News

Call for applicants, SMD Specialists

23.02.2018

The Mountain Partnership Secretariat is looking for qualified, motivated sustainable mountain development specialists to support its work at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Italy. Interested individuals should apply online by 28 February 2018.

The Sustainable Mountain Development Specialist posts are located in the Water and Mountains Team at FAO, which hosts the Mountain Partnership Secretariat. The Secretariat acts as a networking and liaison point for members, connecting institutions and countries for activities in sustainable mountain development to ensure advancement of the mountain agenda at all levels. It is also engaged in raising awareness globally about the importance of mountains and in advocating increased attention to sustainable mountain development. The Secretariat plays a facilitating role in helping members build and develop joint activities, mobilize resources, promote closer collaboration and achieve better results for sustainable mountain development.

The ideal candidate for the position of Sustainable Mountain Develop Specialist is dynamic, innovative and proactive with experience and working knowledge on thematic areas related to:
• Sustainable mountain development;
• Watershed management;
• Climate change;
• Biodiversity mainstreaming into forestry and climate change mitigation/adaptation activities;
• Agrobiodiversity;
• Capacity development;
• Value chain analysis of mountain products;
• Agribusiness and marketing;
• Sustainable food systems;
• Indigenous peoples;
• Partnerships development, private sector liaising and resource mobilization;
• Development of strategies to support fragile ecosystems, such as mountains, islands, drylands;
• Global advocacy, outreach and knowledge management;
• Gender;
• Remote sensing and GIS;
• Social media and information dissemination; and
• Policy advice.

Tasks and responsibilities
• Provide technical assistance on sustainable mountain development;
• Provide technical assistance in the field of mountain economy, value chain analysis and financing schemes;
• Facilitate networking among Mountain Partnership stakeholders, respond to needs and promote best practices in sustainable mountain development;
• Support the Mountain Partnership’s advocacy activities (Rio Convention COPs, working groups, policy briefs, UN reports, declarations);
• Contribute to policy advice to countries for the advancement of mountain issues in the 2030 Agenda;
• Contribute to the development and implementation of strategies to support fragile ecosystems, including mountains, islands and drylands;
• Contribute to data collection and analytical research in the field of Sustainable Mountain Development, Climate Change, Biodiversity conservation;
• Support the work on the Mountain Green Cover Index for the SDG target 15.4, for which the Mountain Partnership Secretariat is responsible;
• Plan, implement capacity development activities and tools, including knowledge management platforms;
• Contribute to the development and dissemination of technical content and information products on Sustainable Mountain Development and for wide variety of audiences, particularly at the international level;
• Support field projects and monitoring and evaluation; and
• Contribute to the design and formulation of sustainable mountain development project proposals for FAO TCP, GEF and GCF, bilateral donors and private sector.

In response to this call for applicants, FAO will build a list of qualified candidates. Job assignments pursuant to this call may be located at FAO headquarters in Rome, home based, or on field missions, as required. FAO frequently engages experts to work on short-term projects as international consultants. The functions of a consultant are results-oriented and normally involve analysing complex issues, directing seminars or training courses, preparing documents for conferences and meetings, or writing reports on matters within their area of expertise. An international consultant is engaged by FAO to provide expertise, skills or knowledge for the performance of a specific task or piece of work, which would be short-term by nature. The assignment may involve full-time or part-time functions similar to those of staff members. The assignment can be from 1 month up to 11 months. The possibility of further extension is subject to satisfactory performance and depending on the resources and needs of the Organization.

HOW TO APPLY
To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Only applications received through the recruitment portal will be considered.

Vacancies will be removed from the recruitment portal at 23:59 Central European Time (CET) on the deadline for applications date. We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.

If you need help, or have queries, please contact: [email protected]

Read the full vacancy announcement

Photo credit: Mountain Wilderness International/Anna Sustersic