The Organization
The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) deliver 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.
The Alliance works with local, national, and multinational partners across Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa, and with the public and private sectors. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services.
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 of Bioversity International and CIAT is committed to fair, safe, and inclusive workplaces. We believe that diversity powers our innovation, contributes to our excellence, and is critical for our mission. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects our global character is a priority. We encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability statuses, sexual orientations, marital status, and gender identities. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.
https://alliancebioversityciat.org/ www.cgiar.org
About the position
The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT seeks a Consultant to design a streamlined, digital process for managing sub-agreements with public and private partners. Current workflows are manual, fragmented, and email-based, creating risks to efficiency and compliance. Under the supervision of the Head of the Grants Management Unit (GMU) and in coordination with focal points from PLANS, Finance, Legal, and IT, the consultant will assess existing processes and recommend a scalable, technology-enabled solution that centralizes data, facilitates collaboration, reduces manual workload, supports automated workflows and reporting, and aligns with the Alliance's project lifecycle and compliance framework.
Responsibilities
The consultant will lead the design of a comprehensive digital transformation for end-to-end sub-agreement management and recommend a suitable technological solution--either by enhancing existing systems or identifying a fit-for-purpose tool, that:
- Centralizes data, including private and confidential information.
- Facilitates collaboration between partners and the Alliance via an online platform or tool.
- Reduces manual workload and sustains automated workflows and reporting.
- Aligns with the Alliance's project lifecycle and compliance framework.
To achieve this, the consultant will undertake the following responsibilities:
Process Mapping and Needs Assessment
- Conduct consultations with key stakeholders involved in the project lifecycle (e.g., GMU, PLANS, Research, Legal, Finance, IT, and external partners).
- Document the current (\"as-is\") process flow for sub-agreement approval and management, including recent improvements.
- Identify bottlenecks, compliance risks, redundancies, and process gaps.
- Coordinate with internal units and experts involved in ongoing partner management improvement initiatives.
Design of the Future-State Process
- Develop a proposed (\"to-be\") process model for sub-agreement management covering:
- Initiation.
- Multi-level approvals.
- Review of technical and financial reports.
- Expense booking and payment processing.
- Partner-facing workflows.
- Collection of partners' information (e.g., banking details) for sub-agreement drafting, including integration of external data inputs.
Technology Assessment & Recommendations
- Review the Alliance's current ERP and IT systems for integration feasibility.
- Conduct a comparative analysis of potential off-the-shelf or custom solutions (e.g., SmartSimple, Salesforce).
- Recommend a shortlist of tools, including:
- Basic cost-benefit analysis.
- Estimated implementation timelines.
- Propose pilot testing options for the recommended solution(s).
Deliverables
- Inception report, including a stakeholder engagement plan and methodology.
- Visual and narrative process maps of current and future-state workflows.
- Business Requirements Document (BRD) outlining functional and technical specifications.
- Comparative analysis of 2-3 potential software solutions or system enhancement paths.
- Final report and presentation detailing findings, recommendations, and proposed next steps.
Requirements Essential Requirements
- Proven expertise in business-process reengineering and digital transformation, preferably in international development or research sectors.
- Experience in sub-agreement, grants, or partner management systems/ nonprofit, research, grant management, or international organizations.
- Familiarity with ERP integration and SaaS tools relevant to project lifecycle and compliance.
- Strong facilitation and stakeholder engagement skills.
- Excellent analytical and documentation capabilities.
- Fluency in both written and oral English is essential; while working or basic knowledge of Spanish is an advantage.
- Ability to work with ambiguity and take ownership of deliverables and manage multiple concurrent projects independently.
Benefits
Terms of employment
This is a remote, maximum 8 weeks long (estimated LOE: 30-40 person-days), international/national consultancy opportunity, renewable based on extended needs and requirements. All consultancy fees and conditions will be administered in line with the Alliance approved policy for consultants.
Applications
Please apply online through the website ( https://alliancebioversityciat.org/careers ), including reference number RFP500326, no later than 2 June 2025, attaching the following: