Social Protection Specialist

Overview

Provide technical support for social protection policies and program development.

You have:

• Advanced university degree in rural development, (agricultural) economics, political or social sciences, agriculture or other related field.
• At least 5 years for B-level and at least 1 year for C-level of relevant experience in social policy and social protection.
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and limited knowledge (level B) of one of the other FAO languages (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Russian) for Consultant; PSA must have working knowledge of English.
• Experience working in more than one location or area of work, particularly in developing country settings.
• Experience in policy support, technical assistance and programme formulation.
• Knowledge of research methods, including statistical software.
• Experience in advocacy and capacity development related to social policies and social protection.

Organizational Setting

Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP) coordinates FAO’s work on social protection, gender equality, decent rural employment, right to food, rural institutions and land tenure, and people’s empowerment. It is responsible for working with member countries and other partners to reduce rural poverty through strengthening social protection systems, diversifying rural employment opportunities, reducing gender gaps and other social inequalities in agriculture, strengthening producer organizations, improving the rural poor’s access to productive resources and adequate food for all.

The Social Protection (SOCPRO) team is part of the ESP Division. The SOCPRO team provides overall guidance on FAO’s approach to social protection, and technical support to Member States and non-state actors in five core thematic areas: (i) expansion of coverage of adequate social protection to rural areas; (ii) nutrition sensitive social protection and food crises; (iii) shock responsive social protection and resilience; (iv) social protection, climate action and economic inclusion (v) gender responsive and inclusive social protection.

FAO’s SOCPRO Team is populating a roster, for base level (C-level) and middle level (B-level) experts, made up of talented individuals with experience and background in the five core thematic areas. Individuals who satisfactorily meet or exceed the requirements of the Call will be included in the FAO Roster of Social Protection Specialists, which provides an entry point for future contracts with the Organization. The assignment can span up to 11 months. The possibility of extension is subject to satisfactory performance and depending on the resources and needs of the Organization. The assignment may involve full-time or part-time functions.

Reporting Lines

Social Protection Specialist will be under the overall supervision of the Director of ESP, and the direct supervision of the SOCPRO Team Leader, who may delegate the supervisory role to other SOCPRO Social Protection Officers.

Technical Focus

Policy, operational and analytical support to one or more of the following thematic areas (i) expansion of coverage of adequate social protection to rural areas; (ii) nutrition sensitive social protection and food crises; (iii) shock responsive social protection and resilience; (iv) social protection, climate action and economic inclusion (v) gender responsive and inclusive social protection.

Tasks and responsibilities

The responsibilities will include one or more of the following tasks, according to the thematic area(s) of focus and level of the specialist:

• Provide technical and operational support, including at country and regional level, for social protection policies, programmes and projects and their implementation and design, in particular linked with one or more of the following thematic areas: (i) expansion of coverage of social protection to rural areas; (ii) nutrition sensitive social protection and food crises; (iii) shock responsive social protection and resilience; (iv) social protection, climate action and economic inclusion (v) gender responsive and inclusive social protection; • Support to strengthen partnerships with other UN agencies and organizations to jointly identify emerging issues, key challenges, and collaboration opportunities in work on social protection; • Support resource mobilization activities by liaising with potential donors, preparing concept notes, funding proposals and project documents; • Support the engagement of the SOCPRO team in global, regional and country platforms and events; • Conduct literature reviews and drafts reports and background notes of selected topics, such as to the role of social protection in climate change adaptation and/or mitigation in the context of small-scale rural livelihoods, the relationship between nutrition-sensitive social protection and agriculture policies, and food security or social protection and gender equality; • Support the development, dissemination and uptake of SOCPRO knowledge products, technical documents, capacity development materials and advocacy and information materials; • Conduct operational research on social protection programmes related to one or several of the five thematic areas; • Provide support to FAO country offices to i) assess entry points and ii) implement programme and policy level strategy to provide anticipatory support (based on early warning system) or response to disasters through the scale-up of national social protection programmes; • Conduct analyses of social protection systems, policies, programmes and/or projects by using quantitative and qualitative methods with particular attention to i) expansion of coverage of social protection to rural areas; (ii) nutrition sensitive social protection and food crises; (iii) shock responsive social protection and resilience; (iv) social protection, climate action and economic inclusion (v) gender responsive and inclusive social protection and draft related inputs to reports, briefs and other publications.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING:

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in rural development, (agricultural) economics, political or social sciences, agriculture or other related field. • At least 5 years for B-level and at least 1 year for C-level of relevant experience, in policy assistance and programme development and/or programme formulation, operational support in the field of social policy and social protection, or research on social protection. • For Consultant: Working knowledge (level C) of English and limited knowledge (level B) of one of the other FAO languages (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Russian) • For PSA: working knowledge of English

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 developing country settings; • Experience in policy support, technical assistance and programme formulation; • Experience in advocacy and capacity development related to social policies and social protection; • Experience in research, policy and/or institutional analysis and experience in drafting related publications; • Knowledge of research methods, including statistical software; • Experience in working in multidisciplinary and multi-cultural teams;

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Potential interview questions

Added 3 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: fao.org