Scientist (Fish Feeds & Nutrition)

The new Norad-funded project “Development and Scaling of Sustainable Feeds for Resilient Aquatic Food Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (FASA)” will be implemented in Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, Malaysia and Sweden. WorldFish is seeking a nationally recruited Research Assistant to support the Scientist (Fish Feeds and Nutrition) in the achievement of the project goal in Zambia. The primary purpose of this position is to assist in the implementation of the FASA project in Zambia, under the direction of WorldFish Project Leader based in Malaysia and the WorldFish Country Director, Zambia and Southern Africa.

The candidate will work in an interdisciplinary team of experts from different backgrounds, including fish nutrition, gender, climate change, scaling of innovations, science communication, rural development and bioprocesses. The candidate will focus on the implementation on the ground of high quality applied research on fish nutrition and feeds in the laboratory and on-farm, with emphasis on scoping novel local sustainable ingredients, assessing the nutritional quality and digestibility of local ingredients and feeds, estimating the nutrients requirements of local strains of tilapia and African catfish, training of aquaculture stakeholders, communication and outreach and the publication of scientific and technical articles.

The successful candidate will:

• Lead the project work in Zambia.
• Design and conduct ingredient scoping in Zambia.
• Design, execute and report on the laboratory and on-farm fish feeds and nutrition experiments in Zambia.
• Publish technical, scientific and outreach articles.
• Work collaboratively with the Project Leader based at the HQ in Malaysia.
• Develop productive partnerships to further feeds research in Zambia, through key international and national research institutes and universities.
• Build productive relations with investors and development partners from public and private sectors for scaling out research results.
• Mentor BSc/MSc students and interns from national and international universities and organization, who are involved in the project.
• Plan, organize, execute and report on project progress in dialogue with senior as well as junior staff/employees and external partners.
• Contribute to resource mobilization for further feeds work in Zambia and in other WF countries.
• All other duties that may be required from time to time.

Requirements

The successful candidate will have:

• PhD in aquaculture, aquaculture nutrition, animal nutrition or other related fields.
• At least two year of research experience in aquaculture or animal nutrition and feeds research.
• Excellent proficiency of spoken and written English.
• Proven record of publications in his/her study field.
• Motivation for high quality science and delivery of impact from research.
• Show proven interest and ability to develop and maintain a professional network in the field of aquaculture nutrition and fish feeds research.
• Ability to work within interdisciplinary research teams, linking own expertise to other fields, including human nutrition, value chains, climate change, scaling and gender research fields.
• Ability to work independently and manage research projects.

Desirable Skills/Experience

• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Strong technical and scientific writing skills with record of publication in high quality scientific journals.
• Good organizational skills.
• Good leadership and mentoring skills.
• Project management experience.

This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position and WorldFish offers a competitive remuneration package including comprehensive benefits (but not limited to) insurance coverage for staff and eligible dependents, employer provident fund contribution, paid leave and others. The duration of the contract will initially be for a three-year period with possibility for extension, depending on funding and performance.