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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
The key mission of the FAO Representation in Somalia, which is led by FAO Representative (FAOR), is to assist and support the national government to develop policies, strategies and programme aimed at accelerating the Implementation and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the area of FAO's global mandate and Strategic Objectives. More specifically, FAO's response aims to address national needs and priorities in achieving food security, reducing hunger and malnutrition, developing agricultural, fishery and forestry sectors, and ensuring the sustainable use of environmental and natural resources and respond to recurrent emergencies. The current portfolio of activities of the FAO Representation in Somalia includes a wide scope of technical support interventions ranging from policy support through livestock and crop production, to natural resource management, Nutrition, value chain, food security analysis and water and land information management. FAO is also implementing several emergency, resilience-building, and development interventions, with the support of its five field offices and close to four hundred staff in partnership with the Federal and State line ministries.
Reporting Lines
The position is under the overall guidance of the FAO Representative in Somalia, the direction of FAO Somalia Head of Programme and the technical supervision of SWALIM (Somalia Water and Land Information Management) Technical Advisor.
Technical Focus
The incumbent will support SWALIM Technical Adviser in the management of SWALIM project, and be responsible for the water resources data collection, analysis, and dissemination under SWALIM Water unit, including hydrological, hydrogeological, irrigation information and climatic time series data.
Tasks and responsibilities
Under the overall guidance of the FAO Representative for Somalia, and the direct supervision of the SWALIM Technical Advisor, the incumbent will support in the management of the SWALIM project; and be responsible for the water resources data collection, analysis, and dissemination under the water unit. Specifically, s/he will undertake the following:
• Deputize the SWALIM Technical Advisor on daily running of the project, and act as the head of SWALIM in the absence out of office of the Technical Advisor.
• Contribute to SWALIM’s project(s) development, monitoring, and management through: - Support in formulation and writing of projects documents and budgets for the different SWALIM donors; Monitoring the procurement and implementation of water resources components, both technical and financial, for timely delivery for the above projects; Contribution to other FAO Somalia sectors project proposal development, mainly Agriculture and FSNAU.
• Undertake responsibility, together with the SWALIM’s hydrometeorologist, for the implementation of the multi-institution Down to Earth project on translation of climate information into multilevel decision support in the Horn of Africa Drylands.
• Lead the team in the SWALIM’s Integrated Water Resources Studies and activities including: - Juba and Shabelle river studies and surveys with respect to the recent drying of the rivers; Upgrading the river monitoring network to telemetric stations including the seasonal rivers (wadis) in northern Somalia; Updating of pre-war rating curves for discharge measurement along the Juba and Shabelle rivers; Monitoring of sediments and water quality along the Juba and Shabelle rivers.
• Contribute to the Shabelle watershed study, under the HirShabelle Riverine Resilience Project, through analysis of hydrology data and reverse engineering hydraulic modelling to assess the root cause of flooding.
• Take a lead role in SWALIM projects reporting, under the guidance of the SWALIM Technical Advisor, and in close collaboration with the FAO Somalia reporting unit: - Develop the water resources activities reports, and compile progress reports from other teams into one report for review by the SWALIM Technical Advisor and FAO reporting unit; Finalise together with the FAO reporting unit the reviewed progress/final project reports for final approval and submission.
• Lead the development of water sources live map for Somalia in collaboration with the IM department and maintain regular updates of the system in partnership with WASH cluster, Somali Government, UNICEF, and other partners, and responsible for regular updates of the water sources datasets.
• Develop detailed work plans for activities implemented by FAO SWALIM under Letters of Understanding (LOU) with the government institutions and other partners, develop tools and contribute technical expertise to the LOUs for water sources survey, hydrogeology, and river survey, among others.
• Maintain SWALIM data quality standards for the water sources, discharge, hydrogeology, and other related datasets including data received from partners.
• Prepare technical reports and other technical documents related to the activities carried out carried out within the water resources unit.
• Together with the Hydrometeorologist, maintain, update and support further development of the flood risk and response management information system (FRRMIS), carry out data analysis, production and dissemination of floods and droughts early warning information/products.
• Contribute to the consolidation, improvement, and promotion of all water resources information systems for improved decision support and accommodation of client requests.
• Undertake responsibility for the groundwater monitoring network expansion, operation and maintenance, water quality and discharge measurement activities; regular monitoring of groundwater level and quality, data analysis and dissemination of information/products.
• Undertake responsibility for the establishment of flash flood monitoring system and support the implementation of the flash flood activities; develop specific products to support flood plain management and assist Somali authorities in their operation and maintenance.
• Contribute to the activities on-demand for water information from partners, stakeholders (governments, local authorities etc) and final Somali users through collection, processing, and dissemination of information.
• Support transfer of management responsibilities for the water resources information systems on Water Sources, Floods, Climate, Droughts, etc from the Nairobi office to the liaison offices in Somalia and government.
• Carry out the capacity building for the Somali government line ministries and partners, with focus to on-the-job-training on water resources systems, monitoring network, data analysis and reporting during the SWALIM’s transition period to the government; Support the capacity development officer in identifying and securing short to medium professional courses for the government staff to enhance their professional skills in management of Water Resources.
• Take a lead role in the design and implementation of the water resources components of the Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) under the ILWRM project.
• Manage, under the guidance of the SWALIM TA implementation of the water infrastructure interventions in Dharoor, Puntland through the Italian Corporation funding.
• Contribute to the preparation of feasibility studies, policy support documents, best practice guides and various project proposals for ministries and public institutions.
• Undertake responsibility for the updates of the SWALIM Data and Document Repository (SDDR) on data and other products related to water sources, irrigation, and floods.
• Take a lead role in the coordination of Somalia Hydromet sub Working Group which FAO/SWALIM is co-chairing with MoEWR.
• Together with the SWALIM TA, FAO senior land and water advisor, and other core SWALIM staff design and develop SWALIM program beyond the transition to the Somali Government
• Perform any other duties as required.
CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
Minimum Requirements
• University degree in one of the following fields: Hydrology, Hydrogeology, water resources or agricultural engineering. An Advanced university degree (M.Sc. or equivalent) is an added advantage.
• 10 years of relevant experience in analysing hydrological, hydrogeological and irrigation information and other climatic time series including remote sensing data; irrigation and agricultural water management with experience in surface and groundwater hydrology
• Working knowledge (level C) of English, French or Spanish and limited knowledge (level B) of one of the other two or Arabic, Chinese, Russian. (For PSA it can be required only one language)
FAO Core Competencies
• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
Technical/ Functional Skills
• Strong communication and IT skills.
Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency