Consultancy for an Individual ‘Project Field Coordinator’ for VIKAS-AI and Climate Action Science Program (CASP) Projects

IFPRI is seeking a qualified Project Consultant within the Agrifood Innovation and Resilience (AIR) Unit to support the implementation of VIKAS-AI (Viable Information and Knowledge for Adaptation Solutions–AI), a community-embedded, AI-enabled climate advisory initiative for rural women workers in Gujarat, and work under the Climate Action Science Program (CASP), both being implemented jointly with Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.

VIKAS-AI is being implemented also with Gram Vaani as the technology partner. The consultant will be based in Ahmedabad and serve as the primary field coordination point for IFPRI under CASP and VIKAS-AI in Gujarat. This consultancy is for applicants based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India only.

Activities:

The consultant will support day-to-day coordination among IFPRI, SEWA, Gram Vaani, SEWA’s grassroots women leaders and community mobilizers (Aagewans), and field teams, with responsibilities spanning field implementation, qualitative research, documentation, user testing, and validation of advisory content, user responses, and escalation workflows. The role requires strong field orientation, analytical judgement, ability to organize, clean, and analyze field or survey data, familiarity with AI-enabled tools, and the ability to translate field observations into actionable inputs for research, implementation, and technical teams.

Essential Duties:

·        Support field implementation of VIKAS-AI and CASP, including user onboarding, pilot activities, field study to identify climate finance gaps, Aagewan engagement, feedback collection, field visits, and issue tracking during the pilot and early scale-up phases.

·        Work closely with SEWA field teams and Aagewans to document user needs, advisory and finance preferences, frequently asked questions, information gaps, local risk perceptions, and barriers to adoption of climate-resilient practices and technologies.

·        Support research activities, including data collection, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, field observations, usability testing, and rapid feedback exercises with SEWA members, Aagewans, and field coordinators.

·        Assist in testing and validating the advisory system from a field and user perspective, including advisory comprehension, language clarity, occupation-specific relevance, WhatsApp or IVR user journeys, and escalation pathways.

·        Identify, document, and classify system errors or weaknesses, including unclear user journeys, mistranslations, poor speech-to-text performance, irrelevant retrieval results, low-confidence responses, unresolved queries, inappropriate escalation, or advice that is technically correct but impractical for users.

·        Maintain structured issue logs, feedback trackers, field notes, and action trackers that can be used by IFPRI, SEWA, Gram Vaani, and product teams to refine advisory content, user flows, escalation protocols, training materials, and monitoring systems.

·        Support coordination of Aagewan and AI Steward training activities, including preparation of training materials, field-based exercises, process documentation, and follow-up support after training sessions.

·        Support development and refinement of the AI-ready knowledge base by helping organize field questions, advisory themes, local terms, user examples, and feedback on SEWA Climate School content, while ensuring that new or modified content is reviewed through the appropriate partner processes.

·        Assist with monitoring and learning activities, including collection and synthesis of information on user engagement, advisory usefulness, message delivery, comprehension, escalation volumes, issue resolution, Aagewan workload, and equity of access across user groups.

·        Coordinate with IFPRI research staff to ensure that implementation learning, platform data, qualitative findings, and field observations are documented in a form useful for project reporting, impact evaluation planning, and future research outputs.

·        Support partner coordination by preparing meeting notes, action trackers, field visit summaries, implementation updates, and concise briefs for IFPRI, SEWA, Gram Vaani, and other project stakeholders.

·        Support compliance with project protocols on informed consent, responsible data use, privacy, escalation, and human oversight, particularly when handling field notes, user feedback, voice or text interactions, and identifiable information.

·        Perform other project-related duties as assigned.

Duration of Contract:      180 days after receipt of fully signed contract

Required Qualifications:

·        Master’s degree in economics, development studies, data science, rural management, or a closely related field.

·        Demonstrated experience in field-based research, program implementation, or community engagement in rural settings, preferably in Gujarat and/or with community-based organizations, women’s collectives, rural livelihoods, agriculture, climate resilience, public service delivery, or social protection programs.

·        Demonstrated ability to conduct qualitative research and field documentation, including interviews, focus group discussions, observation notes, feedback synthesis, and field reports.

·        Demonstrated ability to organize, clean, and analyze survey or field data, and interpret findings; exposure to statistical and programming languages such as STATA/R

·        Strong writing skills, including the ability to prepare field notes, meeting summaries, implementation updates, and analytical memos for research and program teams.

·        Demonstrated ability to coordinate effectively with multiple partners, including research teams, implementation partners, technology teams, field staff, and community intermediaries.

·        Comfort working with AI and digital tools and basic data systems, including Excel or Google Sheets, online forms, project trackers, dashboards, and documentation platforms.

·        Functional understanding of AI-enabled or digital advisory systems, or willingness and ability to quickly learn core concepts such as retrieval-based systems, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, confidence thresholds, human escalation, and user feedback loops.

·        Fluency in spoken and written English and Hindi is compulsory, and working proficiency in Gujarati is preferred.

·        Ability and willingness to travel regularly within Gujarat and spend time in field settings.

Preferred Qualifications:

·        Experience with monitoring and evaluation, impact evaluation support, survey implementation, including use of tools such as SurveyCTO, ODK, or Kobo Toolbox, field supervision, or mixed-methods research.

·        Working knowledge of STATA, R or similar statistical software for data cleaning and analysis.

·        Strong Gujarati language skills, including ability to understand local terms, field expressions, and dialect variation relevant to rural users.

Other Requirements:

·        Consultant will be required to travel to rural and semi-urban field locations in Gujarat and participate in meetings, trainings, field observations, interviews, and workshops.

·        Consultant is required to have close visual acuity to perform activities such as preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing computer terminal; extensive reading.

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*We are unable to respond to all applications, only the selected individual will be contacted *