National Climate Smart Agriculture Specialist

FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions.

• 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
• 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 FAO office in Bangladesh intends to provide technical assistance to the public sector stakeholder institutions in Bangladesh to facilitate the implementation of Smallholder Agriculture Competitiveness Project. , the overall aim of this project is to strengthen the capacity of implementing agencies to successfully implement the project and reach the expected results.
The Government of Bangladesh has assigned four institutions to implement the project. These are the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) and Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC). DAE will be the lead agency under overall supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will work under overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Bangladesh, direct supervision of the Senior Technical Adviser (STA) – SACP.

Technical Focus

The specific duty of the National Climate Smart Agriculture Specialist is to provide technical guidance for the SACP project. Specifically, the National Specialist is expected to provide strategic guidance to the components of the SACP for collection of relevant information, support identification of climate smart technologies and crops, support preparation and / or evaluation of the business plans and matching grants applications in the relevant context. She/he will prepare and facilitate training sessions on selection and dissemination of climate smart technologies and rural investments. The National Specialist will review and provide feedback to the project on relevant crops and investments in the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Assist the STA to provide strategic advice to the SACP Project Management Unit (PMU), district offices and upazilla in the development and implementation of the project activities.
• Review and update existing SACP analysis and implementation strategies to mainstream the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies across all areas of intervention, including the high value crops and irrigation.
• Analyze existing good practices and knowledge on the CSA in Bangladesh and prepare a practical guidance on including climate smart technologies in each of the identified value chains.
• Provide technical guidance/recommendations to support selection of the rural investments.
• Work closely with the Value Chains Specialist and Irrigation Economist to mainstream climate smart solutions across all project components.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Masters degree in agricultural or climate sciences. Additional qualifications and experience in climate smart agriculture, natural resource management, irrigation will be a strong advantage.
• At least 5 years of experience in the field in Bangladesh.
• Excellent working knowledge (level C) of English
• National or Resident of Bangladesh.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Extent and relevance of experience in working in the field of agriculture and with deep understanding of climate smart agriculture concepts and implementation.
• Extent and relevance of experience in working with communities and public administration of central and local level.
• Excellent computer skills, communication, writing and presentation skills;
• Readiness to carry out visits to project sites and duty travel as required;
• Sound knowledge and understanding of the on-going policy issues in the areas of Agriculture, Rural Development and Climate Change.
• Willingness to work as a team member with multicultural and multidisciplinary team of experts
• Willing to undertake intensive field works
• Ability to work independently and proceed with objectives of the assignment work under pressure and meet deadlines;
• Self-motivation, willingness to learn and good work ethics
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Bangla

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