Organizational Setting
FAO’s Land and Water Division (NSforesees a future whereby governments, development partners, civil society, academic institutions as well as the private sector and farmers, all work together to ensure that land, soil and water resources are wisely used, conserved and restored for sustainable and resilient agrifood systems that support food security, nutrition and human wellbeing. NSL provides policy guidance, technical and financial assistance to Member Nations in developing policies, programmes, best practices and management tools for ensuring productive and efficient use of land, soil and water resources to meet present and future demands for agricultural products, while ensuring the longterm sustainability of these resources. It promotes equitable access to and sustainable management of these natural resources with a view to enhancing productivity, livelihoods, equity, health and ecosystem services.
Under the new FAO Conceptual Framework for Integrated Land and Water Resources Management, NSL will work towards a core set of five outcomes that have been elaborated to cut across the thematic areas of land, water, soils and geospatial areas of work of the Division: (1) Good governance; (2) Wise use and restoration; (3) Mitigation and resilience; (4) Integrated solutions; (5) Data, digitalization, technology and innovation.
The post is located in the Land and Water Division (NSat FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Reporting Lines
The Senior Land and Water Officer (Head of the Land Unireports to the Director, Land and Water Division.

Technical Focus
Integrated agricultural land management, including data, information and assessment, land use planning, governance, financing, knowledge management, policy and practice.

Key Results
Leadership and technical policy expertise for the planning, development and implementation of divisional programmes of work, projects, products and services in accordance with the FAO Strategic Framework.

Key Functions
• Plans, manages or leads highly specialized or multidisciplinary teams; leads, coordinates and/or participates in Organizationwide, crossdivisional committees, project teams and working groups, and/or provides technical leadership/secretariat services on technical networks and/or international technical policy and standard setting bodies.
• Analyses global and country specific requirements and relevant technical issues to provide critical input into the FAO Strategic Framework, Programme of Work and Budget, work plans and the supporting budgets and/or resourcing strategies.
• Implements and monitors programmes of work involving the development of the approach, evidencebased strategies and related tools, methodologies and the supporting system/database, monitoring and reporting frameworks.
• Conducts, designs and oversees research and analysis activities to support the development of technical standards, international instruments, innovation, technical reports, publications and/or ongoing programme development as well as the provision of technical and/or policy advisory services.
• Provides technical and policy advice to Member Nations and technical support to Decentralized Offices in the development and implementation of their programmes.
• Leads and/or collaborates in, provides technical backstopping to, and ensures the quality/effectiveness of capacity development and knowledge sharing activities within Member Nations, such as policy support, organizational development and individual learning events including preparation of related information, learning and online tools.
• Represents the Organization at international meetings and conferences, identifies and implements strategic partnerships, advocates best practices and increased policy dialogue and develops and negotiates effective working relationships/consensus and agreements with international and national stakeholders.
• Leads and/or participates in resource mobilization activities in accordance with the FAO Strategic Framework.

Specific Functions
• Manages the NSL Land Unit, including the overall coordination and operations, human and financial resources management, Unit planning and budgeting, implementation and reporting of related projects and activities.
• Leads the development of policy and guidance on key agricultural land use potentials and natural resource issues, such as integrated land resources management, competition over resources and issues related to sustainable land use, land resources assessment, planning and decision support for sustainable agricultural and rural development.
• Coordinates the formulation of multisectoral approaches and tools to integrated land management for food production and facilitates the mobilization of extrabudgetary resources for implementation of Land Unit’s strategic vision and work plans.
• Provides support and guides process with partners and concerned technical divisions across FAO to review and update guidelines for land evaluation and planning, in particular arable lands for sustainable agriculture, at national and decentralized levels building on existing tools.
• Advises and formulates projects for integrated agricultural lands assessment, planning and sustainable use, including application of FAO geospatial tools at national and decentralized levels and the assessment of ecosystem services and restoration, land tenure and governance.
• Engages with FAO Divisions/Offices/Centres and coordinates with external partners, UN Conventions, governments, donors, etc., in the development and implementation of agricultural land management innovations and solutions, and supports integrated solutions to agrifood systems transformation.
• Supports interdivisional collaboration through task forces and ad hoc working groups, as necessary, and provides NSL’s expertise on land management in internal and external processes.
• Performs other related duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements
• Advanced university degree in agriculture and natural resources management, with focus on land and soil, agronomy or related field;
• Ten years of relevant experience in national and international experience in sustainable land and soil planning and management, and other natural resources and environmental related activities, including land resources/ecosystem assessment and management;
• Working knowledge of English (proficientlevel and limited knowledge (intermediatelevel of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanis.

Competencies
• Results Focus
• Leading, Engaging and Empowering
• Communication
• Partnering and Advocating
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
• Strategic Thinking

Technical/Functional Skills
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is essential;
• Extent and relevance of experience in land resources assessment, planning and management at global, national and local levels, particularly with integrated land management approaches;
• Expertise on land resources census, assessment, restoration, ecosystem services, governance, financing and related areas;
• Extent and relevance of experience in leading and ensuring the coherence and effectively oversight of the planning and implementation of a dynamic and multidisciplinary programme of work, while effectively engaging with other technical units and Decentralized Offices;
• Demonstrated resultsbased management capabilities with an ability to manage complex programmes, budgets and human resources efficiently under shifting priorities;
• Extent and relevance of experience in multisectoral, multidisciplinary work and in facilitating collaboration and managing diverse partnerships;
• Demonstrated ability in organizing and leading international meetings, seminars, workshops and training courses;
• Ability to mobilize resources and partnerships for delivering programmatic initiatives at scale;
• Demonstrated experience in dealing with senior government officials, development partners and other country stakeholders;
• Demonstrated capacity to write comprehensive technical reports in English.