Organizational Setting

The AIM4Forests programme aims at leveraging technical innovation to create data and information to inform the right courses of action to reduce deforestation and restore forests. AIM4Forests will leverage everything that technology and innovation offers such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. In addition, it will also make sure that the capacity is transferred to countries, including IPs and local communities who manage the forests – only that way can we see real change.

The objective of Brazil’s AIM4Forests country work plan is to support the government of Brazil in strengthening the sustainability, accessibility, robustness and transparency of forestry information.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent reports to the Assistant Representative in FAO Brazil – Programme.

Technical Focus

Support the BiomasBR Programme from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) with regards to the accuracy assessment methodology of the Programme’s outputs.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Support INPE/BiomasBR coordinator and accuracy assessment focal point with the development of a technical report laying out the current methodology for accuracy assessment ofPRODES data (Amazon, Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, Pampa and Pantanal), DETER data (Amazonia, Cerrado and Pantanal), and TerraClass data (Amazonia and Cerrado).
• Support INPE/BiomasBR coordinator and accuracy assessment focal point with the identification of technical gaps and next steps for improvement of the current accuracy assessment methodology, also considering technical requirements of ART-TREES which has been adopted by Amazonian States.
• Support INPE/BiomasBR team with the development of a concept note for a technical meeting on the accuracy assessment methodology,to be held in 2025, describing specific technical gaps to be discussed.
• Undertake other tasks as required and participate in in-person meetings in São José dos Campos (SP) if necessary.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING:

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in geography, forest sciences, environmental sciences, computing sciences applied to earth observation or a related field.
• Minimum experience of 05 (five) years in land use/land cover data production, with a focus on accuracy assessment
• Work experience with manipulation of large vectorial datasets, experience with land use, land use change and forest geospatial datasets and Python language.
• Working knowledge (level C) English and Portuguese.
• Brazilian Nationality or other legally authorized to work in Brazil.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Ability to write technical documentation in Portuguese and English
• Ability to present procedures, results and supporting reasoning to a general audience.
• Extent and relevance of experience with PRODES, DETER and TerraClass databases.
• Knowledge of TerraAmazon is an asset
• Knowledge of ART-TREES requirements is an asset
• Knowledge of IPCC GHG inventory guidelines with respect to uncertainty assessment is an asset.
• Extent and relevance of experience with statistical studies, mainly sample design
• Knowledge of R and GIS databases (postgrees and postgis).