Research Scientist - Gender & AI

Application Open:

Full-Time

MBZUAI is seeking a Gender and AI Research Scientist responsible for embedding gender equity, inclusion, and social impact considerations across all Institute for Agriculture & AI (IAAI) research, technical development, and deployment activities. The role will provide subject-matter leadership on gender-responsive AI research, advisory system design, and evidence-based interventions, with a particular focus on improving outcomes for women smallholder farmers and marginalized groups through AI-enabled agricultural solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Gender Strategy and Institutional Integration

• Develop and lead the Institute’s gender and inclusion strategy, ensuring systematic integration into research agendas, governance frameworks, operational guidelines, and program design.
• Embed gender considerations into standard operating procedures, ethical guidelines, and institutional practices across all IAAI activities.

Gender-Responsive Research and AI Design

• Advise AI researchers, data scientists, and agronomy experts on gender-sensitive research design, data collection, annotation practices, model evaluation, and bias mitigation.
• Support the development of AI models and advisory systems that account for gendered access, constraints, and decision-making contexts.

Women-Focused Advisory and Interventions

• Design and support targeted interventions that improve the accessibility, relevance, and effectiveness of AI-enabled advisory services for women smallholder farmers.
• Ensure advisory content, delivery channels, and interaction modalities reflect women lived realities, constraints, and information needs.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Integration

• Integrate gender-disaggregated indicators into MEL frameworks and research protocols.
• Analyze adoption, usage, and outcome data to identify gender gaps and inform adaptive improvements to research and deployment strategies.

Capacity Building and Partnerships

• Provide technical guidance and capacity building to governments, partners, and innovators on gender-responsive AI and digital agricultural advisory systems.
• Support inclusive pilot design, implementation, and scale-up strategies in collaboration with national and international partners

Academic Qualifications Required

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computational Science, Data Science, Applied Mathematics, or a related field.
• PhD or equivalent applied research experience will be preferred.

Professional Experience Required Essential:

• Minimum of ten (10) years of progressive experience in technical assistance, program implementation, or adoption-focused roles within gender equity & inclusion, development, or innovation ecosystems.
• Demonstrated experience working with governments and public-sector institutions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and managing complex, multi-country initiatives.

Preferred:

• Exposure to policy engagement, institutional reform, or national advisory system strengthening.
• Experience working within international research or development organizations.