Terms of Reference

Individual Consultant to provide strategic industry insight, guide business engagement, and mobilize resources

Background

IFPRI–FOLU China seeks a senior consultant who can provide strategic industry insight, guide business engagement, and mobilize resource to support the program’s growth. The role will help shape partnership architectures across key segments of China’s food and agriculture system, with a particular focus on fast-evolving protein-related sectors, and will secure funding from foundations, businesses, and other innovative channels to enable delivery at scale.

We are seeking a consultant with a nearly full-time commitment (minimum four days per week). The initial contract will run until 31 December 2026, with the possibility of renewal.

What We Value

- Strategic clarity — the ability to see patterns, simplify complexity, and shape direction with confidence and good judgment.

- Relationship leadership — skilled in building long-term, trust-based partnerships through authenticity, empathy, and consistent follow-through.

- Proactive problem-solving — a self-driven mindset that anticipates challenges, resolves issues creatively, and moves work forward without waiting for instructions.

- Creativity and curiosity — the capacity to generate new ideas, design fresh approaches, and explore unconventional solutions.

- Maturity and collaboration — maintains a steady, thoughtful presence and works well across diverse stakeholders and contributes to a positive, constructive team culture.

Scope of Work

Project Delivery and Business Adoption

- Lead the design and delivery of business-facing workstreams that translate research and frameworks into adoptable action packages (e.g. procurement guidance or clauses, internal alignment packs, pilot design models, roadmaps, implementation toolkits).

- Drive conversion from engagement to action by enabling verifiable shifts in company decisions, processes, contracting approaches, or pilot implementation.

- Generate and apply decision-grade industry insight on industries, including incentives, contracting logic, cost and risk drivers, and barriers to adoption, to strengthen delivery relevance and effectiveness.

- Run CASCA as a high-output industry platform, design and steward collaboration tracks (e.g. working groups or taskforces) that translate shared priorities into scoped workplans

- Drive strategic business outreach and convening for key conferences, workshops, and industry events to unlock follow-on collaboration.

Industry Insight Input

- Produce industry insight across upstream and downstream sectors (incentives, decision cycles, contracting logic, cost/risk drivers, adoption bottlenecks).

- Track market and policy signals and synthesize company pain points (risk/compliance, supply security, cost pressures, reputational exposure) into practical engagement entry points and delivery implications.

- Provide targeted inputs to strengthen IFPRI-FOLU’s project design and business engagement priorities, ensuring commercial and operational feasibility.

- Develop and build relationships with new donors, with a focus on philanthropic foundations and corporate funders (CSR and sustainability teams).

Country Platform Support, Resource Mobilization & External Engagement

- Support cross-team project delivery and platform operations, working with research and communications colleagues to ensure activities, convenings, and outputs are well-prepared, aligned, and usable for business audiences.

- Lead CSR-focused resource mobilization, building and advancing relationships with corporate CSR and sustainability teams and supporting concept note and proposal development for relevant workstreams.

- Lead business-facing external engagement, including outreach, preparation, and participation in conferences, workshops, and industry events to strengthen partnerships and identify follow-on collaboration opportunities.

Required Qualifications

- Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, marketing, project management, international development, environmental studies or a related field.

- 8+ years of experience in agri-food, corporate strategy, consulting, sustainability, or other business-facing sectors.

- Strong understanding of the agrifood sector and value chains. Familiar with key upstream and downstream actors.

- Demonstrated experience of initiating or delivering business-relevant engagement and cross-sector projects.

- Demonstrated capability to convene and sustain regular, structured interactions with multiple companies through working groups, recurring dialogues, or similar engagement formats.

- Ability to execute projects on schedule, on budget and in compliance with donor partner policies and standards.

- Excellent analytical, communication, presentation, and strategic thinking skills.

- Written and spoken fluency in both Chinese and English

Application Requirements

Interested candidates should submit the following:

• Curriculum Vitae (CV) highlighting relevant experience

• One-page statement of interest that includes a summary of relevant qualifications and experience for this assignment

• Proposed daily rate