Consultancy for an Individual ‘Project Field Coordinator’ for VIKAS-AI and Climate Action Science Program (CASP) Projects

IFPRI is seeking a qualified Project Consultant within the Agrifood Innovation and Resilience (AIR) Unit to support the implementation of VIKAS-AI (Viable Information and Knowledge for Adaptation Solutions–AI), a community-embedded, AI-enabled climate advisory initiative for rural women workers in Gujarat, and work under the Climate Action Science Program (CASP), both being implemented jointly with Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.

VIKAS-AI is being implemented also with Gram Vaani as the technology partner. The consultant will be based in Ahmedabad and serve as the primary field coordination point for IFPRI under CASP and VIKAS-AI in Gujarat. This consultancy is for applicants based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India only.

Activities:

The consultant will support day-to-day coordination among IFPRI, SEWA, Gram Vaani, SEWA’s grassroots women leaders and community mobilizers (Aagewans), and field teams, with responsibilities spanning field implementation, qualitative research, documentation, user testing, and validation of advisory content, user responses, and escalation workflows. The role requires strong field orientation, analytical judgement, ability to organize, clean, and analyze field or survey data, familiarity with AI-enabled tools, and the ability to translate field observations into actionable inputs for research, implementation, and technical teams.

Essential Duties:

·        Support field implementation of VIKAS-AI and CASP, including user onboarding, pilot activities, field study to identify climate finance gaps, Aagewan engagement, feedback collection, field visits, and issue tracking during the pilot and early scale-up phases.

·        Work closely with SEWA field teams and Aagewans to document user needs, advisory and finance preferences, frequently asked questions, information gaps, local risk perceptions, and barriers to adoption of climate-resilient practices and technologies.

·        Support research activities, including data collection, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, field observations, usability testing, and rapid feedback exercises with SEWA members, Aagewans, and field coordinators.

·        Assist in testing and validating the advisory system from a field and user perspective, including advisory comprehension, language clarity, occupation-specific relevance, WhatsApp or IVR user journeys, and escalation pathways.

·        Identify, document, and classify system errors or weaknesses, including unclear user journeys, mistranslations, poor speech-to-text performance, irrelevant retrieval results, low-confidence responses, unresolved queries, inappropriate escalation, or advice that is technically correct but impractical for users.

·        Maintain structured issue logs, feedback trackers, field notes, and action trackers that can be used by IFPRI, SEWA, Gram Vaani, and product teams to refine advisory content, user flows, escalation protocols, training materials, and monitoring systems.

·        Support coordination of Aagewan and AI Steward training activities, including preparation of training materials, field-based exercises, process documentation, and follow-up support after training sessions.

·        Support development and refinement of the AI-ready knowledge base by helping organize field questions, advisory themes, local terms, user examples, and feedback on SEWA Climate School content, while ensuring that new or modified content is reviewed through the appropriate partner processes.

·        Assist with monitoring and learning activities, including collection and synthesis of information on user engagement