Young Professional Officer (Innovation and Digital Agriculture)

Organizational Setting The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) supports the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems, for Better production, Better nutrition, Better environment and Better life, leaving no one behind.

The FAO Subregional Office for the Pacific Islands (SAP) was established in 1996 in Samoa to coordinate the work of FAO in the Pacific Islands, including countries of 13 Members as the Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and one Associate Member, Tokelau. SAP is responsible for developing, overseeing and implementing programmes and projects to address food security, nutrition, agriculture and rural development priorities. It develops and maintains relations with subregionwide institutions and entities. The Subregional Office is a subsidiary of FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) in Bangkok.

The incumbent works under the technical guidance of the responsible officers for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Solutions Platform in SAP, and relevant Modular and Multidisciplinary Programme/Initiatives leaders in RAP. The Officer maintains regular contacts with the Office of Innovation (OIN), the Digitalization and Informatics Division (CSI) and other relevant offices and divisions in FAO headquarters for technical cooperation whenever necessary.

Reporting Lines The Young Professional Officer reports to the SAP Subregional Coordinator for the Pacific Islands and works in close collaboration with the Innovation in Digital Agriculture team in FAO’s Office of Innovation (OIN).

Technical Focus Support to development of innovation strategies, policies and programmes, including digital technology integration and management models to enable more efficient, sustainable and inclusive agricultural development and food systems transformation. Development and implementation of coherent, adaptive, and effective digital and other innovative strategies, policies, programmes and initiatives in support of agricultural transformation that enhances food security and nutrition and promotes more efficient, sustainable and inclusive food systems in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and organizational objectives.

Key Results Research, technical analysis and project related services to support the delivery of assigned projects, products and services.

Key Functions • Analyses relevant technical social, economic, environmental, and technology information, data and/or statistics for input in various documents; • Maintains records and updates databases and web pages; • Provides technical support to various projects; • Collaborates in the development of training tools and materials and the organization of workshops/seminars etc.; • Participates in the organization and follow-up of meetings, consultations and conferences, the production of required materials and the provision of information and assistance to partners.

Specific Functions • Supports the planning, formulation, implementation, and scaling up of initiatives and programmes to facilitate innovation deployment and digital solutions for more efficient and sustainable farming, climate change resilience, agri-food systems, nutrition and food safety taking into account the needs, priorities and capacities of small scale farmers, women, youth and other marginalized communities; • Supports to profile home grown digital and innovative solutions in the region under the overall arrangement of the SIDS Solutions Platform; • Liaises with the SAP Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) Officers to identify, assess and evaluate the feasibility of developing and deploying new digital technologies and services (especially those related to priority farm/herd/fish value chains and production systems, farm services and rural economy); • Provides support to the SAP MDT to mainstream innovation approaches, digital solutions across the programmes and activities in the subregion in line with the corporate innovation ethos; • Reviews state of digital platforms, digital databases and ICT applications from public agency departments, private companies, academia, farmers groups, and CSOs in the Pacific; • Analyses existing e-Agriculture strategies and national digitalization programmes/priorities relevant with agriculture and food security to provide strategic and technical advice to the SAP Multi-Disciplinary Team; • Contributes to the development and maintenance of a database of innovation hubs, technology centres, and digital experts for multi-disciplinary partnerships; • Performs other duties as required. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements • Advanced university degree in information and communication technologies for development, agricultural sciences, agricultural economics, food science, rural development, systems analytics or related field; • One year of relevant experience in food and nutrition security, rural and agriculture development; • Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

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

Technical/Functional Skills • Extent and relevance of experience in information and communication technologies for development, analysis relating to innovation and digital solutions applied to, or relevant to food and nutrition security, agriculture and rural development; • Analytic capacity and demonstrated ability to process, analyse and synthesise technical information; • Proven ability to support the development of knowledge and training materials; • Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable; • Experience in Small Islands is considered an asset; • Experience working in different cultural settings is considered an asset.

NB Please note that candidates should be 32 years of age or younger as of 31 December of the year of application.