Tetra Tech seeks a Research Assistant to support the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded “Enabling Crop Analytics at Scale” activity.  This project will help unlock the ability to remotely generate accurate, near real-time, high-resolution insights on agricultural production (field boundary identification, crops planted, yield) at field to national scales to improve strategic and operational decisions for a range of private and public actors working in agriculture at a global scale. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation selected Tetra Tech to operate phase one of a multi-phased project, designed to lay a foundation for advanced crop analytics. Phase one will establish processes and partnerships which will over time contribute to an agricultural data ecosystem where standardized ground-truth data is cost-effectively collected, shared, and used to create both basic and enhanced analyses and insights that public and private users can employ to generate value, manage risks, and drive agricultural growth.

Reporting to the Project Manager (PM), the Research Assistant will be a core part of the activity’s Home Office Technical Team.  S/he will use both primary and secondary data sources to generate, analyze, and synthesize information products for use by the project team or Gates Foundation, with a focus on stakeholder analysis, reporting, and communications.  S/he will assist with both regular and discreet project reporting of results and outcomes, and will provide administrative support as needed for operations in the US. The Research Assistant is a remote posting within the US, and will work from his or her residence. The role is an eight-month full-time position from June, 2021 through January, 2022. It is possible, pending travel restrictions, that the posting will require occasional travel to Burlington, VT to meet with the core home office team.

Responsibilities:

* Support Stakeholder Landscape Analysis to identify and maintain database of organizations working in the remote sensing and crop analytics space. Support ongoing analysis, engagement, and partnerships with relevant organizations.

*Support research and innovation funded through the under the initiative’s AGData Acceleration Facility, including documenting and publishing lessons learned for use by the remote sensing and analytics community.

*Plan, organize, and conduct literature reviews, interviews, discussions, or other research to collect and analyze data for synthesis in reporting outcomes and results.  

*Prepare articles, tweets, blog posts, website updates, reports, and presentations for internal and public use, as required by the activity’s communication strategy.

*Support the PM and Deputy Project Manager (DPM) in documentation of activity outcomes and results. These will include quarterly and annual reporting, as well as specific learning documents for internal use and broader dissemination among stakeholders. 

*Support the PM and DPM in procurement, logistics, or other administrative program management needs.

Qualifications:

*Bachelor’s degree in agriculture, economics, statistics, business, machine learning, or related field.  Masters degree is preferred.

*Experience working on international development projects and research in the agriculture sector. Research and work experience on agricultural technology and remote sensing for agriculture highly desirable.

*Strong written communications required. Experience developing reports, lessons learned, or similar publications for use by a variety of audiences strongly preferred.

*Experience with quantitative and qualitative research methods, especially related to agriculture, highly desirable.

*Strong interpersonal skills and ability to engage with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds and industries.

*Experience in a developing country context or experience in design and management of donor-funded development projects a plus.

*Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite, especially Word and Excel.

*Proficiency with GIS and statistical tools preferred.

*Ability to legally work in the US without employer sponsorship.