National Forest Products and Industry Specialist

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FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions.
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Qualified female applicants and qualified nationals of non-and under-represented member countries are encouraged to apply.

Persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply.

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
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Organizational Setting

As per Global Environment Facility (GEF) CEO’s PPG approval letter dated 4 May 2020, FAO is developing a full project document that elaborates on the approved PIF entitled “Integrated Forest Landscape Management for Strengthening the Northeastern and Eastern Forest Corridors”. The proposed project involves mitigating the barriers which will enable coordinated and participatory approaches to address land degradation and watershed management issues by improving forest and land management at critical corridor locations around and between the protected areas. Accordingly, the objective of the project is to strengthen the conservation of globally significant biodiversity in four landscape complexes of Northeastern and Eastern Thailand through improved management of forests between and around protected areas, which as reserved forest land falls under the management of the Royal Forest Department (RFD). FAO is assisting RFD to prepare a full project document, based on the PIF, to be submitted to the GEF CEO. As part of this process, FAO is assembling a team of international and national experts to develop the full project document and associated documents, including description of detailed outputs and activities. This team includes a national expert on Forest Products and Industry, with a focus on the sector in the Thai national context.

Reporting lines

The incumbent will work under the overall managerial administrative leadership of the Assistant Director-General (ADG) for Asia and the Pacific, direct supervision of the International and National Project Formulation Consultants with the overall technical guidance of the International GEF Expert and technical backstopping of the Lead Technical Officer (LTO) and Project Task Force members at FAORAP, the National Forest Products and Industry Expert will be responsible for all forest products and industry project formation components.

Technical Focus

The consultant will, in particular:

• Support international forest management standards expert in assessment of relevant national standards, systems, capacities and processes related to forest product value chains and exports;
• Design a methodology for the development of practical guidance for incorporating biodiversity standards and principles into private forest management and forest product value chains;
• Organise and conduct consultations with forest industry representatives, including Private Forest Producer Associations or Cooperatives (PFPAs or PFPCs) at provincial level, to explore:
  • the potential for the application of improved biodiversity standards and principles and the consequent impacts on expansion of forest cover and
    • the potential for development of market linkages between PFPAs/PFPCs and national or international institutions promoting enhanced biodiversity standards; and

• • Support any other relevant tasks as requested by the Team Leader of the project proposal process

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Mission reports
• Programs (including participant lists) and key outcomes of meetings and consultations
• Report covering the results of project proposal process elaborated to inform design of outputs
• Report with detailed description, budget and activity-based results framework for Outputs 3.1 and 3.2
• Draft content for Outputs 3.1 and 3.2 in project proposal package

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Requirements

• Master’s Degree in Forestry, Environmental Science or any related discipline
• Working knowledge of English and Thai.
• National of Thailand

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• In-depth knowledge of international mechanisms and systems to promote sustainable forest management and trade, including voluntary certification, timber legality verification, traceability/chain-of-custody, CITES, public and private procurement policies, etc.;
• Proven track record of advising and collaborating with government institutions and other stakeholders such as NGOs in developing countries;
• Knowledge of climate change negotiations, REDD , MRV procedures and associated IPCC methodologies is an advantage; and
• Strong inter-personal skills and excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Deep understanding and extensive experience of the functioning of smallholder production systems and livelihoods and producer organisations, in particular those related to forest products in the identified landscape;
• Knowledge of the functioning of the value chains of most relevance to smallholder production systems and livelihoods;
• Extensive experience in working with private sector and Government actors in relation to forest product value chains;
• Proven capacity to conduct fieldwork and ability to work in teams and establish working relationships with local, state and federal Government agencies as well as the civil society organizations;
• Good computer skills (MS Office); and

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