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Summary of the Position

Semilla Nueva is recruiting a Data Specialist to work with our Impacts/Monitoring and Evaluation team. We are a data-driven organization that continually collects high-quality monitoring data that enables us to measure the agronomic, economic and nutritional impact of biofortified maize. We also collaborate with external researchers to generate high-quality evidence for public benefit.

Working closely with and reporting directly to the Director of Impact and Cost Effectiveness, the Data Specialist will play an essential role in ensuring high-quality, timely data collection, management, and analysis. The Data Specialist will provide technical support for all internal M&E efforts, from study design through data collection, analysis, and dissemination. The Data Specialist will also provide technical support for projects with our external partners. This position requires close collaboration across teams and could be based in Guatemala or the United States, depending on the selected candidate. The position will require travel to maize-growing areas in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.

Summary of the Organization

Semilla Nueva is one of Central America’s leading social enterprises with a team of over 60 in Guatemala, El Salvador, and the United States. The organization develops high-yielding, climate-resilient maize seeds that have been conventionally bred (non-GMO) to have higher levels of zinc, iron, and quality protein. Our approach to large-scale adoption of these seeds relies on three strategies:

1. Breeding commercially competitive biofortified seeds (non-GMO), which increase incomes and nutritional intake for farmers;
2. Piloting subsidies to seed companies to profitably sell new, higher-yielding, climate-resilient, biofortified seeds at prices the poorest of the poor can afford;
3. Working with governments to institutionalize these subsidies.

Our goal is for a minimal amount of subsidy to support hundreds of thousands of farming families to use biofortified seeds, consume biofortified maize, and sell biofortified maize into the market, while improving their incomes. In 2024, our seeds reached 30,000 farmers in Guatemala and El Salvador, who grew and sold enough corn to improve the nutrition of more than 1 million people. The Guatemalan government now finances most of the cost of the subsidy. Our vision is to reach 3 million farmers and nourish 100 million people by 2036.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in statistics, agricultural economics, international development, public health, monitoring and evaluation, or a related field.
• Strong quantitative data skills, including cleaning and analysis of quantitative data using statistical software (e.g., Stata, R, Python)
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite and Google Workspace
• Experience programming questionnaires and managing incoming data using a data collection software (e.g., KoboToolbox, SurveyCTO)
• Demonstrated strong critical thinking, problem-solving, and attention to detail
• Ability to translate raw data into actionable, data-driven insights and recommendations
• Fluent in written and spoken English and Spanish

Desirable

• Master’s degree in statistics, agricultural economics, international development, public health, monitoring and evaluation, or a related field
• Experience developing data collection tools (e.g., surveys, focus groups, key informant interviews)
• Experience analyzing qualitative data
• Experience with GIS/spatial data analysis
• Experience working in Central America

Expectations

• Ability to work well as part of a team and independently (self-motivated)
• Ability to prioritize a variety of activities
• Ability to work effectively in a multicultural team
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, constantly evolving work environment
• Commitment to the mission of the organization and the goals of the department

Specific Tasks

• Contribute to the design of M&E studies (sample size calculations, sampling strategy, etc.)
• Contribute to the design of data collection instruments
• Program and pretest questionnaires for field data collection and phone surveys
• Manage data quality control processes to ensure high data quality, including field visits
• Write code to clean and analyze data
• Create metadata documentation and codebooks
• Create tables and data visualizations (charts, graphs, maps, etc.) that make our data more accessible to a variety of stakeholder groups
• Contribute to the development of annual output documents
• Contribute to the development of reports, briefs, publications, presentations, and other data dissemination
• Support impact modeling
• Contribute to the creation and maintenance of M&E dashboards
• Ensure data security through proper storage and regular backups
• Prepare data for posting on the Semilla Nueva website and public repositories
• Assist in developing and providing data-related training and technical assistance to staff and partners (may be both office- and field-based)
• Contribute to the annual review and update of data quality management plans, data collection standard operating procedures (SOPs), and data cleaning and analysis SOPs
• Work with external partners on study-specific data collection and analysis

Salary

Salary commensurate with experience

How to apply

To apply, review our website and read the most recent semi-annual report. You may want to check out Maíz de Poder’s TikTok as well. Then, send your resume or CV to Trabajo@semillanueva.org with the subject line “Data Specialist.” In the email, include three bullet points detailing how your experience fits the position and why you are interested in the role.

Semilla Nueva is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to sustaining a diverse community with a work environment that is welcoming, respectful, and encouraging to all. We foster a culture of inclusion that celebrates and cultivates diversity along multiple dimensions, including race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, out of home care, age, national origin, socioeconomic status, religion, ability, culture, and experience.