National Project Personnel (Economist)

Organizational Setting

This position is located in FAO Pakistan, based in Islamabad. The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural , fisheries and forestry sectors and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner.

Pakistan has been experiencing frequent natural disasters and non-coherent economic policies which has affected the overall economy specifically the agriculture sector and livelihood of the people. Outbreak of pandemic and locust attack has damaged agriculture crops and affected the food supply chain in Pakistan. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations supporting the Government of Pakistan at national and provincial level through different analytical policy reports on food supply chain, food forecast livestock, forestry, fisheries and climate change management. Similarly, a web-based data management system is under development for agriculture, food security and nutrition statistics in Pakistan. Through this system, support Government of Pakistan in monitoring food prices and supply chain through live dashboards which will enable better planning and policy making.

There is currently a team of agronomists, statisticians, economists and policy analysts working on different components to strengthening the food supply chain and ensure the food security in Pakistan. FAO Pakistan seeks a young professional with a strong analytical and quantitative capacity to contribute in economic modelling and analysis for better policy making in Pakistan. This experience will provide wide scope of work as outlined below:

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative, direct supervision of the Project Coordinator and in close coordination with concerned FAO colleagues, Economist will perform the following tasks:

Technical Focus

Ensure timely delivery of all activities related with

Tasks and responsibilities

• Support the FAO team in daily management and implementing policy activities related to agriculture, food security and nutrition.
• Study and analyze available secondary data and literature on food security, nutrition, food prices and agriculture value chains.
• Provide research and analytical support for drafting various outputs, such as policy notes related to agriculture and food security.
• Participate in discussions with Government and other relevant stakeholders.
• Organize and contribute to capacity building trainings and workshops related to FSNIS outputs.
• Perform other tasks as part of the Food security and nutrition

Expected Outputs:

• Working on household database using statistical software for analyzing the economic situation of the households.
• Provide support in statistical modelling for crop forecasting and conduct cost-benefit analysis, food balance sheets and price forecasting for different commodities.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Master’s degree in Economics, Agricultural Economics, Econometrics, Development Economics.
• Five (05) years’ experience in the relevant field.
• Working knowledge of English
• National of Pakistan

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical Skills

• Strong background in Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Time Series Econometrics, Forecasting, data and policy analysis.
• Familiarity in programming in STATA, GIS, R-studio and in managing household databases
• Ability to perform quantitative data analysis
• Familiarity of econometric skills on cross-section and panel data analysis
• Demonstrated ability to perform in-depth statistical analysis and report the results
• Familiarity in financial analysis, nutrition and agriculture economics related topics, or economic modelling
• Experienced in conducting literature reviews of academic publications, research reports, etc.Functional Skills
• Knowledge of United Nations and International Organizations’ administrative policies and procedures.
• Excellent drafting skills and analytical mind
• Demonstrated ability to conduct research
• Demonstrated fluency in written and spoken English
• Excellent interpersonal skills and to work in a team-oriented multi-cultural environment
• Willingness to travel
• Ability to work independently, with initiative and minimal supervision
• Good knowledge of common administrative and financial rules and regulations
• Good knowledge of communication and documentation standards
• Display initiative and take responsibility for achieving agreed outputs within set deadlines and closely follow-up until successful outputs are achieved.
• Continue to seek new, innovative and improved methods and systems for accomplishing the work assigned.
• Identify and recommend remedial measures to address problems in systems design or implementation

Selection Criteria

Candidates will be assessed against the requirements listed above.

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
• Only language proficiency certificates from UN accredited external providers and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT) will be accepted as proof of the level of knowledge of languages indicated in the online applications
• For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/