Project Manager (National Project Personnel)

Organizational Setting

The Sub-Regional Office for Central Asia of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-SEC) is responsible for developing, promoting, overseeing and implementing strategies for addressing food security, agriculture and rural development priorities in the sub-region. The Organization’s technical assistance includes institution building, development of knowledge and competencies, and exchange of experience among countries facing the challenges of transition.

FAO SEC will start implementing a three-year project entitled “Forest Restoration Improvement for Environmental Development and Sustainability (FRIENDS) (GCP/SEC/021/TUR)” funded by the Government of Turkey in January 2022. The objectives of this project is to develop national capacities to successfully conduct large-scale forest and other wooded lands restoration, by enhancing know-how to prevent degradation. To achieve this objective, and considering the available financial resources, the project will have a pilot character to test and demonstrate the best and state-of-the-art methodologies. While project will mainly be implemented in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, capacity building component of the project will include Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as well.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator for Central Asia, the direct supervision of Team Leader of Field Programme Unit (FPU), the technical supervision by Lead Technical Officer (LTO), operational guidance from SEC FPU, in close coordination with the FTFP National Programme Coordinator and FAO Turkey (FETUR), other international and national consultants and government counterparts at national and local levels in participating countries, the incumbent will undertake following.

Technical Focus

• Forest Restoration
• Natural Resource Management
• Project management and coordination

Tasks and responsibilities

The NPP will be responsible for the overall project implementation and management on a day-to-day basis, including financial management.

S/he will closely co-operate with the Lead Technical Officer (LTO) and the National Project Coordinators (NPC – Focal Points of Government Partners) in the recipient countries to achieve this task.

The NPP will co-ordinate the work of the consultants and supervise other project personnel. At the start of his/her assignment, he/she will review and adjust where needed the terms of reference for the international and national experts and consultants and define the technical contents of the planned contracts with local institutions and organisations. The Project Coordinator will be responsible for the adequate reporting on project progress and budget expenditures towards FAO. His/her own field of expertise is natural resources management and policy development.

Planning

• Preparation of annual workplans to facilitate the implementation of the project
• Planning of the training activities and preparation of training content in collaboration with the project experts in their respective fields
• Participation in the preparation of the country activities plans in the four countries of implementation
• Planning staff duty travels

Institutional framework development

• Participation to meetings with the FTFP Steering Committee, FAO Project Task Force
• Provide advice to Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry on institutional, policy and legal issues related to project implementation

Mobilization of inputs

• Personnel: Preparation of terms of reference, identification of potential candidates and recruitment
• Equipment: Preparation of technical specifications for necessary equipment and procurement
• Subcontracts: Preparation of terms of reference, identification of possible contractors, and procurement of services
• Monitoring of work progress and certification of satisfactory services delivery

Training

• Preparation and organisation of training activities, including study tours abroad
• Selection of participants in consultation with national agencies concerned
• Assessment of impact and lessons learned to be integrated into future activities

Financial Management

• On the basis of semi-annual workplans, preparation of financial forecasts.
• Initiation of budget revisions, on the basis of actual delivery.

Reporting

• Preparation of an inception report after the first two months of project implementation
• Prepare semi-annual annual reports containing a description of overall project progress, an assessment of the efficacy of institutional arrangements for the implementation, including co-ordination arrangements, and recommendations on improvements that should be made, if any, to project design and implementation;
• Prepare a detailed project terminal report three months prior to the end of the project.

Managerial duties:

• Facilitation of the work of international and national consultants and certification of their satisfactory performance
• Supervision of financial monitoring and reporting, as well as record keeping
• Perform other coordinating tasks as appropriate for the successful implementation of the project in accordance with the project document and workplans

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Post-graduate education level in forestry, environment, or a related field
• Minimum 10 years of work experience (Preferably 15 years) in forestry and natural resources management in developing countries or in countries in transition
• Demonstrated experiences in providing policy advise and programme management at the Ministerial and local levels
• Demonstrated management experience and organisational capacity
• Previous experience/familiarity with FAO (or other donors) an asset
• Fluency in spoken and written English.
• National of Turkey

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Multi-cultural and interpersonal skills with hands-on experiences in networking with partners at all levels (ministry, donors, private sector, NGOs and local community-based organizations).
• Ability to draft technical reports in English desirable
• Good interpersonal and communication skills
• Good computer skills
• Fluency in Russian is an asset

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/