Watershed Management Specialist

Organizational Setting

FAO in collaboration with the government, UN organizations and development partners began serving both the host communities and Rohingya population in building their livelihoods and skill development opportunities in Cox’s Bazar from October 2017. FAO Cox’s Bazar sub-office has been operating programmes in attaining productive and sustainable agriculture, fisheries, livestock and increasing the resilience of livelihoods in the emergency humanitarian context. Several initiatives were undertaken particularly to address the sustainable productivity, resilient livelihoods, improved food security and ecosystem health for communities in Cox’s Bazar, specifically prioritizing the poor and marginalized farmers. FAO is implementing various multi-donor projects through developing, testing, and piloting several innovative sustainable livelihood and natural resource management approaches and intervention models. Through these innovative approaches and models, FAO is supporting marginal and smallholder farming families in four sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar district (Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Ukhiya, Ramu and Teknaf) for sustainably increasing their farm productivity, natural resource base, and income generation by improving the existing production and management practices.

Reporting Lines

The Watershed Management Specialist a SC 8 position based in Cox’ Bazar. S/he will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Bangladesh and guidance of the International Emergency Programme Coordinator Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh and direct supervision of Senior Forestry Specialist in coordination with the Operations, MEAL and other team members.

Technical Focus

The incumbent will be responsible for project development and implementation, i.e. acting as a project manager for program components that include watershed activities. The watershed management specialist will maintain a holistic view to incorporate all aspect of FAO Cox’s Bazar activities, i.e. in addition to natural resource management using watersheds as technical units for analysis and management, also collaborate closely with forestry, agriculture, fisheries and livelihood colleagues to enable landscape scale socio-ecological system restoration.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Maintain strong relations with government partners from the Forest Department (FD), Department of Environment (DoE), Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) under the Ministry of Water (MoW), to develop FAO’s programs supporting Government strategies; • Delineate watersheds through participatory GIS approach focusing on enabling environment (policy, legal and regulatory frameworks, institutional dialogue and cooperation, capacity building, sharing of results, and finance and investment); • Develop watershed management plans for the major watershed areas in Cox’s Bazar ensuring multi-stakeholder participation including by bringing together the stakeholders to analyze the problems in the watershed (using the results from the assessment phase), to identify solutions and to prioritize potential interventions; • Assess the state and trends in the watershed – biophysical, socio-economic and institutional – using a variety of scientific and participatory methods and tools, to establish a baseline for defining interventions and monitoring future results; • Implement activities on the ground, establishing a balance among the competing needs, demands and priorities of different stakeholders within the available resources; • Monitor the changes in the state or condition of the watershed and to track the performance of the project against its objectives, based on an appropriate set of environmental, social, economic and institutional indicators; • Conduct trainings and meetings with the project stakeholders to promote and advocate for watershed management at district level in Cox’s Bazar. • Incorporate aspects of conflict sensitive programing in all project activities, making sure all interventions “do-no-harm” and are co-developed with community members. • Represent FAO and take lead in the UN-UN collaborations on watershed management activities. • Develop training modules for watershed management and ensure efficient use of water by the water users; • Work closely with all relevant government and non-government stakeholders and support consideration of wider watershed management approach; • Initiate liaison with the regional and national level government stakeholders to adopt FAO’s developed Watershed Management Policy Framework; • Support NRM and M&E team to develop indicators based on the watershed approach of FAO; • Increase capacity of both in-house staffs and field level stakeholders on hydrological cycle and watershed management; • Develop and update watershed relevant project proposals for funding arrangements and liaise with regional and HQ level consultations based on the FAO’s watershed approach; • Support preparing communication materials on watershed management and landscape restorations; • Write narrative reports and manage Letter of Agreement (LoA) with partners; • Work closely with the Forestry colleagues to develop the habitat restoration for wildlife conservation and landscape reforestation plans; • Work closely with Livelihood colleagues making sure livelihoods (agriculture, fisheries and aggregation centers) are incorporated in the watershed management plan; • Any other duties as assigned by the management.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Master’s degree in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), Water Engineering, Environmental engineering, Geography and Environmental Sciences, Environmental and Natural Resource management or related field; • Minimum of Six (6) years of progressively responsible professional work experiences with the United Nations or international development organizations on natural resource management related program implementation, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)/ Environmental/Natural Resource Management and Project Cycle Management. • National of Bangladesh • Working knowledge of English

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Ability to assess the state and trends in a watershed, including biophysical, socio-economical and institutional - using scientific and participatory tools and methods. • Knowledge on natural resource management and watershed management • Knowledge of national food systems and agricultural value chain systems; • Proven track record of successful teamwork, good presentation/facilitation skills; • Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Outlook); • Proficiency in ArcGIS or QGIS • Experience in UN Agencies is preferred. • Ability to perform in multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary context; • Excellent verbal and written communication skills required; • Ability to work independently and with minimum supervision;

Selection Criteria

• Experience in complex/protracted emergencies would be an asset; • Experience in conflict sensitive and peacebuilding programmes would be an asset; • Field experience in implementing activities and strategies require. • Professional experience with private sector entities will be an added advantage.

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/
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.