Project Officer (Resilience)

1A111A11

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device
The length of appointment for internal FAO candidates will be established in accordance with applicable policies pertaining to the extension of appointments

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

• 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 Members and persons 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 FAO's values
• FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination　　
• All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality
• FAO staff are subject to the authority of the Director-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the Organization.

Organizational Setting
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through its Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to More efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems, for Better production, Better nutrition, a Better environment and a Better life, leaving no one behind.
The Markets and Trade Division monitors and analyses trends in international, regional and national agricultural commodity markets, collecting and disseminating comprehensive market and policy information concerning the major traded commodities and those important to food security. It also undertakes forward-looking outlook studies. The Division analyses issues that affect global food and agricultural trade, including policy analysis of trade measures and agreements, and provides technical support and capacity building to member countries in all these areas. Through its Global Information and Early Warning Service, the Division is also responsible for FAO's early warnings on food shortfalls. The Division houses the secretariats of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP), the Intergovernmental Commodity Groups (IGGs) and the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS).
The Team on Responsible Global Value Chains in FAO's Markets and Trade Division (EST) implements the trust-fund project GCP/GLO/022/GER "BUILDING RESPONSIBLE GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS FOR THE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND TRADE OF TROPICAL FRUITS". The project helps companies operating in the tropical fruit sector to develop responsible supply chains, which in turn will contribute to sustainable economic development and a number of SDGs. The tropical fruit sector is of particular significance for developing countries, as the bulk of its trade originates in their territories. The main project outcome will be a network of companies committed to improving the environmental, social and economic impacts of their operations and those of their suppliers for more responsible tropical fruit value chains. In addition, the project will prepare the ground for the establishment of a global multi-stakeholder platform for disseminating good practices in responsible business conduct and resilience to external shocks in fruit value chains. The project will help companies apply the OECD-FAO Guidance for responsible agricultural supply chains and other relevant instruments to their operations. It will raise their capacity to develop solutions to assess and mitigate risks along agricultural supply chains and put appropriate due diligence processes in place to increase the sustainability and resilience of their operations. It will develop a series of commodity-specific and thematic guides to assist enterprises in applying international standards for responsible business conduct, ensuring due diligence throughout their supply chains and increasing their resilience to external shocks.
The post is located in the Markets and Trade Division (EST) at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Reporting Lines
The Project Officer reports to the Senior Economist (Trade)/Team leader, Responsible Global Value Chains.

Technical Focus
Research, analysis, advising and capacity development to increase the resilience of the economic actors of tropical fruit value chains (in particular producers, packers, processors, exporters, importers and distributors) to external shocks.

Key Results
Research, technical analysis, and project related services to support the delivery of programme projects, products, and services.

Key Functions
• Researches and analyses technical-related issues on the development, the implementation and evaluation of assigned programmes/projects; assists to the review of relevant documents and reports;
• Produces a variety of technical information, data, statistics and documents as well as technical input for reports and web pages;
• Provides technical support/analysis to various assessments, studies and projects and provides technical backstopping to field projects;
• Collaborates in the development of improved/updated tools, systems, processes, and databases;
• Oversees the updating of databases and web pages;
• Participates in multidisciplinary teams, and/or leads working groups/teams collaborates with other divisions/offices and agencies on work groups and committees and promotes best practices;
• Collaborates in, provides technical backstopping to and ensures the quality/effectiveness of capacity development activities within Members such as policy support, organizational development and individual learning events including preparation of related information, learning materials, online tools;
• Promotes knowledge sharing and best practices at international meetings and conferences and influences partners in stakeholder consultations;
• Performs other duties as required.

Specific Functions
• Supports the implementation of project "BUILDING RESPONSIBLE GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS FOR THE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND TRADE OF TROPICAL FRUITS" (GCP/GLO/022/GER);
• Supports the technical work related to the outputs of the project, with a focus on value chain resilience both globally and in the key producing areas of Latin America, where the bulk of tropical fruit production for export takes place;
• Supports the operations of the project's working groups and task forces, the implementation of their work plans and projects, and their reporting in English and Spanish:
• Facilitates communications between FAO, project participants and partners, including those in Latin America, and increases their collaboration;
• Analyses policies to support activities of members to promote value chain resilience;
• Supports activities to promote and coordinate the dissemination of information and results achieved by the project in English and Spanish;
• Contributes to the definition of work plans and budgets as well as the definition of indicators and to the implementation of a reporting tool on project progress;
• Contributes to sound progress of project activities and financial disbursements and liaises with all FAO divisions/offices, as needed, on issues related to rules, budget, accounting and administrative matters;
• Monitors and evaluates the project performance, keep supervisors informed about its developments and makes recommendations for updates;
• Performs other duties as required.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________
CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements
• Advanced university degree in political sciences, business administration, agricultural economics, development economics, rural sociology, food security, nutrition, sustainable agriculture (including livestock, forestry and fisheries), or a related field;
• Five years of relevant experience in value chain resilience related to sustainable agricultural production and trade;
• Working knowledge (proficient – level C) of English and Spanish.

Competencies
• Results Focus
• Team Work
• Communication
• Building effective relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable;
• Extent and relevance of experience in analysing resilience of agricultural production to external shocks and supporting activities to increase the resilience of agricultural production and value chains;
• Extent and relevance of experience in facilitating multistakeholder processes, coordinating working groups related to resilient, sustainable agricultural production and trade including advocacy activities targeting the private sector and fundraising;
• Extent and relevance of experience in preparing project proposals;
• Extent and relevance of experience in working in inter-governmental bodies, multistakeholder organizations, private companies and multidisciplinary teams.