Job Details:
- Organization: FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- Location: Afghanistan
- Grade: Consultancy – Consultant – Contractors Agreement
- Occupational Groups:
- Environment
- Disaster Management (Preparedness, Resilience, Response and Recovery)
- Closing Date: 2024-01-16
IMPORTANT NOTICE\: Please note that the Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on the date and time settings of your device
- 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 persons 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
FAO Afghanistan is investing, across all 34 provinces, in resilience-reinforcing actions that focus on protecting agriculture livelihoods and local ecosystems, boosting local production of nutritious foods and cash incomes, and safeguarding critical agriculture sectoral development gains achieved over the past couple of decades through revitalizing rural markets and economy. In 2023-2025, FAO will contribute to Strategic Priority 2\: Economic Opportunities and Resilient Livelihoods of the recently approved United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA) (2023-2025) and Humanitarian Response Plan 2024 through short-, medium- and long- term support focusing on the following priority areas\: (i) Safeguarding Wheat Seed Security; (ii) Enhancing Local Production of Nutritious Food; (iii) Livestock Protection and Dairy Sector support; and (iv) Restoring Irrigation Structures to Boost Cash Incomes.
There are five positions, one per duty station\: Kabul (1), Mazar (1), Kunduz(1), Kandahar(1), Gardez (1), and Herat (1) .
These are National Project Personnel positions – SC8.
Reporting Lines
The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR) in Afghanistan. S/he will work under the direct supervision of the Head of the Regional Office, who will be responsible for all day-to-day supervision and under the technical guidance of the Team Leader, Emergency & Resilience Team. As and where appropriate, the performance evaluation will be done by the direct supervisor in close consultation with the Team Leader, Emergency & Resilience Team.
Technical Focus
Support the implementation of FAO in Afghanistan’s emergency response in line with Emergency Response Priorities of coordination, assessment, and time-critical interventions.
Tasks and responsibilities
Project formulation and implementation
• Support the formulation of project proposals for emergency response and disaster risk management/resilience-related projects, particularly ensuring a good understanding of needs and opportunities, local context relevance of project proposals, and provision of data/information;
• Perform project implementation management functions in consultation with the FAO Emergency Response Team, FAO Regional Offices, and FAO Implementing Partners (IP);
• Liaise with technical staff in the FAO Representation to address project implementation and program development activities;
• Support the Emergency Response Team in planning and formulating FAO’s inputs to the Humanitarian Response Plans (HRP) and humanitarian planning tools;
• Carry out regular field visits for the monitoring of FAO emergency and resilience projects, including agriculture input distribution campaigns, animal health protection, plant pests and diseases protection, disaster risk reduction (DRR), etc;
• Review, crosscheck and supervise data entry, analyze the surveyed information, and prepare specific survey reports and project documents;
• Review, and crosscheck the profile survey databases received from implementing partners and review them against the vulnerability criteria and provide feedback;
• Design and develop survey questionnaires for assessments and reporting formats for interim and final reporting to be distributed to the implementing partners; Coordinate the surveys and liaise with all stakeholders;
• Collect, interpret, aggregate, and analyze data that demonstrate project progress and impact against each established indicator;
• Liaise and follow up with FAO implementing partners on tasks to be delivered as outlined in agreements, and project work plans, review weekly reports, profile survey reports, and final reports and related documents;
• Conduct pieces of training of stakeholders (NGOs, FAO national personnel) on the use of the monitoring or reporting formats and survey questionnaires;
• Provide technical assistance and training on relevant topics (disaster risk management/resilience building in agriculture, horticulture, animal health, irrigation, etc.), in close collaboration with technical focal points in the FAO Representation, for implementing partners, extension workers and other relevant counterparts at regional level;
• Monitor inputs (Seeds, concentrated animal feed, tools, fertilizers, and poultry kits) quality control process and delivery to the assigned distribution points.
Manage and conduct surveys and data collection related to the FAO resilience program
• Compile, analyze, and report on the survey and data collected;
• Support the Emergency Response Team, and relevant counterparts on project implementation, monitoring, and evaluation;
• Support the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster (FSAC) and act as FAO focal point for FSAC at the regional level;
• Maintain close collaboration with counterparts and other FSAC partners working on agricultural and livestock livelihoods projects to ensure coordinated efforts;
• In agreement with the Regional Coordinator, act as FAO focal point for regional humanitarian and resilience coordination fora (e.g. the Humanitarian Regional Team);
• Liaise and coordinate with national and international NGOs and local stakeholders for FAO participation in assessments at the regional level;
• Lead field missions, including provision of guidance to external consultants and partners and preparing mission reports;
• Support quality assurance process for inputs for distribution under emergency projects in the supplier and service providers’ warehouses;
• Contribute to the drafting and/or updating of technical specifications for agricultural inputs, as well as determining the quantities required and the timing for distribution. Follow and track input delivery and distribution to beneficiaries;
• Develop and update monitoring plans for each project to ensure adequate performance monitoring. Monitoring plans should include details on what will be monitored, how, when, and by whom;
• Develop context-specific Accountability and Feedback Mechanism/Strategy for FAO and its implementing partners. Prepare training materials on feedback mechanisms (FM), FM tools, and standard operating procedures and coordinate regular training to staff and partners;
• Support FAO implementing partners in planning/leading reflective learning sessions including preparation of lessons learned tools report of past and ongoing projects’ performance;
• Promote the image of FAO at the regional level, through advocacy and outreach initiatives, to help partners understand how to access FAO knowledge and resources;
• Perform any other related duties as required.
CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
Minimum Requirements
• Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) or University degree (Bachelor) in Agriculture, Forestry, Veterinary, Engineering, Disaster Risk Management, Climate Change Adaptation, or any other field related to the work of the organization.
• For an Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) at least five (5) years of relevant work experience in large and complex projects that combine emergency response, disaster risk reduction, project formulation, and implementation.
• For a university degree (Bachelor) at least seven (7) years of relevant work experience in large and complex projects that combine emergency response, disaster risk reduction, project formulation, and implementation.
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and local languages (Pashto and/or Dari).
• National of Afghanistan.
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, particularly in field positions is desirable;
• Strong interpersonal and communication, reporting and presentation skills, analysis and interpretation of data, ability to work in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity;
• Solid background in disaster risk management, resource mobilization, in the food security and agriculture sector, and project management;
• Experience in monitoring and evaluation of emergency projects and programs, including the use of technologies for data collection (e.g. kobo);
• Experience in data collection, analysis, and reporting related to food security and livelihoods;
• Understanding of the purpose and function of technical Programmes, operational guidelines, and Programme/project management procedures, preferably those adopted by the United Nations and/or FAO;
• Ability to effectively coordinate a large, multi-stakeholder project with results-based management;
• Ability to deal with political, technical, and people management challenges, administer budgets, and work effectively with all staff and with groups involved in the project;
• Experience organizing stakeholder meetings or workshops with national participants;
• Experience in multi-stakeholder analysis, and in mobilizing or creating awareness about resilience projects;
• Previous work experience with the UN is considered a strong asset.
• Strong professional command of Microsoft Office, in particular Word and Excel.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
- Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
- Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http\://www.whed.net/
- For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website\: http\://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/
- Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.
FAO seeks gender, geographical, and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants to best serve FAO Members in all regions.
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, and 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 information that 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 apply 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
FAO IS A NON-SMOKING ENVIRONMENT
