Agricultural/Food Scientist II

University of Florida•Gainesville, FL

About The Position

The Agricultural/Food Scientist II coordinates research scaling and partnership development for the SAFE innovation lab. The role works with SAFE faculty and subrecipients to identify agricultural and food-system innovations with potential for adoption and scaling, assess their readiness, develop strategies and pathways, and integrate scaling considerations into project design and implementation. The position also advises on commercialization, public-sector extension, policy uptake, and private-sector delivery approaches, and works with the monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) team to track and document scaling outcomes. The position develops and implements SAFE’s partnership strategy across target countries, maps and assesses relevant organizations, establishes strategic partnerships, and coordinates partnership agreements with SAFE leadership and UF offices. It identifies co-investment and funding opportunities, facilitates multi-stakeholder engagement, strengthens connections with Feed the Future missions and related programs, and tracks partnership results. The role may also involve travel and other tasks supporting the innovation lab. This is a time-limited position contingent on funding availability.

Requirements

Doctoral degree in agricultural science, biology, or a closely related field; or a master’s degree in one of these fields and one year of relevant experience; or a bachelor’s degree in one of these fields and three years of relevant experience.
At least three years of relevant experience in innovation scaling, partnership development, or program coordination, preferably in agriculture or food systems.
Demonstrated experience building and managing partnerships with government agencies, private-sector firms, NGOs, research institutions, and donors.
Strong analytical and writing skills, including the ability to produce scaling strategies, partnership agreements, and reports.
Ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.
Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, and facilitation skills, including experience leading multi-stakeholder engagement.
Willingness to travel internationally to SAFE’s target countries.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in agricultural science, biology, or a closely related field and three years of experience in the field or a related area.
Familiarity with scaling frameworks and tools, including scaling readiness assessments, and with commercialization, private-sector delivery, and public-sector extension pathways.
Experience with resource mobilization, including identifying co-investment opportunities and contributing to proposals and concept notes.
Understanding of high-value crop value chains, market systems, or food safety in low- and middle-income countries.
Previous work experience with international development projects, preferably Feed the Future or other donor-funded programs.
Proficiency in Spanish or another language spoken in SAFE’s target countries, such as Nepali, Filipino, Amharic, or Swahili.
Experience involving multidisciplinary and international teams.

Responsibilities

Work with SAFE faculty and subrecipients to identify research innovations with strong potential for adoption and scaling.
Lead scaling readiness assessments and use the results to set scaling priorities.
Develop innovation-specific scaling strategies and pathways, including target users, delivery channels, scaling partners, and required resources.
Support subrecipients in incorporating scaling considerations into project design, workplans, and implementation.
Advise SAFE faculty and subrecipients on commercialization, public-sector extension, policy uptake, and private-sector delivery models.
Work with the MEL team to define scaling indicators and track, analyze, and document adoption and scaling outcomes.
Capture scaling lessons and success stories, coordinating with the Marketing and Communications Specialist to share them with donors, partners, and other stakeholders.
Develop and implement SAFE’s partnership strategy, identifying priority partners and engagement approaches in each target country.
Map and assess government agencies, private-sector firms, NGOs, farmer organizations, research institutions, and donors working on high-value crops in SAFE’s target countries.
Establish and maintain strategic partnerships and coordinate development of memoranda of understanding and other partnership agreements with SAFE leadership and UF offices.
Identify and pursue co-investment, cost-share, and complementary funding opportunities, and contribute to proposals and concept notes.
Facilitate multi-stakeholder platforms and engagement with value-chain actors to support collaboration, learning, and uptake of innovations.
Strengthen links with Feed the Future missions, other Innovation Labs, and donor-funded programs to align efforts and leverage investments.
Track partnership activities, contributions, and results, and report on partnership performance to SAFE leadership.
Travel internationally and perform other tasks in support of the innovation lab, as assigned.