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National Project Development Specialist

Hanoi

  • Organization: FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
  • Location: Hanoi
  • Grade: Consultancy - Consultant - Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Project and Programme Management
  • Closing Date: 2025-02-24

IMPORTANT NOTICE\: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device

FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions.

  • 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 staff are subject to the authority of the Director-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the Organization.

Organizational Setting

Smallholder farmers in Viet Nam, particularly those involved in cocoa and coffee production, face significant challenges in achieving sustainable and resilient livelihoods. Deforestation, driven by increasing demand for agricultural land and other factors, poses a major threat to both biodiversity and climate stability. Moreover, smallholders often lack access to markets, technology, and financial resources necessary to improve their productivity and incomes.
To address these challenges, FAO has been implementing the Forest and Farm Facility Program (FFF) in Viet Nam, focusing on supporting forest and farm producer organizations (FFPOs) in sustainable land management, value chain development, and climate resilience. The Flexible Voluntary Contributions (FVC) Standard Sub-programme offers additional resources and opportunities to expand and deepen the impact of FAO's work in Viet Nam. The FVC Standard Sub-programme is a funding mechanism established by FAO to support its work in various countries. This sub-programme offers flexibility in terms of project design and implementation, allowing for rapid responses to emerging needs and opportunities.

By combining the FFF and FVC programs, this project aims to leverage their respective strengths and create a more comprehensive approach to addressing the challenges faced by smallholder farmers and promoting sustainable development.

Project objectives

1. Key Focus Areas for Combining FFF and FVC\:
• Strengthening FFPOs\: Capacity building\: Expand the scope of capacity building activities to include topics such as climate change adaptation, gender equality, and social protection.
• Financial sustainability\: Explore innovative financing mechanisms to support the long-term sustainability of FFPOs, such as impact investing, carbon credit trading, and community-based finance.
• Market linkages\: Strengthen existing market linkages and explore new opportunities for FFPOs to access domestic and international markets for their products.

2. Promoting Sustainable Land Use\:
• Agroforestry\: Promote the adoption of agroforestry practices that combine tree planting with agricultural activities to enhance biodiversity, improve soil health, and reduce erosion.
• Forest landscape restoration\: Support the restoration of degraded forest landscapes through activities such as tree planting, reforestation, and ecosystem rehabilitation.
• Climate-smart agriculture\: Promote the adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices that are resilient to climate change and contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

3. Improving Livelihoods\:
• Income diversification\: Encourage smallholder farmers to diversify their income sources through activities such as non-timber forest products (NTFP) collection, ecotourism, and value-added processing.
• Social protection\: Support the development and implementation of social protection programs for smallholder farmers, including health insurance, pension schemes, and disaster risk reduction measures.
• Gender equality\: Promote gender equality and women's empowerment within the agricultural sector through targeted training, support programs, and advocacy initiatives.

4. Strengthening Governance Frameworks\:
• Policy advocacy\: Advocate for policies that support sustainable forest and farm systems, such as land tenure reform, forest certification, and climate-smart agriculture.
• Institutional capacity building\: Strengthen the capacity of government agencies and other relevant institutions to implement effective policies and programs.
• Public-private partnerships\: Foster partnerships between the public and private sectors to promote sustainable agriculture and forestry.


Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision by the FAO Representative, technical supervision by the Forestry Officer, Forestry Division in FAO Rome, day-to-day management by Assistant FAO Representative (Programme) and in collaboration with the Project Coordinator at FAO in Vietnam and the international consultant for the project. The incumbent will work to ensure the timely implementation of the project and timely providing all relevant deliverables of the project.


Technical Focus

The National Development Specialist will support project development and foster collaboration between the executing partner, other key stakeholders, and relevant government entities.


Tasks and responsibilities

• Draft the project's expected outcomes, activities, and outputs.
• Ensure that the project proposal is developed in full compliance with Decree 114/2021/ND-CP on management and use of ODA and concessional loans of foreign donors in Viet Nam. This includes verifying eligibility, ensuring procurement compliance, adhering to financial management guidelines, developing a compliant monitoring and evaluation plan, and involving appropriate stakeholder participation.
• Contribute to the project design process and ensure that all deliverables are completed on time and to a high standard, ensuring its alignment with FAO policies, stakeholder expectations, and the specific objectives of the FFF and FVC programs.
• Develop overall workplan and deliverables to ensure that results are professional and positively contribute to the completion of the final Project Document, and other supporting materials.
• Serve as primary author and provide overall conceptual guidance to project design; including finalizing theory of change, results framework, institutional arrangements and project budget. Review and assemble all team member reports.
• Liaise with existing FFF program, and make sure lessons from FFF and FVC are included in project design as well as synergies between the two projects under design.
• Support FAO in identifying potential co-financiers as well as in securing co-financing commitments; and
• Carry out other relevant duties within his/her technical competence as requested by FAO.
• Undertake mission(s) as needed to target country/site.


CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING


Minimum Requirements

• Advanced degree in environmental science, natural resource management, development studies, or a related field
• 10 years of proven experience in project development and management, particularly in the context of sustainable agriculture and forestry
• Working knowledge of English and the local language
• National of Viet Nam


FAO Core Competencies

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


Technical/Functional Skills

• Prior experience in working on projects on the phytosanitary topic is an asset
• Previous successful involvement in policy/ strategy review is an asset.
• Strong understanding of FAO policies, procedures, and requirements.
• Experience in working with smallholder farmers and rural communities.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships with stakeholders at various levels.
• Experience working in developing countries, preferably in the target region.

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency.

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.
  • Only language proficiency certificates from UN accredited external providers and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT) will be accepted as proof of the level of knowledge of languages indicated in the online applications.
  • For other issues, 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.

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

We do our best to provide you the most accurate info, but closing dates may be wrong on our site. Please check on the recruiting organization's page for the exact info. Candidates are responsible for complying with deadlines and are encouraged to submit applications well ahead.
Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify.
Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.