Project Management Specialist

Organizational Setting

The Near East and North Africa (NENA) region faces severe water scarcity and deteriorating water quality, making it the world's most water-stressed region. The increasing water scarcity poses significant risks to food security, nutrition, and well-being in the region, particularly for vulnerable communities. To address these challenges, the FAO Regional Water Scarcity Initiative (WSI) was established as a Regional Partnership Platform in 2013, bringing together about 20 international, regional and national partners committed to strengthening collaboration on water and food issues in the region. The WSI operates on the principles of cross-sectoral coordination and policy coherence, evidence-based polices and knowledge development and sharing to address water scarcity effectively.

The FAO Regional office for the Near East and North Africa (RNE) led the development of the Regional WSI programme in collaboration with five core partners, namely ESCWA, ICARDA, ICBA, IWMI and UNICEF. The programme, named “Supporting the implementation of the Regional Water Scarcity Initiative (WSI) in the Near East and North Africa” (GCP/RNE/018/MUL), is built on the successful implementation of regional projects like the WEPS, RICCAR and REWATER to address common challenges facing countries of the region, and will be jointly implemented and coordinated through the FAO Programme Implementation Unit (PIU) and country teams in collaboration with the five core partners.

The WSI programme includes 3 outcomes and 17 outputs. The programme is structured around three pillars: 
•     Governance of Agricultural Water: “Countries in the NENA region strengthen their governance to achieve sustainable agricultural water use and enhanced food security”. Outcome 1 focuses on strengthening governance and aims to pilot the implementation of management strategies that promote efficient water use in agriculture, ultimately enhancing food security by increasing agricultural productivity and reducing vulnerability to food crises.
•     Resilience of Food Systems and Water Services to Climate Change: “Countries in the NENA region enhance resilience of their food systems and water services to climate change for improved food and water security”. Outcome 2 focuses on enhancing the resilience of food systems and aims to make food systems more adaptable and better equipped to withstand climate-related disruptions and ensure the resilience of water services for adequate water supply for agriculture and other uses.
•     Dissemination of Knowledge and Experience through Enhanced Regional Cooperation: “Countries in the NENA region share and disseminate knowledge and experience for capacity development, informed decision making and enhanced regional cooperation”. Outcome 3 focuses on building capacities, increasing awareness, exchanging experiences, best practices, and expertise, thus enabling countries in the region to learn from each other in developing and implementing relevant policies, strategies and plans.

The WSI programme aims to contribute to achieving the water-related targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with a focus on “No Poverty” (SDG 1), “Zero Hunger” (SDG 2), “Clean water and Sanitation” (SDG 6), \"Affordable and Clean Energy\" (SDG 7), “Climate Action” (SDG 13), “Life on Land” (SDG 15), and “Partnership for Goals” (SDG 17).

Reporting Lines

The Project Management Specialist reports to the Regional WSI Programme’s Lead Technical Officer, who serves as the Senior Land and Water Officer and Delivery Manager of the Regional Water Scarcity Initiative (WSI) at FAO RNE. The incumbent will closely collaborate with the Project Coordinator and the rest of Project Implementation Unit (PIU) members, in addition to the Regional Water Scarcity Initiative Team, and Country Teams. Additionally, he/she will work in partnership with the government counterparts, partners, consultants, and other relevant stakeholders to ensure the successful execution of the project.

Technical Focus

The Incumbent’s primary focus will be to support the coordination efforts for implementing the GCP/RNE/018/MUL programme activities across the three pillars, i) Governance of Agricultural Water, ii) Resilience of Food Systems and Water Services to Climate Change, and iii) Dissemination of Knowledge and Experience through Enhanced Regional Cooperation, while ensuring alignment with the programme's overall objectives. In addition, support keeping track of the delivery of project results of the Core Partners. Furthermore s/he will be contributing to implementing the Water Scarcity Initiative Annual workplan activities.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Project Management Specialist will work in collaboration with the WSI team members, the PIU members, Country Programme
Coordinators, Partners, Technical Advisors, and National Focal Points from the government sector. As a Project Management Specialist working under the guidance and direction of the WSI programme Lead Technical Officer and Budget Holder, s/he will carry out the following:
    Support the maintenance of up-to-date records for assigned project activities in compliance with FAO and donor-specific recordkeeping practices, also by developing dedicated internal repositories, datasets and checklists, including to support eventual audit campaigns.
    Support resource planning exercises ensuring the timely and accurate collection of financial and operational inputs from a variety of sources, in close coordination with technical backstopping teams and managers.
    Support the preparation, monitoring, and compliance of contractual arrangements with partners (e.g. LOA), ensuring timely delivery of agreed outputs and adherence to FAO procedures.
    Assist in the preparation, review, and consolidation of project-related documentation, including concept notes, technical briefs, progress reports, presentations, meeting minutes, and donor submissions, in coordination with the technical team.
    Assist in the follow-up on inputs and reporting requirements from country teams and partners and support the consolidation of inputs for regular reporting to the donor and internal reporting needs.
    Provide operational and logistical support for the implementation of project activities in line with approved work plans and budgets, including follow-up on deliverables and timelines.
    Assist in the organization and implementation of project-related events such as workshops, trainings, consultations, webinars, and field missions, ensuring effective coordination of logistics, travel, and documentation, in close collaboration with the technical programme associate, technical team and project implementation unit team.
    Liaise with relevant FAO units (Procurement, Finance, HR, Travel, Administration) to support timely processing of requests and smooth project operations.
    Contribute to the implementation of stakeholder engagement activities and awareness-raising campaigns in coordination with the technical team.
    Support coordination between FAORNE, country teams, and core WSI partners (e.g., ESCWA, ICBA, ICARDA, IWMI, UNICEF), ensuring effective communication and alignment of efforts.
    Assist in monitoring and evaluation activities, including data collection and reporting to support programme learning and performance tracking.
    Support the planning and delivery of a regional training programme, implemented by FAORNE, manage all operational aspects of the online training sessions, including setting up and moderating Zoom/MS Teams meetings, introducing instructors, providing live technical support, recording sessions, managing the training materials repository, and ensuring timely dissemination of access links, announcements, and reminders to participants.
    Maintain an organized filing and archiving system for all project documentation.
    Perform other related duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•     Advanced university degree from an institution recognized by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/UNESCO in Business Administration, Development Studies, Project Management, Water and Agriculture Sciences or another relevant fields; Consultants with bachelor`s degree need two additional years of relevant professional experience.
•     Three years of relevant experience in developmental work implementation and coordination, project and programme management and operational support related to water, food, or agriculture.
•     Working knowledge (level C) of English.

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 
•     Extent and relevance of experience in 
•     Familiarity with

Selection Criteria

•     Experience with UN or international organizations is an asset.
•     Full proficiency/Working knowledge of Arabic is an asset