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Research Associate
Location: India based (Delhi preferred, or remote within India with ability to travel to field locations and work across time zones)
About the Role
We are seeking an exceptional Research Associate based in India to support research, analysis, and programme development across climate, agriculture, and carbon removal. The role will focus on generating high quality evidence, synthesising complex technical information, and supporting the design of field and policy programmes that link soil restoration, agricultural productivity, and durable carbon removal.
The successful candidate will contribute to technical analysis, research publications, grant and concept note development, country risk analysis, and internal strategy work.
The role is best suited to candidates who combine strong academic training with practical experience working on real world climate, agriculture, or development programmes.
Key Responsibilities
Research and Evidence Generation
Lead structured literature reviews across soil science, agronomy, carbon removal, climate policy, and rural development
Translate academic and technical evidence into clear decision ready outputs for internal and external stakeholders
Support development of research frameworks for field trials and evidence generation programmes
Analyse and interpret data from field trials and pilot deployments
Contribute to technical reports, white papers, and peer reviewed publications
Country and Market Risk Assessment
Contribute to development of country risk assessments across priority geographies
Analyse political economy, regulatory stability, and policy direction relevant to agriculture and climate deployment
Assess operational risks including logistics, infrastructure, and supply chain constraints
Support evaluation of carbon market, Article 6, and voluntary carbon market enabling conditions
Contribute to country prioritisation frameworks and deployment readiness scoring
Programme and Strategy Support
Contribute to development of concept notes, grant applications, and technical proposals
Support analysis of India specific and international policy, regulatory, and market environments
Support partner mapping across academia, government, multilaterals, and corporates
Carbon Removal and Climate Analytics
Support modelling of cost curves, farmer economics, and deployment scenarios
Stakeholder and Knowledge Management
Prepare high quality briefing materials for senior leadership and external partners
Support workshop and roundtable preparation including background research and synthesis
Maintain structured research repositories and knowledge management systems
Required Qualifications and Experience
Masters degree from a university outside India in a relevant field (for example environmental science, soil science, climate policy, development economics, geography, or agricultural systems)
Minimum 3 years professional experience in climate, agriculture, development, sustainability, or applied research roles
Demonstrated experience contributing to technical reports, policy papers, or research publications
Demonstrated experience working with complex datasets, field evidence, or multi source research inputs
Required Skills
Excellent written English with ability to translate complex technical material into clear, structured outputs
Strong analytical and structured thinking capability
High attention to detail and source accuracy
Ability to work across disciplines and with international teams
Strong organisational and time management capability
Strongly Preferred
Experience working on climate or agricultural programmes in Global South contexts
Experience conducting country risk, political economy, or market enabling environment analysis
Familiarity with carbon markets, carbon accounting, or MRV frameworks
Experience working with smallholder farming systems in India
Quantitative capability including Excel modelling, or statistical or geospatial tools
Personal Attributes
Highly intellectually curious and evidence driven
Comfortable operating in ambiguity and fast-moving programme environments
Mission aligned with climate mitigation, adaptation, and rural development
Able to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences
What We Offer
Opportunity to work on frontier climate and agriculture challenges in India and other Global South contexts
Exposure to global policy, science, and finance stakeholders
Fast learning environment with strong mentorship and responsibility from day one
Potential pathway to programme leadership or specialist technical roles
Application Process
Please submit:
CV One writing sample (for example research summary, policy brief, or technical note). Shortlisted candidates may be asked to complete a short synthesis exercise.
Additional Capability Expectation: Digital and AI Literacy
Candidates are expected to demonstrate strong practical capability using modern AI enabled research and productivity tools to improve the speed, depth, and quality of analysis and synthesis. Equally important is a clear understanding of the limitations, risks, and appropriate use cases of these tools, including issues related to accuracy, bias, hallucination risk, data provenance, confidentiality, and reproducibility. The successful candidate should be able to apply AI tools as part of a rigorous research workflow, using them to augment rather than replace critical thinking, domain expertise, and source validation.
