Organizational Setting 

The FAO Regional Office for Near East and North Africa’s core functions are to service Member Countries through the production of assessments and sectoral analysis, the provision of technical support and development of capacities of institutions dedicated to agriculture and food security sectors, building regional partnerships and alliances, providing up-to-date information, knowledge and data and assistance to governments in evidence-based policy formulation.

The Regional Office (RO) is supporting countries to mobilize resources and respond to climate change by providing technical, knowledge and capacity support to the development and implementation of programmes to identify, prioritize and scale up climate-smart and climate-resilient practices, and integrating such priorities into national and sectoral policy processes. This support takes into consideration the particular challenges of the Near East and North African region as well as opportunities to build resilience of livelihoods and agrifood systems in the face of climate change. The RO supports Member Countries in the development and implementation of climate finance projects, such as but not limited to the Green Climate Fund (including Readiness projects), Global Environment Facility, Adaptation Fund, and others.

Specialists with proven expertise are sought to implement and/or provide technical support on a number of main areas:
1) Assessment and design of action and/or investment plans on climate-smart/climate-resilient agriculture
2) Readiness and capacity building activities
3) Activities related to enhancing the enabling environment for implementing effective and equitable climate action in agriculture sectors
4) Project preparation and proposal design-related activities, including development of idea notes, concept notes, and project proposals.

 
 Reporting Lines 

The incumbent will report to relevant project Team Leader/Officer, the Partnerships Officer, and FAO representatives.
Technical Focus 

The incumbent should have strong technical background in climate change and demonstrated experience in developing, implementing and/or monitoring GEF, GCF and/or Adaptation Fund projects.

 
Tasks and responsibilities 

The Strengthening resilience and emergency programming in Near East and North Africaprogramme specialist (Climate finance projects) is sought for one or more of the following tasks and responsibilities at both national and regional levels to deliver the following tasks, with the guidance of FAO technical experts (regional, subregional and national), and utilising FAO knowledge and tools where relevant:

•    Activities related to enhancing the enabling environment for implementing effective and equitable climate action in agriculture sectors, including GCF Readiness activities towards the strengthening of NDAs’ capacities on designing and implementing climate finance pipelines. These include but are not limited to: 
•    Support country offices in implementing the ongoing projects
•    Reinforce capacities of the NDA and relevant stakeholders on GCF modalities and project design;
•    Conduct stakeholder analysis and stakeholder engagement plans;
•    Support development of NDA no-objection procedures;
•    Conduct climate change profiling (adaptation and/or mitigation) of countries;
•    Conduct stocktakes exercises of national climate knowledge and information;
•    Provide technical assistance to climate modelling and downscaling activities in cooperation with relevant national authorities and FAO technical and country officers;
•    Assess agrometeorological and climate information services;
•    Undertake gender analysis and action plans for mainstreaming gender into climate change projects and strategies;
•    Assess climate change skills and capacities.

•    Project preparation and proposal design-related activities, including but not limited to: 
•    Lead, write and finalize the development of quality proposals for GEF funding in line with GEF-8/GEF-9 programmatic directions and countries’ and FAO’s priorities at pre-concept, Project Identification Form (PIF) and full-proposal stages;
•    Support related national project consultation processes;
•    Provide guidance to national consultants in conducting specific technical assessments and analyses for the formulation of concrete FAO GEF projects and programmes, including gender analysis, environmental impact, vulnerability, risk and other environmental and social assessments, as per GEF relevant policies;
•    Prepare and submit the PIF and the fully-fledged project document according to the template from the GEF
•    Prepare and submit of full-fledged Funding Proposal ready for GCF approval, prepared in line with GCF requirements for Full Funding Proposal
•    Prepare solid well-consolidated and well consulted full-fledged Environmental, Social and Economic Co-benefits, including Gender-Sensitive Development Impact Assessment and Action Plan, prepared in line with GCF requirements for Full Funding Proposal
•    Perform other tasks as it may be required

Candidates are expected to conduct field missions where required.
CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING 

 
Minimum Requirements 

•    Master university degree in agronomy, agriculture, geography, environmental science/studies, natural and biological sciences, international development, climate & environmental policy, political science, or social sciences.  A university degree combined with 2 years of relevant experience may be considered in lieu of an advanced university degree
•    At least 5 years of relevant experience in climate change and environmental project design or climate change assessments or climate-smart agriculture
•    Working knowledge (level C) of English is required.

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
•    Extent and relevance of experience in climate change policy (including NAPs, NDCs, national communications, LTS, NAMAs), climate information analysis, climate change adaptation, and/or mitigation
•    Extent and relevance of experience in working on sustainability and climate resilience of agriculture sectors
•    Demonstrated strong skills in writing and analysis of environmental information, including proven record of scientific and peer-reviewed publications, policy briefs and/or submitted/published project proposals in relevant fields (candidates are strongly encouraged to attach the relevant documents to their application)
•    Proficiency in MS Word, Excel, and use of remote conferencing tools.

 
Selection Criteria  

•    Limited/intermediate knowledge (level B) of Arabic and/or French an asset.
•    Professionalism and teamwork, with willingness to work closely with national counterparts, focal points, consultants and country offices.
•    Task-oriented and problem-solving outlook.