Senior Researcher

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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 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Our goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 195 members (194 countries and the European Union), FAO works in more than 130 countries worldwide.

FAO evaluates the strategic alignment, implementation, efficacy, and efficiency of its portfolio of work through its independent Office of Evaluation (OED), which is led by a Director who reports to the FAO Governing Bodies and to the Director-General.
OED evaluates FAO strategies, initiatives, programmes, and projects at global, regional, and national levels. OED seeks to generate credible and useful evidence and insights to inform decisions, support oversight, and help FAO achieve its mission.
In so doing, OED provides results accountability to both Member nations and the Director-General. OED also participates in system-wide evaluation initiatives, thereby contributing to assessments of development and humanitarian effectiveness by the UN system.

OED values candidates who are highly motivated to excel and want to join OED colleagues in generating transformative knowledge for FAO, its Member nations, and others working in the fields in which FAO operates to achieve its mission of ending hunger!

Reporting Lines

The Senior Researcher will work under the supervision of an Evaluation Officer.

Technical Focus

The Senior Researcher will provide guidance to OED personnel in research design and analysis for rigorous evaluations concerning various areas of FAO’s mandate, including, among others, food security, resilience, agrifood systems, climate change, natural resource management, nutrition, in both developmental contexts, fragile settings and protracted crises.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Senior Researcher will contribute to the successful conduct of FAO evaluations. Some specific tasks include:
• Provide intellectual leadership to design impact evaluations, computable general equilibrium models, or other rigorous evaluations seeking to establish causal relationships
• Provide detailed quality assurance of designs, analyses, and intermediate and final deliverables (such as final reports and papers)
• Oversee teams of personnel collecting data, conducting analyses, and drafting reports; for example, oversee micro-econometric analysis of both primary and secondary data for selected impact evaluations
• Serve as a senior advisor to OED personnel to consult with seasoned researchers with expertise as they design evaluations, troubleshoot threats to their design due to (for example) data collection challenges, and so on
• Present findings at informal seminars within FAO and, as requested, at external meetings (such as conferences) on behalf of OED
• Promote use of evaluation findings
• Other tasks as agreed with the supervisor.

The position may include international travel in support of project activities.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced University Degree in Economics, Econometrics, Agricultural/Development Economics or in any other social science field (such as sociology and public policy) with graduate-level econometrics.
• At least ten years of experience in either the academic sector or research institutions
• Solid publication record in peer-reviewed journals
• Working knowledge (level C) of English

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Extent and relevance of experience in managing household surveys, longitudinal surveys, spatial data
• Extent and relevance of experience evaluating projects funded by international cooperation;
• Knowledge of quantitative impact evaluation methods, computable general equilibrium models, spillovers analysis
• Familiarity with FAO’s technical areas of work is desirable

Selection Criteria

• Excellent knowledge of Stata, R, GAMS or Phyton.
• Working knowledge of any other UN official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an advantage.

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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