Organizational Setting

The FAO office in Bangladesh is expected to provide technical assistance to the public sector stakeholder institutions in Bangladesh to facilitate the implementation of the upcoming Diversified Resilient Agriculture for Improved Food and Nutrition Security (RAINS) Project. The overall aim of this project is to provide Technical Assistance (TA) to strengthen the capacity of implementing agencies, especially Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM), to successfully implement the project and reach expected results.

Reporting Lines

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

Technical Focus

The specific duty of the incumbent is to provide technical guidance for the RAINS project. Specifically, she/he is expected to provide strategic guidance to the components of the RAINS to implement activities in line with the Social, Environmental and Climate Smart Procedures (SECAP) of the donor, prepare collection and analyse relevant information and propose feasible options based on the field findings. She/he will prepare and facilitate training sessions on relevant SECAP aspects. The incumbent 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

•    Assisting the STA to provide strategic advice to the RAINS Project Management Unit (PMU), district offices and upazilla in the development and implementation of the project activities.
•    Review existing SECAP related data collected during the impact study, annual outcome survey and field monitoring and provide feedback for further improvements.
•    Contribute to the Impact Study Report, particularly to the sections on climate, resilience and social safeguards.
•    Contribute to the RAINS implementation strategies to mainstream the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies across all areas of intervention.
•    Provide technical recommendations to selection of value chains, technologies and monitoring tools.
•    Work closely with the Value Chains Specialist and Irrigation Specialist and Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist to mainstream climate smart solutions and SECAP indicators tracking across all project components.
•    Provide inputs to the project reports and knowledge products.
•    Other tasks assigned by the STA.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements    

•    Master’s degree in agricultural or climate sciences, or natural resources management, with at least 10 years of experience in the field in Bangladesh.
•    Working knowledge of English.
•    National of Bangladesh or resident of the country with valid work permit.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    Additional qualifications and experience in SECAP, climate smart agriculture or irrigation research and application will be a strong advantage.
•    Extent and relevance of experience in working in the field of agriculture and with deep understanding of climate smart agriculture concepts and implementation.
•    Sound knowledge and understanding of the SECAP methodologies 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.
•    Experience in research proposals / concept notes preparation and leading/mentoring teams of researchers.
•    Readiness to carry out visits to project sites and duty travel as required.
•    Willingness to work as a team member with multicultural and multidisciplinary team of experts.
•    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