Senior Research Officer

As part of a growing team of experts in circular economy, sustainable growth, and entrepreneurship, the Senior Research Officer in Water Productivity, Environment, and Governance will implement resource assessments and provide advice to innovators and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) on Environment, Society, and Governance (ESG), as well as improved water productivity and management in Egypt and the wider MENA region. The Senior Research Officer will contribute to IWMI programmes by supporting environmental assessments, water productivity benchmarking analysis, and wastewater management. This role will also involve contributing to the improvement of water resources management and capacity building to enhance the productive use of water in the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) sector.

**Duties & Responsibilities**:
Technical Support and Expertise,
- Provide technical support and expertise in environmental and ESG data management and assessment to SMEs.
- Conduct site visits to innovators' locations and undertake analysis of site and farm data for water and environmental analysis.
- Monitor environmental compliance of SMEs supported by various incubation and acceleration programs.
- Develop and submit Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Reports (EMMRs).
- Develop and conduct Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) surveys for SMEs to assess their ESG-related performance against key performance indicators (KPIs) and general illustrative indicators (GINs).
- Review survey submissions and follow up with innovators to ensure compliance with monitoring & evaluation (M&E) guidelines.
- Submit the final results tracker to the secretariat for data quality assessments (DQA) and upload it to Salesforce upon final review and clearance, ensuring deadlines are met for the concerned projects.

Training and Capacity Building,
- Organize and conduct periodic ESG clinics and workshops on various environmental topics, including Climate Risk Management (CRM), for innovators and SMEs.
- Support the onboarding of newly accepted innovators in different acceleration and incubation programs, focusing on building their capacity to meet environmental compliance requirements.
- Organize and conduct MEL training sessions for innovators to clarify the reporting process and outline the expected deliverables.

ESG Integration and Documentation,
- Review and approve Technical Assistance Scope of Work (TA SoW) documents to ensure the integration of ESG considerations.
- Document the progress and achievements of the Environment and MEL components in reports.

Stakeholder Engagement and Communication,
- Participate in events and present the development of innovators, such as Boot Camps and other engagements.
- Follow up with country coordinators and innovators on the progress of implementing mitigation measures and interventions in the EMMPs, providing support to address potential challenges.
- Assist in developing and distributing communications to stakeholders.

Policy and Ecosystem Development,
- Support scaling up and accelerating innovation and digital tools for climate-resilient food value chains.
- Collect data and lessons learned to inform and improve state policy on climate risk management.

Sustainable Entrepreneurship and R&D,
- Contribute to the expansion of the office’s portfolio in sustainable entrepreneurship and R&D.

**Requirements**:
**EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE**:
Essential,
- Master’s degree in environmental engineering, Water Resources, Water Accounting, Hydrology, Irrigation Engineering, or a related field.
- Minimum 05 years of experience in environmental and data analysis and assessment, particularly in agriculture and water-related research in Egypt or the MENA region.
- Sound experience in the coordination and management of hydrological projects, supervision of contractors, and stakeholder engagement.
- Experience in handling large data sets for monitoring and evaluation purposes and conducting ESG assessments for SMEs.

**KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES**:
Essential,
- Sound understanding of water productivity challenges and needs in the region.
- Familiarity with ESG metrics and innovation financing.
- Possess stakeholder engagement skills and experience with interviewing, planning, and scheduling.
- Ability to work independently with mínimal supervision.
- Good interpersonal skills and the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with people in a multicultural and multi-disciplinary environment, with sensitivity and respect for diversity.
- Excellent oral and written language skills in English & Arabic, including effective listening and strong verbal and written communication abilities.

Desirable,
- Familiarity with water resources issues in Egypt and the MENA region.
- Sound knowledge of key challenges in the region and institutional structures, including innovators in the WEF sectors.

**Benefits**

This is a **nationally **recruited position and only **Egyptian na