Policy 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

Organizational Setting

The Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (RNE) leads FAO’s support to countries in the Region in transforming their agri-food systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It identifies regional priorities for food security, agriculture and rural development and ensures the planning and implementation of FAO’s strategic response in the region through a multi-disciplinary approach. It implements approved programmes and projects, monitors programme implementation, and ensures that they contribute to addressing regional priorities.

RNE supports regional policy dialogues, facilitates the emergence of regional partnerships, and supports knowledge exchange, capacity development and resource mobilization for food security, agriculture and rural development in the region. It develops and maintains relations with region-wide institutions including the Regional Economic Integration Organizations (REIOs).

FAO RNE is supporting the member countries in developing their capacities for evidence-based policy design and implementation. In particular, through provision of timely and tailored data and analytics and evidence-based policy recommendations. The incumbent will help FAORNE in research, analysis and designing of the relevant policies in food and agriculture.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will report to the RNE Senior economist, under the overall supervision of the Assistant Director-General.

Technical Focus

The policy specialist will support the regional programme in general, with specific assignments to support the strategy and policy related work for the member states and analytical outputs of the FAO regional office.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Support the Strategy and Policy Unti team on matters related to agriculture and food policy research and analysis.
• Support various regional programme teams, where appropriate, to further improve the capacity of the RNE office.
• Support in collecting and presenting policies, economic and trade related indicators for food security and nutrition in the region, particularly the mapping of policies related to food security, in order to feed these into regional policy monitoring system.
• Preparing reports of the collected information and data in order to support the policy monitoring function of the RNE.
• Support the strategy and policy team in organizing relevant events.
• Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• A university degree in economics, business, law, policy, international relations or any other field relevant to FAO’s mandate.
• Experience of at least one-year in research and analysis of the above-mentioned areas would be preferred
• Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of one of the other official FAO languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish). For PSA.SBS working knowledge of English is sufficient.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Experience with research and analysis of agriculture and food related policies is desirable.
• Experience with policy monitoring and reporting, in the context of development, would be an advantage.
• Experience with statistical analysis using modern programming tools (such as R or Python) is desirable.
• Experience is the use of technologies supporting data science solutions relevant to economic and social issues is desirable.
• Experience working with the United Nations system or in a social science field would be an asset.
• Be computer literate in standard software applications.

Selection Criteria

• Possession of an advanced university degree will be considered an advantage
• Have a demonstrated and keen interest in the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and have a personal commitment to the ideals of the Charter of the United Nations.
• Have a demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which includes a willingness to understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views.

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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