GEF project 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 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

Agriculture poses a threat to the environment and at the same time, it is the basis of food security. It is at the core of FAO actions the promotion of its sustainable use for food security, human well-being and development worldwide. In recent years, the role of environmental aspects and their likes with socio-economic conservation have been embedded into policies, strategies, and practices, as well as growing global attention. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development puts biodiversity as one of the key elements for many economic activities. Achieving food security and nutrition for all depends on sustainable development, which generates multiple livelihood benefits. Ecosystem services are essential for sustainable agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries. They enable sustainable production in the agricultural sector, it makes production systems and livelihoods more resilient to economic, social and environmental shocks and stresses, including the effects of climate change. Despite global efforts spanning several decades, sustainability still needs to mainstream across all sectors and agriculture has played a relevant role in this process as it generates negative impacts on it partly caused by inappropriate agricultural practices.

The role of the agricultural sectors in the sustainable use has grown, it can be observed in the EU policy priorities, in particular, the European Green Deal, Farm to Fork and, EU Biodiversity Strategy, also, it is an import part in several donors agenda such as GEF and EU, which tries to halt the negative impact of the agriculture sectors transforming it as a potential delivery of a range of ecosystem services. Most of the countries are facing the challenges to mainstream biodiversity into their agriculture sectors and the regional office for Europe and Central Asia is providing assistance to them.

Reporting Lines

The GEF project specialist will work under the overall supervision of the ADG/Regional Representative for the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, and under the direct supervision and technical guidance of LTOs for the related projects and in close collaboration with technical officers at the regional, sub-regional and country offices.

Technical Focus

The technical focus of the position is to support mainstream sustainability in the agriculture sector with a focus on biodiversity, land degradation and climate change, as well as work on Chemicals and Waste.

Tasks and responsibilities

The sustainability specialist will undertake the following tasks:

• Carry out a scenario analysis of the problem and the proposed investment. In particular, define the baseline scenario and associated baseline projects, analyse the proposed alternative scenario, and carry out an incremental cost reasoning with expected contributions from the baseline;
• Support the data collection and data analyse by providing proper methodology and relevant guidelines for national consultant in agrobiodiversity conservation, SRM (cross-compliance), LD and GIS
• Provide inputs and support to project execution in the area of agrobiodiversity, SRM (cross compliance), LD and GIS
• Prepare training contend for professional staff and field staff, farmers and policymakers on relevant topics y
• Identify, diagnose and select seed management initiatives that are in progress or planned by local and external stakeholders,
• Review and revise documents prepared by the national consultants;
• Support the preparation of content for workshops/events;
• Conduct the dialogue process with different stakeholders and counterparts

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Master’s or Bachelor’s degree(s) in economics, agriculture, natural resources, sustainable development, climate policy, rural development, or related fields.
• A minimum of 5 years of work experience in sustainable agriculture and related areas preferably in the targeted countries
• Working level of English and limited knowledge of one of Arabic, Chinese, French or Spanish for Consultants; working level of English for PSA Subscribers.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Additional Selection Criteria

• Knowledge of sustainable policies and guidelines in different setups
• Ability to work on international teams and with remote supervision

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

HOW TO APPLY

• To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, and language skills
• Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile
• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application
• Candidates may be requested to provide performance assessments and authorization to conduct verification checks of past and present work, character, education, military and police records to ascertain any and all information which may be pertinent to the employment qualifications
• Incomplete applications will not be considered
• Personal information provided on your application may be shared within FAO and with other companies acting on FAO’s behalf to provide employment support services such as pre-screening of applications, assessment tests, background checks and other related services. You will be asked to provide your consent before submitting your application. You may withdraw consent at any time, by withdrawing your application, in such case FAO will no longer be able to consider your application
• Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered
• Your application will be screened based on the information provided in your online profile
• We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.

If you need help or have queries, please create a one-time registration with FAO’s client support team for further assistance: https://fao.service-now.com/csp

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