International Soil Laboratory Consultants

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FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

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Application deadline 1 year ago: Friday 20 Jan 2023 at 22:59 UTC

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Organizational Setting

FAO Partnership and Liaison Office in Azerbaijan in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan is currently implementing “Improvement of Seed and Agro-Chemical Laboratory and Certification Services under the Agrarian Services Agency” and “Support for Structural Reform and Strategic Development of Agrarian Services Agency” projects under FAO-Azerbaijan Partnership Programme (FAPP, 2016-2021).

Reporting Lines

Assistant FAO Representative in Azerbaijan (AFAOR)

Technical Focus

The projects aims to support structural reform and strategic development of Agrarian Services Agency by enabling strengthening the delivery and effectiveness of the veterinary, crop protection, seed management and technical control services in the country. In addition the projects aimed to support and improve the activities of the laboratories mentioned in the projects and operating under ASA through development of effective management and oversight system, technical capacity building, provision of necessary equipment, adoption of new and state of the art methodologies/methods, international certification and ensuring the delivery of these services to farmers via online platform.

Tasks and responsibilities

Wet chemistry

• Identify equipment and consumables to purchase, maintenance requirements and authorized staff needed to operate the equipment (technical expertise) based on international standards • Provide trainings for trainers to the managers of the Central Laboratory and the Soil Regional Laboratories on: - Planning and executing the procurement of equipment and consumables; - The implementation of the revised FAO Bulletin 74; - Quality assurance and internal quality control, including the collection and preparation of reference soil samples, the implementation of standard operating procedures, the use of quality control charts, etc. - External quality control: collection and preparation of soil samples, organization of national proficiency testing exercises (PT), statistical analysis of PT results, identification of source of errors in the analysis and actions to take to increase the performance of soil laboratories - Health and safety in soil laboratories - Use and maintenance of laboratory equipment for wet chemistry - Interpretation of soil laboratory results for the provision of recommendations to farmers • Support the national specialists and project partners in interpreting agrochemical analyses results and developing recommendations for farmers based on soil parameters

Soil spectroscopy

• Support with the procurement of the soil spectrometer for the Central Laboratory • Train the manager and technicians appointed to soil spectroscopy of the Central Laboratory on the use, calibration and maintenance of the soil spectrometer. Training should include modelling • Lead the establishment of the National Soil Spectral Library and Estimation Service of Azerbaijan and provide the trainings for the Central Laboratory staff on their maintenance and management • Support connecting the national soil spectral services to the Azerbaijani Soil Information System (AzSIS)

Network management

• Support the Central Laboratory to establish the National Soil Laboratory Network of Azerbaijan (includes governance, communication strategy, work plan and monitoring system) and to coordinate the implementation of national activities in soil analysis • Provide a special training on soil laboratory network management to the Central Laboratory

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced University degree/master’s degree in soil science, agriculture, environmental sciences, chemistry or a related field with some specialization in soil science, or relevant experience in agricultural extension with a focus on soil analysis and soil laboratory management; • Minimum one year of relevant experience (for category C), minimum five years of relevant experience (for category B), minimum twelve years of relevant experience (for COF category A) in soil laboratory analyses; • Working knowledge (level C) of Turkish and English and limited knowledge (level B) of French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, or Russian.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable; • Familiarity with FAO policies and programmes and UN policy agendas; • Extent and relevance of experience in issues related to soil laboratory functioning and soil sample analyses in particular in relation to climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable agriculture and forestry; • Extent and relevance of experience in organizing medium to large scale national and international technical meetings and trainings; • Extent and relevance of experience in the development of teaching materials is an asset; • Extent and relevance of experience in the establishment and facilitation of technical networks. • Demonstrated ability to deliver results within deadlines. • Demonstrated experience of working in Azerbaijan in terms of normative and technical work on soils is an asset.

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: fao.org