Emergency & Resilience Specialist

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• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background, and culture
• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented member nations, and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply
• Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct and to uphold our values. FAO has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and FAO, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination
• All selected candidates, therefore, will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality
• The incumbent may be re-assigned to different activities and/or duty stations depending on the evolving needs of the Organization

Organizational Setting

The FAO Representation in Bangladesh is responsible for leading FAO's response to regional priorities for food security, agriculture and rural development through the identification, planning, and implementation of FAO's priority activities in the country. It ensures a multidisciplinary approach to programmes, identifies priority areas of action for the Organization in Bangladesh and, in collaboration with Regional Office Asia and Pacific and the departments and divisions at Headquarters, develops, promotes and oversees FAO's strategic response to the country priorities. The representation also supports the regional office in the incorporation of regional priorities into the Organization's Programme of Work and Budget and implements approved programmes and projects in the country, monitors the level of programme implementation and draws attention to problems and deficiencies. The office also develops and maintains relations with Government of Bangladesh, UN agencies, the resource partners and other development institution at the country level.

The emergency challenges in Bangladesh are changing as well as the government capacity to respond to emergencies is also improving. Therefore, the support in any responses expected from the United Nations agencies must be adapted to this emerging context. FAO has a considerable role to play in emergency response, but more importantly FAO can be a policy and action leader in resilience for rural communities to withstand future natural disaster related shocks and adaptability to climate change challenges.

Reporting Lines

The Emergency & Resilience Specialist works under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Bangladesh, in close collaboration with the Assistant FAO Representative (Programme), the Emergency Focal Point in country, other project managers and units and liaison with the emergency unit in regional and HQ offices.

Technical Focus

The incumbent provides leadership to FAO’s emergency and rehabilitation programmes and operations in Dhaka office as part of the resilience work in country including, preparedness need assessment, response and resilience programming and implementation, in liaison and collaboration with the food security clusters and other sectors.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Emergency & Resilience Specialist will work as part of a multidisciplinary team to ensure continuous engagement with project stakeholders and partners. The Specialist will -

• Closely follow up and monitor emergencies in Bangladesh caused by cyclones, floods, landslides, earth quakes and any other disasters and prepare up to date evidence based reports
• Represent FAO in interagency coordination meetings and programming exercises undertaken by the humanitarian and early recovery community (only for Consultants);
• Coordinate the formulation of project profiles, fully-fledged project documents and ad hoc reports related to FAO's resilience strategy and programme
• Lead the identification of strategic priorities for FAO's resilience agenda, with specific attention to emergency contexts requiring dedicated efforts in terms of preparedness for and effective management of responses to disasters and crises
• Promote lessons-learning through the documentation and analysis of information and experience in programmes aimed at enhancing resilience, and facilitates the compilation of SP5-related good practices for FAO and interested partners
• Lead and contributes to the development and delivery of effective advocacy and partnership strategies, contribute to communication strategy, as well as the dissemination of information, in the framework of the knowledge management activities of the Organization
• Identify policy implications and monitors relevant policy environment issues for the implementation of the FAO programme and its underlying resilience strategy
• Lead and monitors activities related to letters of agreement, procurement, personnel contracts, official correspondence, travel authorizations and security clearances when required
• Support in the human and financial resources management, including the implementation of field security and safety policies for staff
• Organize the preparation of briefs and comprehensive reports on FAO priorities and programmes in the country, and ensures the timely dissemination of information to key stakeholders, including the Government, donor community, United Nations agencies and NGOs
• Familiarise, use, and work in compliance with the national documents namely Standing Order of Disasters (SOD) and international policies/strategies, rules farmer work ( Sendai Frame work), etc
• Develop rapport with the Government departments and work in close coordination for implementation of the emergency projects
• Introduce and develop capacity of the relevant country office personnel’s on the concept of Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning (MEAL), Residence Index Measurement Analysis (RIMA) and Resilience Capacity Index (RCI) in the emergency activities
• Represent FAO at official meetings with delegations and missions visiting in Dhaka related to emergency and resilience
• Participate in monthly update meetings OER, RAP, FSC and relevant teams.
• Perform other related duties as required

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in agriculture disaster management, social science, international relations or other field related to the work of the Organization
• At least 5 years of related professional experience in emergency, rehabilitation and resilience related work. Experience in developing countries, especially in countries that are vulnerable to disaster or other emergency risks would be an asset
• Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of one of the other FAO Languages: Russian, Spanish, Chinese, French, Arabic (for Consultants)/ Working knowledge of English (for PSAs).

FAO Core Competencies

• Communications
• Results focus
• Teamwork
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Excellent coordination, planning and organizing skills
• Ability to network and collaborate with a large and varied group of people
• Experience in supervision of technical delivery and leading a team.
• Demonstrable technical and documentation writing skills
• Ability to interpret and analyse data using standard scientific or industrial toolkit
• Interpersonal and communication skills to maintain good working relationships with people from different nationalities and culture backgrounds

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