA research in the region and, in conjunction with the ESPA Directorate, develop strategies to engage with them • Build strong partnerships with stakeholders and connect with key networks and processes relevant to ESPA in the region • Communicate clearly to the ESPA Director and other ESPA Impact staff where there is demand for research that the ESPA programme isn’t already addressing 4. Seek opportunities to build and grow a lasting ESPA legacy in the region • Seek opportunities to learn from and share the ESPA approach by way of synthesising ESPA evidence from across the entire ESPA portfolio of projects to support development activity in the region • Look for opportunities to supplement ESPA research with investment from other agencies • Take emerging lessons learned from the ESPA approach and make them available for other initiatives/programmes to make use of • Provide support for and facilitate Directorate activities in the region – e.g. the ESPA Director’s annual regional visits and any other visits by representatives of the ESPA Directorate and ESPA’s funders to the region
Skill set	• A minimum of a Masters degree, in a discipline relevant to the ESPA programme or another related discipline. • Relevant professional post-degree experience of at least 3 years which may include working at the science-policy interface or in promoting the application of research. • Demonstrated skills in research into use and science communications combined with an interest in ESPA’s activities linking ecosystem services and poverty alleviation • The ability to discipline-span and work in an interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary setting • Extensive experience in and demonstrated ability of writing, translating and communicating science to a wide range of stakeholders, both science-based and non-science-based – including ESPA’s funders, the Director, the Impact Officer, potential users of research, policy practitioners, NGOs, private sector, national governments, ESPA projects • Awareness and understanding of political sensitivities that surround a programme such as ESPA and an ability to communicate appropriately with political awareness • Broad-based knowledge and understanding of current issues in sustainable development and of ecosystems/natural resources in the region • Knowledge of networks and organisations actively involved in areas relevant to ESPA within the region • Thorough understanding of research-policy-practice processes, with experience of driving research into use and influencing policy and practice • Experience of working with researchers • Experience of working in the East and Southern African region • Ability to network between ESPA projects at regional and global scales • Ability to facilitate links between ESPA researchers and potential users of research • Proven ability to generate synthesis of scientific evidence across disciplines and to communicate the findings to a wide variety of stakeholders • Ability to work independently on day-to-day issues • Established networks of regional stakeholders relevant to ESPA Desirable Skills & Competencies: • A strong personal interest in development issues and the aims of the ESPA programme • Experience of working in a multicultural context • Experience of working in the region • Experience of events organisation
Work experience	3 years
Duty station	Nairobi, Kenya
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