Organizational Setting

The positions is located in the FAO office in Islamabad. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Pakistan focuses its efforts on poverty reduction, food security, sustainable livelihoods and rural development. FAO has partnered with the Government of Pakistan on research and development, training, extension services and strengthening of the staff capacity in planning and policy making. FAO has supported improvements in agricultural policy analysis, strengthened institutions. Enhanced integrated area development and expanded participation of marginalized and vulnerable communities in sustainable development.

The positions are envisioned under GCF funded “Transforming Indus Basin with Climate Resilient Agriculture and Water Management” project. The approved funding proposal which describes activities under the project is available at https://www.greenclimate.fund/document/transforming-indus-basin-climate-resilient-agriculture-and-water-management

Modelling of climate change scenarios for Pakistan shows that if agriculture and water management in the Indus River Basin continue along a ‘business as usual’ pathway, increasing temperatures and changes in precipitation will pose serious threats to the future livelihoods of farmers and to the Pakistani agricultural sector. In response to this challenge, the GCF funded project, “Transforming Indus Basin with Climate Resilient Agriculture and Water Management”, will help shift Pakistan and Indus Basin agriculture from its current situation of high vulnerability toward an alternative paradigm wherein better information and farming practices will significantly increase resilience to climate change. To do this, the project will develop the country’s capacity to get and use the information it needs to cope with the impacts of climate change on agriculture and water management by putting in place state-of-the art technology (Component 1); building farmers resilience to climate change through skills, knowledge and technology (Component 2), and creating a wider enabling environment for continuous adaptation and expanded sustainable uptake of climate-resilient approaches (Component 3).

The incumbent may work at PMD Islamabad Office part of the time.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision and guidance of FAO Representative in Pakistan and direct supervision of Technical Officer (Water Management), technical guidance of the Technical Advisor and Lead Technical Officers of the project, and in close coordination and consultation with project staff, governmental counterparts, and implementation partners, the incumbent will undertake the following activities.

Technical Focus

Hydrology, weather, climate, data management, Information Technology, Coordination.

Tasks and responsibilities

•    Coordinate with PMD and provincial stakeholders in Punjab and Sindh Provinces for installation of weather stations. Ensure necessary agreements are in place between FAO, PMD and/or host organizations of the weather stations.
•    Monitor the telemetry data incoming to PMD’s and/or FAO’s server(s) from the weather station. Conduct site visits when any issues arise with weather stations, diagnose the issue, and proposed solutions.
•    Closely work with PMD to ensure that the weather station data is formatted and uploaded to the Agriculture, Climate and Water Portal that the project is developing.
•    Monitor service provider(s) to develop data uploaders and/or API to share PMD’s publicly available datasets to the ACWA Portal.
•    Support PMD and other federal/provincial stakeholders to conduct evapotranspiration mapping and water accounting.
•    Provide technical evaluations to weather-related instruments in case any procurement need arises for weather station management, database/API development, evapotranspiration mapping and/or water accounting.
•    Responsible for conducting analysis on soil moisture fluctuation to assess impacts of the project on reliability of water supply at project target sites.
•    Support coordination between FAO and PMD for other projects of FAO when requested.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    Master’s degree in climatology, hydrology, engineering (related to weather observations), IT or a related field with 12 years of relevant experience OR PhD degree in climatology, hydrology, engineering (related to weather observations), IT or a related field with 9 years of relevant experience
•    Working knowledge of English.
•    National of Pakistan

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    Sound knowledge of weather observation, hydrology and climate change, and IT/data management for climatic data is desirable.
•    Experience in working or coordinating with governmental organizations
•    Experience in remote sensing and water accounting is a great asset
•    Demonstrated abilities in designing data collection, conducting assessment, survey and other studies with minimal supervision;
•    Strong analytical and report writing skills;
•    Computer skills in Office Applications Including Excel, Word, Outlook, Power Point;
•    Fluency in a local language(s) spoken in south Punjab and Sindh is an asset.