The Market Shaping Accelerator at the University of Chicago is led by some of the world’s leading market shaping scholars including Nobel laureate Michael Kremer (UChicago), Professor and President of the Center for Global Development Rachel Glennerster (CGD), and Professor Christopher Snyder (Dartmouth). The accelerator aims to identify the most promising areas for market shaping instruments (such as Advance Market Commitments) to incentivize innovations that address pressing global challenges such as climate change and health.
Job Summary
The Market Shaping Accelerator (MSA) is developing a new set of Advance Market Commitments (AMCs) for climate-resilient crop innovation and scale-up, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa where crop yields have remained low (Our World in Data) and will be hit by climate change (Hultgren, 2022). Read our draft memo here. We are seeking someone to lead this initiative full time. The Technical Lead will drive MSA’s design of a climate-resilient crops AMC. This role will focus on advancing rigorous analysis (including benefit-cost analysis, climate modeling, industry mapping, etc.) as well as engaging with policymakers, economists, domain experts and firms to inform the design.
Responsibilities
- Lead analysis in this space and engage with experts across different disciplines
- Generating ideas and developing detailed proposals for the application of AMCs to climate-resilient crops and agriculture.
- Collaborating with policymakers, funders and other actors on delivering and implementing AMCs in this space.
- Economic analysis of markets and market failures in agriculture, especially for seeds and crop varieties.
- Oversee workstream relating to the economic appraisal (including benefit-cost analysis and sizing) of pull mechanisms including AMCs in this space.
- Analyzing impacts of climate change on agriculture including crop yields.
Minimum Qualifications
- Graduate degree in agricultural economics, economics, or related field
- Policy experience in agriculture, market shaping or international development
- Excellent analytical and critical-thinking skills
- Strong oral and written communication skills
- Ability to stay organized and deliver on multiple work streams (e.g. fundraising, policy influencing, economic analysis) simultaneously
- Knowledge and experience of agriculture, climate change and food security
Preferred Qualifications
- PhD in economics (e.g., agricultural economics, industrial organization, etc.)
- Knowledge or experience of seed markets, agronomy or crop breeding
- Work experience in low- and middle-income countries
Working Conditions
- This position is based in Washington D.C. in the CGD office
- Domestic and international travel as needed Application Documents
- Resume/CV (required)
- Cover Letter (required)
- References Contact Information (3)(required)
- Writing sample (required)
To apply, please email marketshaping@uchicago.edu.