GIS Impact Assessment Specialist

IMPORTANT NOTICE\: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal 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 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 work under the overall supervision of the OER Senior Technical Officer. He/She will work closely with the OER Data in Emergencies specialists tasked with coordination of assessments integrating GIS and non-GIS elements. He/She will liaise technically with the Land and Water (NSL) Geospatial Unit, Global Information and Early Warning Systems (GIEWS), and other remote-sensing service providers inside and outside the Organization.

Technical Focus

The GIS Impact Assessment Specialist is responsible for providing remote-sensing and other GIS inputs into DIEM analyses and products, particularly for the rapid analysis of the impacts of large-scale natural hazards, conflict and other shocks on agriculture.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Participate in assessment coordination processes following a large-scale hazard, by exploring existing data and imagery and proposing technical approaches relevant to the type of hazard and information needs;
• Collaborate with FAO needs assessment specialists and country officers, including GIS Officers, for the integration of GIS inputs into phased assessments;
• Conduct GIS analysis of agriculture exposure to large-scale hazards and the potential impacts of these hazards on agricultural livelihoods and food security;
• Support the interpretation, triangulation, ground truthing, and validation of remote-sensing outputs in light of other sources of information (including field surveys and crowdsourced data) and technical limitations;
• Contribute geospatial inputs into DIEM Monitoring in view of triangulating household data, particularly for hazards and crop seasonal monitoring;
• Liaise with NSL geospatial unit for deeper analyses, including land cover mapping, crop monitoring, and damage to infrastructure assessment;
• Contribute to the development of visual and analytical assessment products such as briefs, StoryMaps and interactive maps;
• Ensure that data and outputs are in the right format and in line with standards adopted at FAO and users’ needs;
• Regularly update key geospatial data catalogues, including land cover, crop type, and yield estimates maps, and contribute to expanding and centralizing country-level geospatial baseline data, according to Organizational standards, common metadata, and geospatial repository system (Agro-informatics platform)
• Contribute to the development of new geospatial assessment methods, including GeoAI and machine learning, particularly for thematic areas insufficiently covered (e.g. livestock, fisheries);
• Contribute to the development and adoption of automated hazard monitoring and assessment applications on the DIEM hub, such as Events Visualization in Emergencies (EVE);
• Contribute to the development of Standard Operating Procedures, training materials, and user guides;
• (For Consultants only) Nurture partnership and synergies with lead geospatial organizations in the agriculture sector (WFP, NASA Harvest, EU JRC);
• (For Consultants only) Participate in relevant FAO geospatial working groups and multi-stakeholders arenas;
• Perform other duties as required;
• Undertake travel, if needed and possible.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• (For Consultants) Advanced university degree from an institution recognized by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/UNESCO / (For PSA Subscribers) Relevant educational background in Geographic Information Systems, Geomatics, Geography, Information Science, Agronomy or other relevant field; Consultants with bachelor`s degree need two additional years of relevant professional experience.
• At least 3 years of relevant experience in GIS and remote sensing applied to the humanitarian and/or agricultural sector;
• Working knowledge (level C) of English required.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Working knowledge of another UN language is an asset.
• Excellent knowledge of remote-sensing and GIS applied to food security, resilience and agricultural interventions, ideally for risk analysis, impact assessment and recovery monitoring;
• Familiarity with Esri products and tools (ArGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, Operational Dashboards, Web App Builder, Experience Builder…);
• Experience in data workflow design, integrating GIS and non-GIS data;
• Experience of using Python to develop geoprocessing solutions;
• Familiarity with spatial databases;
• Advanced GIS development skills;
• Proven familiarity with the humanitarian remote sensing community, open datasets, charters and practice;
• Reporting and editing skills;
• Capacity to interact with and provide adapted solutions to stakeholders from various backgrounds (remote-sensing, data engineering, food security analysis, programming); Ability to perform in multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary context.

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

FAO IS A NON-SMOKING ENVIRONMENT