Fishery and/or Aquaculture technology Specialist/Expert

Organizational Setting

The Fisheries and Aquaculture unit of the Sub-Regional Office for West Africa (SFW) is primarily responsible for the overall identification, planning and implementation of FAO's fisheries and aquaculture priority activities in West Africa. The strategic orientations and broad vision is to help ECOWAS member countries to promote food security, enhance livelihoods, reduce poverty and curb marginalization by the sustainable and responsible development of fisheries and aquaculture in inland and marine waters of all the 15 member countries.

International consultants and PSAs represent an important source of expertise for FAO, making their specialist contributions across the globe towards the achievement of the Organization’s strategic objectives. For FAO to be able to attract and employ the best possible experts in the wide range of technical areas of its mandate, a competitive selection process has been introduced. The purpose of this call is to attract technical expertise to populate a consultant roster of fisheries and aquaculture technology experts for the West Africa region which can be called upon when their expertise is required, ensuring a transparent and rigorous selection process. Inclusion in the database does not guarantee a contract with SFW or any other FAO units. Applications will be maintained in the database for a period of two years.

Reporting Lines

The Consultants/PSAs will work under the overall supervision of the SFW Sub-Regional Coordinator and the direct supervision of the Fishery and Aquaculture Officer.

Technical Focus

The Consultant or PSA will work on issues related to fisheries and aquaculture technologies in the West African region, in line with FAO’s Strategic Framework.

Tasks and responsibilities

The tasks and responsibilities of each selected Consultant or PSA will be defined in the Terms of Reference for the specific assignment. The focus, tasks and responsibilities for each work area’s consultants may include, a number of the following elements depending on the assignment and the expertise of the Consultant:

• Provide substantive technical input for the implementation of fisheries and aquaculture new technology related projects, including the preparation of progress reports and other technical documents as required;
• Support the technical design and preparation of plans and drawings, technical instructions, procurement technical specifications and support the development of new climate friendly and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture technologies and infrastructures;
• Assist the development of detailed and budgeted concept notes and project proposals in accordance with FAO’s Strategic Framework and the FAO project cycle;
• Support the organization and participate in field missions and other events in support of the delivery of SFW Fisheries and Aquaculture programme of work, including for consultation, technical supervision and support, training and capacity building activities, and technical assistance to beneficiaries of FAO support programmes and projects;
• Contribute to relevant studies, publications and analyses, knowledge products and dissemination materials related to SFW Fisheries and Aquaculture new technology areas of work, including guidelines, capacity building and training material;
• Contribute to SFW Fisheries and Aquaculture work related to resource mobilization, monitoring of regular programme expenses and organization of international meetings.
• Contribute to ensure the visibility of all the SFW Fisheries and Aquaculture work, through publication of articles, newsletters and reports and social media posts (official website, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, Instagram).
• Perform any other duties related to the SFW fisheries and aquaculture areas of work.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in fisheries, aquaculture, climate change, engineering, architecture, IT, communications, economics, or other relevant field.
• One to four years of relevant experience in fisheries and/or aquaculture technologies, food security and livelihoods, rural development projects and programmes, for base level consultants (C level); at least five years’ relevant experience for middle level consultants (B level); and at least 12 years’ relevant experience (at least 15 for PSAs level A) for senior level consultants (A level). Preferably in SFW Fisheries and Aquaculture areas of work.
• Working knowledge of English or French and limited knowledge of the other or of Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish. For PSAs working knowledge of one FAO language is required.
• Ability to effectively use standard office software, such as MS Office (Windows, Word, Outlook, Excel, Power Point).

FAO Core Competencies

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