Food Security and Agricultural Livelihoods Assessment 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

FAO’s commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations.

Organizational Setting

The Office of Emergency 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. Within the OER, the Data In Emergencies (DIEM) information system aims to generate timely, meaningful, granular, and publicly available data and analysis on agricultural livelihoods, shocks, food security, and needs to directly inform and design evidence-based emergency action, anticipatory action, resilience programming and impact monitoring. Driven by regularly collected primary data in fragile and shock‑prone environments, DIEM consists of five pillars\:
• DIEM-Monitoring is a monitoring system of agricultural livelihoods and food security in the context of multiple shocks in 18 food crisis countries. DIEM-Monitoring relies on periodic household and key informant data collection, through phone and in-person surveys, and analysis;
• DIEM-Impact conducts ex-post assessments to understand the impacts of large-scale hazards on agricultural livelihoods and value chains, using phased methodological approaches such as remote-sensing, damage & loss analyses, Post-Disaster Needs Assessments (PDNA), and other food security & livelihood surveys.
• DIEM-Risk consists of risk profiles derived from geographic baselines of past events and their impacts on agricultural livelihoods.
• DIEM-Research ensures that the vast volumes of data and analysis undertaken through the DIEM programme are harnessed to answer some critical questions relevant to better programming in support of agricultural livelihoods in fragile and risk prone contexts.
• DIEM-MEAL uses DIEM Monitoring data to conduct impact evaluations of assistance received by agricultural households. This is also combined with project level MEAL data for FAO specific evaluations.
The various outputs of these five streams are processed, visualized and disseminated through the Data in Emergencies hub (https\://data-in-emergencies.fao.org/).

Reporting Lines

The Consultant will report to the Senior Technical Officer (DIEM Team Leader) or to the Emergency and Rehabilitation Officer (DIEM). He/she will work in close collaboration with the country office..

Technical Focus

The Consultant is responsible for leading and implementing DIEM Monitoring and/or Impact activities in support of FAO Country Offices and as a public good.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Engage with DIEM target users and map out demand for data and analysis in support of decision-making;
• Coordinate the design and realization of hazard impact assessments (including PDNA) with the country and regional offices, the global DIEM team, as well as relevant FAO expert units and external partners;
• Lead the design of assessment plans and surveys, including analytical questions, linkages to decision-making, data collection modalities and instruments, questionnaire, sampling, budget, logistics, and timelines;
• Supervise data collection and data quality control, in line with DIEM standard protocols and tools;
• Lead statistical analysis, data interpretation and validation;
• Lead the development of high-level and analytical products integrating different types of data as relevant (household survey, key-informant interviews, focus group discussions, earth observation, market prices, field observations, and other contextual data);
• Contribute tailored intelligence to reporting, learning, positioning, advocacy and resource partner engagement processes at the regional level;
• Monitor the uptake of DIEM products, lead after-action reviews, and document gaps, use cases, and lessons learnt;
• Contribute to the development of DIEM standard methods and tools;
• Develop adequate linkages and partnership with relevant stakeholders and FAO entities at country, regional, and global level;
• Undertake travel in support of Country Offices;
• Perform any other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in economics, agricultural economics, relevant social or natural sciences, or other related discipline relevant to the mandate of the Organization;
• At least 5 years of relevant experience in emergency food security and agriculture assessments and analysis; including
at least 3 years of relevant experience in food crisis or risk-prone countries;
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and limited knowledge (level B) of any other official language of the Organization (Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian). For PSA, working knowledge (level C) of English.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Ability to work under pressure and adapt to an evolving and complex humanitarian context and within multidisciplinary and different cultural background teams;
• Good knowledge of the emergency and resilience ecosystem in fragile contexts (e.g. key stakeholders, agriculture programming, humanitarian programming cycle, food security phases classification, funding mechanisms);
• Proven analytical and research skills applied to humanitarian contexts;
• Familiarity with standard food security and livelihood assessment methods including quantitative and qualitative surveys, Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and/or Damage and Loss assessment, and market analysis;
• Ability to use information derived from remote-sensing and Geographic Information Systems;
• Advanced skills in survey management, including sample and questionnaire design, survey supervision, data quality control, and data analysis;
• Working knowledge of advanced statistics with ability to use at least one statistical software package (R, STATA, SPSS);
• Working knowledge of digital data collection applications (in particular Kobo toolbox);
• Strong coordination skills;
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, and ability to write clear, concise, and actionable reports in English.
• Strong individual planning capacity.

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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