Project Field Assistant (2)

Organizational Setting:

For more than four decades, FAO has been working with the Government of the Philippines, civil society, community-based organizations and the private sector to address challenges in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector. Joint efforts have included increasing sustainability in agricultural production, promoting value-adding practices, improving post-harvest management, enhancing productivity and increasing the resilience of agriculture-based livelihoods to natural disasters, climatic hazards and armed conflict.

Reporting Lines:

The Project Field Assistant will be under the overall guidance of the FAO Representative, the direct supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative (Programme), and the day to day guidance of the Team Leader of the Socio-Economic & Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Environment and Natural Resources (ENR)/Forestry group and Project Field Coordinator.

Technical Focus:

FAO’s Early Warning Early Action (EWEA) translates warnings into anticipatory actions to reduce the impact of disasters on vulnerable and food insecure communities. Acting early, before a disaster has actually happened, or reached its peak is critical: it can save lives and protect livelihoods from the immediate shocks while increasing the resilience of local communities over time. FAO EWEA is a key element of FAO’s Strategic Programme 5: ‘Increase the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises’. FAO’s EWEA work includes global level (risk analysis, advocacy and partnerships) as well as country activities (setting up country level Anticipatory Action systems and implementation).

This engagement aims to support the pilot Anticipatory Action approach in priority areas in the country, including Eastern Samar, in line with the regional project funded by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations on "Scaling up Forecast based Financing/Early Warning Early Action (FbF/EWEA) and Shock Responsive Social Protection (SRSP) with innovative use of climate risk information for disaster resilience in ASEAN.” Known to be historically prone to climate-related hazards, the pilot implementation will start in Region 5, specifically in the province of Catanduanes.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Project Field Assistant will be assigned in either Virac, Catanduanes or Eastern Samar and shall perform the following responsibilities:

1. Assist the Project Field Coordinator in the implementation of project activities for FAO’s Anticipatory Action initiatives in the assigned Duty Station (a. Virac Catanduanes; or b) Eastern Samar);
2. Coordinate and liaise with provincial and local government partners, and other relevant stakeholders for the conduct of project activities;
3. Provide support to the Project Field Coordinator in the documentation of project activities and preparation of relevant reports;
4. Facilitate the processing of administrative requirements for the implementation of project activities;
5. Facilitate the submission of reports and other relevant documents to the Team Leader;
6. Carry out other relevant duties within his/her technical competence as requested by the FAO Representative.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University Degree in Agriculture, Social/Political Science, Community Development, Public Administration, Economics, Development Studies, or other related fields;

• At least two (2) years relevant and progressive experience assisting in project implementation at the field level and coordination with national/regional government structures, and private sector;

• National of the Philippines

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Good interpersonal skills;
• Knowledge on social protection programmes/projects, including CCA/DRRM, at the national and local level is an advantage;
• Proficient in report writing;
• General knowledge and skills in the use of standard office software, such as MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point).
• Language requirement: Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Tagalog