Project Technical Advisor

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. With presently 194 member states, FAO works in more than 130 countries worldwide, including Vietnam where the Organization has operated since 1978. The current Country Programming Framework (CPF) for 2022 2026 has four development outcomes: (1) One health; (2) Climate change response, environment and natural resources management; (3) Food safety, sustainable production, and consumption; and (4) Governance, Gender, and People with disabilities (PWDs).

To support the implementation of the two projects “Integrated Sustainable Landscape Management (ISLM) in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam” and “Smart Agro-ecological Smart Agro-ecological Transformation of Farming Systems towards Resilience and Sustainability in Middle and Coastal Zones of the Viet Nam Mekong Delta (STAR-FARM)”, FAO is seeking a motivated, dynamic consultant to serve as a International Project Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) for both projects. The two projects will contribute to all the above mentioned four development outcomes and will support the Government of Vietnam (GoV) in the implementation of Government Resolution No. 120, which proposes moving the management of the Mekong Delta Region towards sustainability, through measures including diversifying agriculture around rice, and the restoration of natural seasonal flooding regimes and ecosystem functions, and will help ensure that principles of integrated landscape management (ILM) are mainstreamed into the plans and programmes of provincial Governments, to address landscape-wide environmental interactions and reconcile the diverse interests of multiple landscape stakeholders. Furthermore, the projects will considerably contribute to the Government’s Sustainable Development Project on One million heactares of High-quality and Low-emission Rice Cultivation in the Mekong River Delta region. Together with private sector partners, farmer organizations and Government, the projects will facilitate the leverage of environmental benefits through “green value chains” and the application of environmental sustainability standards such as the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) Standard – complemented by other standards of sustainability at community and landscape levels addressing issues including nature-based solutions and agroecology. The ISLM is a 5-year project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) led by the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) under Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment (MONRE), in close collaboration with the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD) under Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development MARD). The project aims to support the transformation of rice-dominated landscapes in the Mekong Delta towards sustainable, adaptive and resilient models of production and landscape management that deliver multiple environmental and social benefits. The project forms part of the regional Sustainable Rice Landscape Initiative (SRLI) led by the public/private Sustainable Rice Platform, as well as the GEF-7 FOLUR Impact Program. STAR-FARM is a 4-year project funded by the EU Delegation and led by Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development through its line agency – the International Cooperation Department. The project aims at creating an enabling environment for the establishment of sustainable value chains in the Mekong Delta, based on agroecological approaches. FAO will take the management and coordination role in the consortium implementing the project. Besides FAO, the project consortium will involve other research and development institutions including IRD, CIRAD, IPSARD, VAAS and Can Tho University.

The incumbent is expected to work closely with MONRE, MARD, other project consortium members and the 6 target provincial governments (An Giang, Dong Thap, Vinh Long, Soc Trang, Tra Vinh and Kien Giang), and will advise the core project teams of the two projects, which are led by respective National Project Coordinators and supported by a National ILM Technical Specialist, National Agricultural Production Specialists and National Knowledge Management and M&E Specialists.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Vietnam and the direct supervision of Assistant FAO Representative (Programme). Additionally, s/he will work under the technical supervision of the Lead Technical Officers (LTO) and GEF Technical Officer (GTO) from FAO-RAP.

Technical Focus

Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction; Sustainability Development; Natural resource management and Environment Protection; Food System and Resilience

Tasks and responsibilities

The Technical Adviser will play a key role in providing conceptual and strategic orientation to the project, and ensuring that it incorporates the systems, tools, relevant international standards and partnerships necessary for this direction to be maintained, and as necessary adapted, during the remainder of the project period.

Under the overall supervision of the FAO-R, the daily supervision of Assistant FAO Representative (Programme) and in close coordination and consultation with Government counterparts, the Technical Advisor will be responsible for:

Common responsibilities for both projects: • Providing technical and operational advisory support to the project teams and Government partners to ensure the achievement of the two projects’ objectives, including: o Promote integrated sustainable landscape management and related approaches including but not limited to environmental sustainability in agricultural production systems, green value chains, climate change resilience and ecosystem restoration. o Ensure that the project is fully compliant with the project donors (GEF, EU), FAO and GoV Government principles and procedures in the implementation of FAO Framework for Environmental and Social Management (FESM) including standards for gender and engagement with indigenous peoples across all thematic components of the project. • Supporting the consolidation and management of relationships with core project stakeholders and ensuring harmonization of procedural and methodological approaches and systems between the project and the Operating Partners as a whole to ensure effective implementation of the project. • Ensuring coordination with relevant government agencies, policies and programmes including Government Resolution 120 and the Government’s Sustainable Development Project on One million heactares of High-quality and Low-emission Rice Cultivation in the Mekong River Delta region. • Facilitating engagement with and inputs from relevant technical experts (from FAO and other specialized institutions) in setting up systems for project implementation and monitoring to ensure that it is adopting best practices approaches for operational management and technical innovation. • Overseeing the establishment and initial implementation of mechanisms for outreach and communication by the project at regional and global levels, in support of the scaling out of impacts and the sharing of knowledge to the benefit of the project and other relevant initiatives in the region and beyond. • Identifying and facilitating the realization of opportunities for partnerships and other forms of relations with public and private sector actors throughout the region and beyond, as relevant, including (but not limited to) regional and global agricultural value chain opportunities, communities of practice, and knowledge hubs. • Identifying and channelling external technical resources (from FAO and from other specialized institutions) to the project in order to ensure that it is at the cutting edge of good practice at regional and global levels. • Providing advisory and backstopping support to ensure that the project is at the forefront of global good practice (and fully compliant with project donors (GEF, EU), FAO and Government principles and procedures) in the implementation of environmental and social safeguards and the gender action plan, across all thematic components of the project.

Specific responsibilities for GEF ISLM project • Providing technical advice to ensure the projects meet the needs and expectations under the GEF-7 Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration (FOLUR) Impact Programme (IP) with respect to delivering the GEF Global Environmental Benefits (GEBs) relative to the baseline scenario. • Leading coordination between the project and the FOLUR IP Global Platform (GP) to make sure that the project takes the maximum possible advantage of the support available from the GP and that it is effectively coordinated with other FOLUR child projects and delivers synergies at regional and global levels. • Overseeing the establishment and initial implementation of mechanisms for the effective and timely measuring and reporting by the project to the GP on indicators of relevance at programmatic levels, and the feedback to the project of the results of programmatic M&E to optimize its regional relevance, and complementarity and synergies with other IP projects. • Supporting the coordination between MoNRE and MARD to execute the project to ensure the seamless linkages of the activities across the project components. • Contributing to the preparation of the Project Implementation Report (PIR), Project Progress Report (PPR), mid-term and final evaluation report, and other reporting requirements. • Providing technical support to apply ILM principles into local land use planning and food production systems • Supporting national ILM specialist in obtaining ISLM technical documents in order to promote the ISLM in Vietnamese Mekong Delta region Specific responsibilities for STAR-FARM project • Providing technical advice to the annual review of project workplan and result framework including project’s expected outcomes, output and activities. • Leading the efforts to ensure (1) the linkages between the different components and the different levels of project actions implemented by different project partners; and (2) promote strong involvement and ownership of the project results by local partners, policy makers and other local stakeholders. • Contributing to monitoring of project implementation risks and work to ensure compliance with risk management strategies to meet FAO requirements for environmental and social safeguards. • Contributing to the preparation of the Project Implementation Report, midterm and final evaluation reports as defined in the project document. • Overseeing the periodic monitoring and reporting by FAO to EU donor on project results and M&E indicators, and provide advice to optimize project activities in line with the interests of the government and the donor. • Perform other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advance degree related to agriculture, ecology, natural resources, environment management or rural development; • At least 12 years of professional experience of relevance to the integration of considerations of environmental sustainability and environmental benefits into landscape management and production sectors • Working knowledge of English (level C) and a limited knowledge of another FAO language (level B)

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/ Functional Skills

• Proven ability to work with multiple stakeholders (including private sector value chain actors) in a constructive and culturally sensitive manner; • Demonstrable experience in the implementation of multilateral donor-funded or government-funded international development projects; • Demonstrable experience in project organization/implementation and ability to serve as an effective communicator and negotiator with excellent oral presentation skills; • Solid experience in project management and results-based management; • Knowledge of FAO’s project management systems is preferred.

Selection Criteria

• Field experience in natural resource management and rural development in SE Asia • Knowledge of and/or experience with the Vietnamese governmental system. • Working experience in Vietnam is an advantage • Strong report-writing skills in English;