About The Tarayana Foundation

The Tarayana Foundation, established in 2003, is a public benefit organization registered with the Civil Society Authority of Bhutan. It works to support, uplift and enhance the lives of vulnerable individuals and communities in Bhutan. Tarayana works with and for rural communities in remote areas of Bhutan in the fight against multiple dimensions of poverty. It does so by complementing the efforts of the Royal Government of Bhutan in promoting
prosperity, wellbeing and the four pillars of GNH (sustainable and equitable socio-economic development, environmental sustainability and conversation, cultural promotion and preservation, and good governance).

About TCSRD

The Tarayana Centre for Social Research and Development (TCSRD) is the think tank and research arm of the Tarayana Foundation, focusing on action-oriented research. TCSRD contributes to the Tarayana Foundation in realizing its vision of a happy and prosperous Bhutan through three objectives: 1) to carry out action-oriented social development research in the areas of socio-cultural landscapes, political-ecology, behavioral science,
anthropological approaches, indigenous knowledge, and rural innovation that ensures bottom-up knowledge and actionable research; 2) to enhance development efforts by creating a repository and storehouse of knowledge from original research by the Centre and rural development initiatives of the Tarayana Foundation and to provide networking opportunities, knowledge-sharing and linkages amongst researchers, scholars, communities, development practitioners and other agencies in Bhutan, and 3) to develop reflexive approaches, social change pathways and theories of change that help to assess the impacts of the Centre's research and activities on the ground.

About the B-KIND programme

TCSRD's new research programme on Bhutanese Knowledge for Indigenous Development (B-KIND) focuses on adaptation to climate change, sustainable organic agriculture, holistic food systems and gender transformative change. Expected to be launched on August 1, 2021 with funding from the International Development Research
Centre, the government of Canada, TCSRD seeks a senior researcher to assist in leading and implementing the action-oriented trans-disciplinary research project. This programme aims to enhance adaptive capacities and resilience of economically vulnerable rural women, men and youth, by developing rigorous evidence-based scientific and citizen-research that informs gender transformative climate adaptation practices and policies for improving sustainable rural livelihoods, integrated organic agricultural-food systems and gross national
happiness.

B-KlND's Key Research Themes

Sustainable Organic Agriculture
Climate Change Adaptation
Gender Equality and Gender Transformative Change
Indigenous Knowledge
Holistic Food Systems (food and nutrition security; healthy food consumption, diets and habits; and food production, distribution and value addition)
Rural and International Development

B-KIND Programme Objectives

B-KIND aims to catalyze high-quality trans-disciplinary research that supports vulnerable mountain communities, and strengthens scientific research expertise and participatory community-driven research. It also aims to contribute to policy dialogue as well as to generate dynamic and innovative scientific and indigenous knowledge.
The programme seeks to i) To generate knowledge through scientific and citizen-research about locally appropriate organic agricultural-food systems, tradeoffs and gender transformative practices that enhance adaption to climate change, resilient livelihoods and wellbeing; ii) To implement in pilot sites action-oriented research on the use of best organic farming practices and holistic food systems that enhance the livelihoods of rural communities while strengthening local adaptation capacities, exchange networks and gender-equitable benefits; iii) to strengthen the trans-disciplinary expertise, scientific capacities, leadership and equitable opportunities of researchers, PhD and MA students, research institutions, and science-policy networks to contribute to national goals on climate change, food security, gender equality and gross national happiness;
and iv) to inform evidence-based policy processes in Bhutan related to national plans for resilient organic farming, climate change agenda, gross national happiness, gender equality, and food and nutrition security and to enhance leadership and expertise on multidisciplinary research in the country.

The Senior Researcher Position

The successful candidate will work in a transdisciplinary team of researchers and assist in leading the programme through its project initiation, research implementation, data collection and project documentation, analysis and writing, monitoring, dissemination, capacity strengthening, and policy dialogue components. The candidate will carry out rigorous and in-depth research, analysis, synthesis, and writing/publication of research findings at high international scholarly standards. They will apply collaborative and effective project management, coordination, administration, leadership, team-building, public-speaking, motivation and facilitation skills. The candidate will disseminate research findings to key knowledge users and constituencies through publications in international
and national scholarly journals, monographs, policy briefs, visual methods, blogs, media stories, etc., as well as by engaging participatory approaches involving grass-roots community engagement, policy dialogues and networking events.

This position requires the Senior Researcher to be proactive in identifying opportunities that will contribute to meeting the objectives of the B-KIND programme objectives in terms of relevance, quality, ethics, policy impact, capacity strengthening, knowledge generation and raising visibility (national and international reputation) of the programme, the Centre and the Tarayana Foundation. They must be able to accelerate, plan, monitor, report and ensure the quality of the implementation and operationalization of the B-KIND research programme in a timely and efficient manner. The successful candidate will be able to work within a large team, independently, as well as with international scholars from different cultural backgrounds.

Key Responsibilities & Technical Competencies

Research and Knowledge Generation

• Proven track-record and ability to carry out in-depth qualitative field research in rural communities and remote locations of Bhutan (i.e. with an emphasis on qualitative and ethnographic research on sociocultural, political-ecological, natural resource, and gender dynamics)
• Excellent technical skills, knowledge and proven track-record in conducting qualitative and ethnographic research on indigenous knowledge, community practices, relations, etc.
• Proven track-record and ability in collecting, analyzing, synthesizing and writing-up at a high publishable quality of qualitative research findings
• Strong skills and experience in leading, contributing to and managing the publication of academic articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, as well as books, monographs, policy briefs, etc.
• Experience in initiating, leading and supporting initiatives to enhance citizen science research, knowledge and dissemination
• Experience and skills in action-oriented research (preferably related to organic farming, livelihoods, food systems and processing, healthy consumption/diets/habits, climate adaption and natural resource management, gender transformative change, indigenous knowledge)
• Ability to work as a team and be pro-active in visioning, strategizing and elaborating medium-term strategies
• Excellent skills in identifying critical research gaps, issues, trends, and actionable and policy potential in the subject areas covered by the programme
• Proven ability to collaboratively support programme leaders in project development and management
• Strong confidence and track-record of presenting, synthesizing and systematically arguing research findings in national and international scholarly conferences, seminars and workshops

Capacity Strengthening

• Proven track-record and strong experience in directly mentoring, guiding, supervising and monitoring post-doctoral research students and/or young research professionals to high levels of quality research outputs and performance (including senior research interns, junior research interns, doctoral students, research assistants, field officers, as well as admin and support staff)
• Ability to provide clear directions for the implementation of high quality research programme objectives, outputs and outcomes, and engage, train, monitor and motivate the research team towards these common goals
• Excellent facilitation and training skills with a wide range of researchers from different disciplines, as well as policy-makers, farmers and community members
• Strong ability to deliver training on qualitative and ethnographic research methods, participatory citizen research methods, visual methods, as well as action-oriented pilot projects on the ground on organic agriculture, adaptation to climate change, gender transformative change, holistic food systems, etc.
• Proven track-record in ensuring the ongoing learning, development and growth of researchers, community members and policymakers
•  

Policy Influence

• Proven track-record and experience in translating research into policy messages that have an impact
• Strong technical skills and experience in strengthening science-policy-community linkages and dialogue
• Strong skills in informing and influencing policy-making whilst expanding platforms and networks for policy dialogue
• Technical knowledge on methods and approaches (including theories of change) of ensuring and strengthening policy impacts of research
• Experience in facilitating and conducting training with policy-makers at different levels
• Experience with policy engagement at the community level (i.e. local governance)
• Strong knowledge and contacts in policy arenas

Core Competencies

• Proven track-record and a high degree of technical competence and knowledge in B-KlND's programmatic areas of research
• Excellent research supervision and mentoring skills
• Extremely strong project management skills including the ability to supervise researchers and project administrators
• Strong leadership skills in maintaining collaborative relationships with internal colleagues as well as external partners of the programme
• Regularly able to contribute insights and experiences to colleagues to help achieve high quality results
• Demonstrated professional level of attention to detail and accuracy of work
• Ability to work independently and within a transdisciplinary and culturally diverse team
• Ability to proactively apply relevant international best practices to own work
• Demonstrated ability to multi-task, and consistently meet deadlines and manage time well
• Strong commitment to research ethics and dedication to work for and with community members with respect and humility
• Ability to manage and monitor programme of research and work, and to prioritize to the effective delivery of own work and in support of the work of others
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work in team-oriented and diverse transdisciplinary and cultural environments
• Proven commitment to grassroots communities and to gender equality and youth empowerment Genuine and sincere commitment to the Tarayana Foundation's motto of "service from the heart"
• Excellent demonstrated fluency in written and spoken English and Dzongkha

Minimum Qualifications

Education
• PhD in Anthropology, Sociology, Political Science, Political Ecology, Human Geography, Development Studies, Gender Studies, and other allied social science disciplines (especially focusing on natural resource management, agriculture, food systems, gender equality, climate change, etc.)

Relevant Experience
Work Experience
A minimum of 5-10 years' work experience in research and/or academia
Significant experience producing high quality written proposals, reports and academic papers for scientific and non-scientific audiences, as evidenced by a strong peer-reviewed publication record
Proven track-record in strengthening capacities and strengthening the capacituy of community participants, researchers, and policy-makers
Experience in leading and facilitating seminars, workshops, conferences, scholarly panels, and training programmes
Experience in influencing policymakers and policy dialogues
Strong content knowledge in relation to the Bhutanese context (i.e. culture, environment, climate change, natural resources, organic agriculture, food systems, gross national happiness, etc.)

Technical Knowledqe
In-depth knowledge in qualitative methods which include research instruments such as on-farm field trials, mapping climate vulnerabilities, evaluating agricultural sustainability, assessing livelihood vulnerabilities, and investigating gendered dynamics, needs and vulnerabilities
Strong knowledge of technical and academic literature in the BKlND's subject areas
Strong theoretical and conceptual knowledge
Excellent knowledge of community-based methodologies and approaches
In-depth knowledge of the literature on agriculture, social protection, nutrition and poverty reduction
Familiarity with the literature on agriculture, social protection, nutrition and poverty reduction
Strong knowledge of word, excel, powerpoint and other office-oriented and research software (including Endnote, etc.)

Desirable Qualifications

• Previous experience related to impact evaluations of agriculture, social protection or nutrition programs and policies
• Experince wih gender-based methodoiogical approaches that pay discerning attention to issues of diversity and heterogeneity of women's and men's lived experiences, dfferentiated by age. marital status,class, life-cycle positoning
• Experience in quantitative research methods and analysis
• Sirong technical content knowledge in other countries of the Himalayas or other global mountain contexts
• Experience with qualitatve research and analysis software
• Research experience with CSOs.
• Fluency in French

Documents Required for Applving to the Position

Upon appication:

• Cover letter (no more than 1 page)
• Detailed Curtculum Vitae/Resume
• List of publications
• List of atleast 3 references (with full name, affilliation,  and contact details including email and phone number)
• Copy of Citizenship Identity Card
• Academic Certificates and Transcripts (PhD, MA, BA, etc)

Upon shortlisting:

• Valid onine approved Securiy Clearance
• Valid Medical Fitness Certificate for empioyment
• Valid Securty Ciearance
• No objecton certificate from the employer if the candidate is an employee

To apply for this position, kindly email your appication with the subject heading “Application TCSRD Senior Researcher" wih the required documents to the emall address. bkindtarayana@gmail.com. For further information about this positon, B-KIND or TCSRD, please contact the TCSRD office at 02 330143 during normal office hours (M to F 9:00 am to 5:00 pm).“

** Deadline for submission: Monday 19th July 2021 midnight BST **

TCRSD actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion, and encourages appications from all sections of Society. We especially encourage women research candidates to apply.