Organizational Setting

The Office of Emergencies and Resilience, OER is responsible for ensuring FAO’s efforts to support countries and partners in preparing for and effectively responding to food and agricultural threats and crises. It is responsible for coordinating the development and maintenance of corporate tools and standards to enable Decentralized Offices to assist member countries to prepare for and respond to emergencies. OER ensures humanitarian policy coordination and knowledge, liaison with the Interagency Standing Committee as well as with humanitarian resource partners, co- leadership with World Food Programme of the global Food Security Cluster, organizational preparedness, surge capacity and response to large-scale emergencies. OER supports food and nutrition security assessment and early warning activities related to emergency and humanitarian analysis and responses. OER plays a major role in the development and leadership of the Organization’s programme to increase the resilience of livelihoods to food and agriculture threats and crises.

Reporting Lines

The Specialist reports to the Emergency and Rehabilitation Officer.

Technical Focus 

Support the implementation of FAO’s emergency and resilience agenda at a global, regional, sub regional and/or country level.

Tasks and responsibilities

OPERATIONAL SUPPORT:
•    Provide operational management and programmatic support to the implementation of emergency projects  and programmes, including budgetary management and expenditures monitoring;
•    Handle day-to-day operational aspects of emergency response projects and programmes in accordance with  the project management cycle from initiation phase to operational and financial closure;
•    Assist the Budget Holder in the overall management of the emergency and resilience portfolio, including  budget allocations, budget revisions, etc.;
•    Liaise between programme and procurement units to ensure timely delivery of assistance to beneficiaries, following project workplans, budget availability and in accordance with relevant manual sections;
•    Oversee recruitment, renewal of contracts and travel arrangements of all deployed/mission personnel   following budget availability and in collaboration with the admin unit;
•    Coordinate the production and clearance of supporting documents (concept notes, project documents, financial and narrative reports, visibility materials);
•    Ensure preparedness of the country office to scale up following emerging needs or emergencies;
•    Support capacity development of operations unit at the country-level, including by attending appropriate meetings and trainings at sub-regional, regional and HQ level.

PROGRAMMING:
•    Research, input and analyze technical, food and nutrition security assessments, emergency response, policy related and/or funding/project related data and information to support the development and delivery of programme and projects, products and services;
•    Participate in the design of emergency and resilience projects and programmes, including the preparation and  presentation of project proposals and fully-fledged project documents and budgets;
•    Liaise with other government, UN, cluster/sector, NGO and donor partners at the appropriate level to ensure the best preparation and implementation of emergency and resilience activities (only consultants);
•    Maintain and update key country-level food security/needs information and response, information systems and databases, as applicable.

OTHER:
•    Undertake travel and field visits to ensure adequate support is provided to the implementation of emergency and resilience projects and programmes;
•    Perform other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    University degree (Bachelor’s or equivalent) in business administration or public administration, political science, social science, agronomy, natural resources management or a related field to the mandate of the organisation.
•    At least 2 years (Category C), 5 years (Category B) or 10 years (Category A) experience in humanitarian and agricultural/rural development sectors including work experience with national and international NGOs, UN agencies, governments and donors;
•    Working knowledge of English or French (level C).

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    Work experience in more than one location or area of work;
•    Excellent organizational skills;
•    Good communication skills, including in emergency settings;
•    Demonstrated ability to analyze problems, make appropriate recommendations, effective decisions, including in emergency settings;
•    Strong foundation in programme formulation, planning, implementation, evaluation and budget management.

Selection Criteria 

•    Limited knowledge (level b) of a second FAO language (English, Arabic, French, Chinese, Spanish and Russian) would be an asset.