Consultant – client engagement, support and adoption

Job Title

Consultant – client engagement, support and adoption

Reference Number

Ref: RFC: CONSULTANT – CLIENT ENGAGEMENT, SUPPORT AND ADOPTION

Company Overview

The Alliance of Bioversity International ( www.bioversityinternational.org ) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) ( www.ciat.cgiar.org ) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.

With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people in a climate crisis.

The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.

Position

National Consultant, Client Engagement, Support and Adoption Coordinator

Employment Type

Consultancy (Full-time)

Location

Arusha, Tanzania

Salary & Benefits

Total Consultancy Fee: USD 16,000 (with potential extension)

Job Summary

• Coordinate field campaigns and pilots
• Manage client engagement and support
• Ensure effective use of technology in field conditions
• Establish systems, workflows, and quality standards
• Support adoption and market development

Job Description

Artificial Intelligence has opened up new opportunities for anyone to collect high quality data from anywhere. However, such tools have largely bypassed the Global South as they were not adapted to local conditions—whether because they were too expensive, too complex, or not transferable to Global South contexts. This hampers data-driven decision making, especially in critical areas such as food systems.

Tatu, formerly known as the Artemis project, leverages AI that is appropriate to the context in the Global South. Tatu represents the convergence of people, AI, and plants, and the bridge between research, innovation, and impact. The Tatu team consists of a multi-disciplinary team of 30+ experts in product development, Machine Learning, field operations, user design, and scaling. Tatu has primarily been focusing on improving crop breeding so that varieties better adapted to climate change, emerging diseases, and changing consumer demands can be developed better and faster.

Products & Tools

• Ona
• Developed over four years under the Artemis project with Gates Foundation support.
• Smartphone-based computer vision phenotyping tool.
• Works with Bruno field tool to image entire breeding plots in under 30 seconds.
• Provides same-day, high-precision data exceeding traditional methods.
• Now scaling as a primary tool for CGIAR with support from Google.org.
• NDIZI & Sikia
• Based on NLP research (NDIZI project).
• Uses Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Vision-Language Models (VLMs).
• Captures conversational and visual farm data.
• Outputs insights on farmer preferences and crop performance.
• Sikia product integrates these insights.
• Expansion into African languages and offline deployment underway.

Implementation Status

• Ona piloted in Tanzania and Uganda (beans).
• Models for cowpea and sorghum expected by Q3 2026.
• Expansion to rice and other crops ongoing.
• Sikia tested in Tanzania and Kenya.
• Future tests planned across Africa and beyond.

Partnerships & Funding

Partners

• TARI, IITA, CIMMYT, CIP
• Colorado State University
• Google Research, Mineral
• London School of Economics

Funding

• Funded by the Gates Foundation.
• Coordinated from Arusha, Tanzania.

Key Responsibilities

• Stakeholder engagement and quality control
• Lead and manage client engagement across campaigns and pilots.
• Refine and apply the Ona Client Engagement Checklist.
• Provide weekly status updates.
• Act as the single point of contact for clients.
• Coordinate issue resolution with Tatu teams.
• Collaborate with breeding teams for workflow integration.
• Document feedback and lessons learned.
• Monitor and support Sikia pilots.
• Customer support systems and service delivery
• Establish internal customer support workflows:
• Intake, triage, escalation, tracking, follow-up, closure
• Develop frameworks, templates, and service standards.
• Track support performance across engagements.
• Identify gaps and propose improvements.
• Adoption, outreach and market development
• Represent Tatu with stakeholders and partners.
• Support market validation and scoping.
• Conduct outreach and document interest.
• Assess client segments and use cases.

Required Skills & Experience

Education

• Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in:
• Agricultural Sciences
• Business Development
• Education/Adult Learning
• Or related technical fields

Experience

• Minimum 3 years in:
• Stakeholder coordination
• Client monitoring
• Technology adoption (preferably in agricultural research)
• Customer support or service delivery
• Capacity development or adult learning
• Experience in field coordination or digital tools is an advantage.

Technical competencies

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Proficiency in coordination tools (checklists, trackers, shared drives).
• Organized problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to track performance and develop service frameworks.

Work Environment

• Nationally recruited position.
• Based in Arusha, Tanzania.
• Contract duration: up to 8 months.
• Clients managed: 10–20 across East Africa and beyond.

Hiring Process

• No fees charged at any stage.
• No bank information required.
• Email applications not accepted.
• Only shortlisted candidates contacted.

Deliverables & Payment Schedule

• Deliverable 1: inception report and workplan (Month 1)
• Defines consultancy approach and engagement plan.
• Includes 8-month workplan.
• Payment: USD 4,000 (25%)
• Deliverable 2: implementation report (Month 3)
• Evidence of client engagement and support.
• Includes workflows, tools, and early lessons.
• Deliverable 3: performance and costing report (Month 5)
• Reports engagement performance and trends.
• Includes refined tools and cost framework.
• Deliverable 4: final report (Month 8)
• Covers results, feedback, insights, and recommendations.
• Includes finalized tools and systems.

Required Documents

• Submit CV and application as one document (Last name, First name).

Join Us

Visit: https://www.bioversityinternational.org/jobs/ Application link: https://zrec.eu/BSgyf?source=CareerSite • Deadline: 15th May 2026

Attachments / Tender Documents

For comprehensive information regarding this RFQ/tender, we invite you to download the attachments provided below. These documents contain all the necessary details, including specifications, requirements, and submission guidelines. Please review them carefully to ensure you have all the pertinent information needed to participate.

Other Information

Cost assessment

Assess costs of:

• Client engagement
• Customer service
• Maintenance systems

Develop cost framework including:

• Staff time, travel, hardware/software, communications

Provide budgeting and service model recommendations.