Consultants - Geospatial Analysis and Earth Observation
Organizational Context
IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency dedicated to eradicating rural poverty and hunger. It invests in rural people to promote inclusive, sustainable and resilient livelihoods by financing programmes and projects that increase agricultural productivity, improve food security, strengthen rural economies and contribute to sustainable rural transformation. The Geospatial team provides corporate leadership on GIS, Earth Observation, Remote Sensing, geospatial data science and spatial analytics.
Job Purpose
To provide specialized technical services across IFAD's global portfolio in Geospatial Analysis and Earth Observation, supporting project identification, investment planning, targeting of beneficiaries, climate and environmental analysis, implementation support, supervision, monitoring, evaluation, impact assessment, corporate reporting and knowledge generation.
Responsibilities
Provide technical expertise in GIS and spatial analysis; develop and apply Earth Observation methodologies; develop scalable and reproducible geospatial workflows using Python, R, and Google Earth Engine; develop and maintain high-quality geospatial products and corporate datasets; support the development of innovative digital geospatial solutions; support monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment activities through geospatial analysis; apply geospatial technologies to support IFAD investments across technical sectors; provide technical advice and capacity development to IFAD staff, governments, and implementing partners.
Work Experience
Senior Level: 12+ years of relevant professional experience. Mid-Level: 8-11 years of relevant professional experience. Entry-Level: 2-7 years of relevant professional experience. Experience in International Financial Institutions, UN agencies, IFAD-funded programmes, agriculture and rural development, climate adaptation, natural resource management, food systems, MEL, Impact Assessment, and social/environmental/climate standards implementation is an asset.
Skills
Advanced knowledge and professional experience in Geographic Information Systems (spatial analysis, raster/vector processing, cartographic design, spatial modelling, geostatistics, database design, metadata standards, data quality assurance), Earth Observation (optical remote sensing, SAR, machine/deep learning, time-series analysis, change detection, environmental/agricultural monitoring, UAV imagery, image classification), and Programming/Data Science (Python, R, SQL, Google Earth Engine, GDAL/OGR, GeoPandas, PostGIS, Git, API integration, cloud computing, workflow automation). Professional experience with QGIS, Google Earth Engine, GeoServer, PostgreSQL/PostGIS, Power BI is desirable.