Environmental Junior Data Scientist

Organizational Setting

The FAO-Lesotho Country Office, facilitates, coordinates and manages all technical and advisory services to be provided by FAO in the implementation of the project on: The Establishment of the baseline for the Integrated Catchment Management Project in Lesotho”. The national programme for integrated catchment management in Lesotho is jointly co-financed by the Government of Lesotho and its cooperation partners EU and Germany through technical assistance by GIZ. FAO has been requested to participate and lead the monitoring component of the GIZ support project.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will be part of the ICM team of the FAO-Lesotho office in Lesotho Maseru. This position will be under the overall supervision of the FAO Technical Advisor and the FAO Assistant Representative in Lesotho, with day to day collaboration with OCS division, the ICM Program Manager and the head of ICM Coordination Unit; and in consultation with the relevant technical divisions at FAO Headquarters, the Regional Office for Africa (RAF), the Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa (SFS).

Technical Focus`

• Sub catchment profile report
• Land cover and land cover change analysis outputs: maps, tables, charts and descriptive text
• Obtain certification to operate the UAV Sensefly E-Bee
• Acquire images using the UAV Sensefly E-Bee over selected areas and make images available to the project team in geo-geoiff format

Tasks and responsibilities

• Support the analysis of environmental, climatic and biophysical characteristics of six sub-catchments using geospatial data and other sources of information.
• Support the analysis of land cover and land cover change analysis based on the land cover map time series data produced by FAO (2017-2021). Carry out spatial analysis at different scales; National, District, Sub catchment. Identify trends and patterns.
• Support the preparation of the Lesotho Land Cover Atlas through the production of high quality maps, charts and tables and related text
• Support the implementation of field surveys for the collection of in-situ data related to land cover and soil. Use GPS to georeferenced specific land cover features. Fly the drone E-Bee Sensefly, to acquire images over selected areas.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in Water and Environmental Engineering or equivalent
• At least 3 years of relevant experience in soil and water conservation, environmental management, and land degradation reduction and halting.
• Working knowledge of English
• National of Lesotho.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Professional experience using R and spatial packages in R
• Knowledge of Google Earth Engine, and experience in land cover mapping

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help please contact: [email protected]
• Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
• For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/