Data Management and GIS Specialist

The Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA) conducts economic research and policy analysis related to all five of the Organization's strategic objectives (food security and nutrition, sustainable agriculture, poverty reduction, inclusive food systems and resilient livelihoods). ESA provides evidence-based analytical support to national, regional and global policy processes and initiatives related to food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture; and leads the production of two FAO flagship publications\: The State of Food and Agriculture and The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World. ESA also leads large programmes at country level on agricultural and food policy monitoring, climate smart agriculture (CSA), agribusiness and food value chains, rural poverty, and food security information and analysis in support of national policies.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is hosted by ESA. This is a global, multi-partner innovative initiative to facilitate decision-making with improved food security analysis, through a set of tools and protocols for classifying the severity and nature of food insecurity and implications for response. IPC incorporates a meta-analysis approach drawing on evidence-based analysis of food security, nutrition and livelihood information through a consensus approach that includes a broad range of stakeholders.

This global initiative is governed and strategically guided by an IPC Global Steering Committee (GSC), consisting of 15 major UN agencies, international NGOs and regional intergovernmental body agencies, including\: Action Against Hunger, Care International, Comité Permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel (CILSS), Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Union, Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), FAO, Food Security Cluster, Global Nutrition Cluster, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Oxfam, Southern African Development Community (SADC), Save the Children, Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA), UNICEF and WFP. The IPC Global Support Unit (GSU), hosted within ESA, is the operational arm of the GSC and is responsible for the coordination of IPC normative development, IPC global standards on quality and compliance, as well as the global coordination of capacity building support to IPC activities worldwide.

FAO International Consultants and Call purpose

The Organization frequently engages experts to work on short-term activities and projects as international consultants or under personal service agreements (PSA.SBS) at various levels of experience (see minimum requirements below). International consultants or PSAs are engaged by the Organization to provide expertise, skills or knowledge for the performance of a specific task or piece of work, which is short-term by nature. The assignment may involve full-time or part-time functions, with duration ranging from 1 month up to 11 months. The possibility of extension is subject to satisfactory performance and dependant on the availability of resources and needs of the Organization. Assignments can require travel or missions/appointment to field locations.

Individuals meeting or exceeding the requirements of the Call, determined through an interview process, will be included in the ESA Divisional Roster. Experts who are registered in the Roster are available for consideration for a period of up to 48 months. ESA Division will use this roster as the primary mechanism to resource future vacancies within the technical requirements covered by the Call.

Reporting Lines

Selected applicants will work under the overall guidance and general supervision of the Deputy IPC Global Programme Manager, the functional coordination of the Information Management Specialist and in close collaboration with the IPC Information Systems Team, the IPC Communications Team and other relevant colleagues from the IPC Global Support Unit.

Database management and quality assurance; Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) and Cartography

The assigned tasks and responsibilities related to this area of work can include the following\:

• Review and verify large sets of data, control consistency across various tools and formats; Report issues and collaborate with relevant colleagues to take corrective action
• Conduct data entry in database
• Drawing on existing IPC Resources and repositories, provide data and inputs for global reporting deliverables, such as the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), Early Warning Early Action Reports, Reports to the UN Security Council etc.
• Collaborate to the development of continuous improvement mechanisms (feedback, lessons learned, documentation of common issues, etc.) and recommend solutions to solve data inconsistencies
• Maintain an updated archive of collected data and reports
• Participate in the review and testing of new Information Management tools
• Produce maps to support the IPC Global Support Unit and manage shape files produced in IPC Analyses

• University education in social sciences, computer science, information technology, engineering, geospatial information science, remote sensing, cartography, geography or a related field;
• At least one year of work experience for base level assignments or at least five years for middle level assignments in data processing and management, GIS and other relevant fields;
• Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of French or Spanish. In the case of PSA assignments, the requirement is for working knowledge of English only.

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Practical experience in database-system application development and database management;
• knowledge of GIS applications and cartography;
• Attention to detail;
• Good communication skills ;
• Demonstrated capacity to work in a fast-pace, high pressure environment