Programme and Liaison Specialist (Abuja, Nigeria)

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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 Members 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 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

Organizational Setting

Under the supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR) and in close collaboration with Heads of Programmes, the Consultant will be expected to lead resource mobilisation for FAO Nigeria Country Programming Framework with emphasis on humanitarian, Resilience and development work to improve food security, nutrition, livelihoods and natural resource management.

Reporting Lines

The consultant reports to the FAO Representative in Nigeria.

Technical Focus

• Close collaboration with development partners supporting development, humanitarian and resilience building;
• Liaise with key partners in the UN system, civil society, private sector and Government;

Key Results:

Promotes effective integration of development, resilience-building and humanitarian projects into a comprehensive country programme and support a communication and resource mobilization strategy for the country programme .

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Build a network of collaboration with governmental and organizational counterparts to facilitate FAO Nigeria programme coordination and advocacy;
• Develop and negotiate effective working relationships with international, regional and national stakeholders and promotes FAO programmatic approaches and capacities in collaborative activities with external counterparts;
• Monitor and identify critical programme issues where FAO expertise is needed, and organize information flows from external collaborators to programme units;
• Facilitate mobilization of resources by supporting the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of FAO programmes;
• Promote FAO comparative advantages in collaborative activities with external counterparts;
• Lead in preparation of concept notes and related programme documents/reports (work programme, programme budget, etc.).
• Develop and lead the implementation of a resource mobilization strategy for FAO Nigeria;
• In cooperation with senior technical colleagues, liaise with Government, UN Agencies, Private sector and humanitarian and development partners to mobilize project and programme resources;
• Liaise with resource partners and communications officer to organize donor field and high level engagement ;
• Work with technical units in FAO Nigeria and relevant divisions in HQ, Regional office and sub-regional office for West Africa to lead phases 1-3 of the Project Cycle including: identification, formulation, appraisal and approval;
• Ensure alignment of new programmes with the Government humanitarian and development goals, the UN Nigeria sustainable Development Partnership framework FAO Nigeria Country Programming Framework, , and FAO’s corporate initiatives;
• Develop and maintain an overview of the agriculture and food and nutrition security priorities for humanitarian and development, by existing and potentially new resource partners for FAO Nigeria;
• Maintain updated soft and hard pipeline databases, project tracking and maintain an information database and update monitoring tools;
• provide periodic updates at management meetings, joint development partners meetings and monitor (and provide alerts regarding) programme funding gaps;
• Serve as lead author for the preparation of briefs and leaflets regarding the FAO Nigeria programme;
• Strengthen capacities of national staff in Result Based Management; Project Cycle Management and regular tips on successful Resource Mobilization;
• Liaise with FAO Technical units to ensure technical quality in donor reports;
• Participate in formulating regular progress reports, final reports, briefs and comprehensive reports for ongoing emergency/resilience/development projects as well as correspondence with government and donors;
• Participate actively in the Food Security Sector as co-lead agency and in line with the principles of the Global Food Security Cluster and provide technical support as required, ensuring the follow up of the food, nutrition and agriculture situation in the country and the identification of priority interventions;
• Play an active role in the Agriculture working group that brings together development partners and other actors in the sector;
• Perform other related duties as required;

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in international relations, public relations, political science, and international cooperation for development, development economics or a related field;
• 3 years relevant experience in partnership building, fundraising, negotiations, public relations/advocacy, preferably in the areas of food and agriculture;
• Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of French or one of the other FAO languages.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Excellent command of written and spoken English;
• Excellent communication, writing and presentation skills;
• Readiness to carry out visits to project sites and duty travel as required;
• Flexibility and adaptability to work in emergency situations with tight deadlines;
• Experience in a liaison function;
• Excellent team-building and cross-cultural skills;
• Thorough knowledge of FAO’s PCM guidelines and requirements;

Sound knowledge of FAO’s procedures and guidelines;

• High level of proficiency with ERPs used by FAO.
• Strong overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various MS Office applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.);

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