Principal Investigator – Guatemala

Aninver Development Partners SL (www.aninver.com) is looking for a Principal Investigator for a agriculture, monitoring evaluation consultancy assignment financed by FAO in Guatemala.

Aninver Development Partners is preparing a competitive proposal for an upcoming evaluation assignment in the agriculture and monitoring-evaluation sectors in Guatemala, commissioned by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). We are seeking a qualified Principal Investigator to lead comprehensive data collection efforts for the mid-term evaluation of a resilience-building initiative supporting vulnerable smallholders in the Mayan landscapes and the Dry Corridor.

The successful candidate will oversee the design and execution of rigorous quantitative and qualitative methodologies, ensuring high standards of data integrity, field monitoring, and stakeholder engagement. This is a key expert position offering the opportunity to directly inform strategic decision-making, accountability, and adaptive management for agricultural development and resilience programming in Guatemala.

Aninver is preparing a proposal for this assignment. The selected expert will be part of the proposed team; the engagement is conditional on the contract being awarded to Aninver. The full Terms of Reference for the position are shared with shortlisted candidates.

Objectives of the assignment

• Provide expert leadership for integrated quantitative and qualitative data collection in the designated project intervention areas.
• Ensure the rigorous design, contextualization, and application of survey instruments, focus group guides, and key informant interviews.
• Supervise field enumerators and qualitative facilitators to maintain robust quality control throughout the data collection process.
• Process, clean, and analyze primary and secondary data to deliver structured databases and detailed analytical reports for the mid-term evaluation.

Scope of work

• Conduct a thorough desk review of project documentation, background materials, and existing baseline indicators.
• Coordinate the contextualization and finalization of quantitative questionnaires and qualitative research instruments with the evaluation team.
• Plan and manage field logistics for the deployment of survey teams across the target regions.
• Supervise field operations, ensuring compliance with ethical standards, sampling designs, and data collection protocols.
• Implement stringent quality control measures, data cleaning routines, and verification procedures for both quantitative and qualitative outputs.
• Deliver clean, structured datasets and comprehensive technical reports outlining the findings from the field data collection phase.

Your role as Principal Investigator

• Act as the Principal Investigator directing all methodological and operational aspects of data collection for the assignment.
• Design, test, and apply robust sampling methodologies and survey tools tailored to smallholder agricultural contexts.
• Supervise surveys, qualitative data collection, and field monitoring activities across the target study areas.
• Manage and coordinate local enumerators, facilitators, and field staff to guarantee adherence to work plans and quality standards.
• Oversee the processing, transcription, cleaning, and structuring of quantitative and qualitative data sets.
• Draft technical data collection reports and contribute expert analytical insights to feed into the broader mid-term evaluation process.

Requirements

• Master's degree or equivalent in economics, statistics, social policy, sociology, development studies, agronomy, or a similar relevant discipline.
• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience, including the supervision of surveys and qualitative data collection, sampling design and application, and field monitoring.
• Demonstrated experience as Principal Investigator in at least 2 qualitative or quantitative data collection assignments carried out within the last 5 years.
• Familiarity with monitoring and evaluation practices in agricultural development or rural resilience sectors.
• Fluency in Spanish with knowledge of local languages relevant to the study areas in Guatemala.

Desirable

• Previous professional experience working with FAO or other international development organizations on evaluations.
• Prior field research experience within the Mayan landscapes or the Dry Corridor of Guatemala.

An experienced researcher and M&E specialist with a strong background in leading quantitative and qualitative data collection for agricultural and rural development evaluations in Latin America.

Assignment details

• Location: Guatemala
• Financed by: FAO
• Sector: Agriculture, monitoring evaluation
• Estimated duration: 3 months
• Contract: individual consultancy (conditional on award)

About Aninver Development Partners

Aninver is an international development consulting firm headquartered in Spain. It supports governments, development banks, UN agencies and bilateral donors with feasibility studies, technical assistance, evaluations and capacity building across Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Asia-Pacific, working with a network of international and national experts.

Why apply

• Join a multidisciplinary team on a FAO-financed project in Guatemala.
• Individual consultancy: flexible, output-based engagement with an experienced proposal team.
• Your CV stays in Aninver's expert network for future assignments that match your profile.

How to apply

Sign in (or create a free account) and upload your CV in English. Add your LinkedIn profile, indicative daily rate and availability to speed up the assessment. Aninver will contact the shortlisted candidates.

Frequently asked questions

Is the position confirmed? The engagement depends on the contract being awarded to Aninver. Shortlisted experts are included in the proposal with their consent.

Can I apply if I am not based in the country? Yes, unless the requirements say otherwise; relevant regional experience is an asset.

What happens with my CV? It is used to assess your fit for this and future positions and is not shared with third parties without your consent.