Research and Communications Specialist

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has approved the Government of India’s GEF6 Green Ag. Project titled, “Green-Ag\: Transforming Indian agriculture for global environmental benefits and the conservation of critical biodiversity and forest landscapes”.

Therefore, the project objective is to catalyze transformative change for India’s agricultural sector to support achievement of national and global environmental benefits and conserve critical biodiversity and forest landscapes. The project will be organized around two components. The first component will strengthen the enabling framework and institutional structures to mainstream bio-diversity (BD), sustainable land management (SLM), climate change mitigation (CCM) and sustainable forest management (SFM) policies, priorities and practices into India’s agricultural sector. The second component will demonstrate replicable “Improved agricultural and conservation practices” for sustainable production, resilient livelihood advancements, habitat improvements, and delivery of tangible BD, LD, CCM, and SFM benefits.

The project will work at the national, state and pilot site levels. The project’s five demonstration states will be\: i) Madhya Pradesh, ii) Mizoram, iii) Odisha, iv) Rajasthan and v) Uttarakhand. Site level project effort will focus upon high conservation priority landscapes (e.g. protected areas) within each of these states.

In regular consultation and coordination with the Regional Communication Officer, FAORAP, the incumbent shall ensure coherence with FAO’s corporate communication policy and operational guidelines for all communication and information outputs.
Under the direct supervision of the FAOR Representative in India and guidance of the National Technical Coordinator, the NPMU Research and Communications Specialist will undertake the following duties.

Technical Focus

Expertise in research, and communications and media.

• Prepare a detailed knowledge management framework to document lessons learnt from the Green Agriculture project;
• Research and assist in preparing, editing and review of case studies, research reports, briefing notes, policy papers, and other materials as required;
• Review literature on poverty, rural livelihood and other relevant topics;
• Guide state level communication officers, including providing training, mentoring and on-site monitoring; and
• Coordinate plan, and organise relevant advocacy events and develop communication products;
• Coordinate media presence and visibility (all types) of relevant project initiatives;
• Support with inputs on review and update relevant content for project websites and country office website;
• Document and disseminate lessons learnt, including case studies (both project and other relevant experiences) and findings from Green landscape impact monitoring;
• Prepare periodic updates to National Project Steering Committee (NPSC) members on project progress in the Green Landscape within the state.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing between relevant project states and other stakeholders nationally and internationally, through dissemination of information using existing government portals as well as through organization of special seminars, workshops, events, and audio-visual material;
• Coordinate publication of relevant posters, articles, and reports in English and relevant State languages; and
• Any other work as requested by FAO

Expected outputs\:

• Tasks described above satisfactorily carried out and certified.
• Monthly Report/ Final Report and attachments submitted and cleared.

Minimum Requirements

• Master Level degree in Social Science, Journalism, communications, Public relations or related fields.
• At least three to five years of relevant experience in interdisciplinary research and in developing media and communication material, especially relevant for web publishing, information management and hypermedia applications in relevant development sector with responsibilities as described above.
• Working knowledge of English.
• National of India

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Experience in preparing press releases, op-eds, news articles, interviews and advocacy messages for relevant media houses and outlets, including publishing, newspaper, online news, radio and television mediums.
• Excellent communication, reporting and presentation skills in English (both written and spoken).
• Experience in Web content management, Photoshop software and tools related to web and desktop publishing.
• Experience with photography and photo editing; and knowledge of photo editing software is an advantage.
• Experience and skill in managing social media accounts, will be an asset.
• Ability to work efficiently with minimal direct supervision and to coordinate and supervise the communication and information outputs of the State Project Offices.
• Ability to produce high quality reports and publications.
• Ability to handle stress and meet deadlines.
• Experience of working with UN agencies and familiarity with UN rules and regulations is an asset.
• Ability to work in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams is essential.

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency.