Project Sustainability Specialist

Organizational Setting

The main aim of the country offices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), that are headed by a FAO Representative, is to assist the Government to develop policies, programmes, and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner. A long history of collaboration between Guyana and FAO has served to promote sustainable agrifood systems and contribute to hunger and poverty alleviation in the country. Cooperation has increased since the reopening of FAO's country office in 2009, with a growing emphasis on technical and policy assistance as well as capacity building, advocacy, and knowledge exchange. In 2016 the Government of Guyana requested FAO to implement jointly with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) the GCP/GUY/003/GRI Mainstreaming Sustainable Land Development and Management project (SLDM, 4 years, USD 15 million), investing in institutional capacity development, provision of technical assistance, and focusing on land administration, governance of tenure and sustainable land management as a basis for resilient land use / agrifood systems.
In April 2021 the SLDM project underwent an external Evaluation, and the Project Management Unit (PMU) accepted the recommendations that came out from this exercise.  Recommendation Number 9 was to develop a sustainability strategy before formal project closure. This strategy should include the approach of the exit strategy and the sustainability plan of the project that is considered in the project document. 
For this purpose, the hiring of an International Specialist in Project Sustainability is planned to develop the Sustainability Strategy (SS). He / she will work closely with PMU to analyse the sustainability of all major project deliverables and will undertake this work in Georgetown, Guyana, as his/her duty station. 

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Guyana and under the direct supervision of the SLDM Project Manager (Chief Technical Advisor, CTA). He / she will work in collaboration with the PMU, GLSC and SLDM team members, and under the overall technical guidance of the Lead Technical Officer. He / she will work in close collaboration with the Land Administration Specialist who will provide his/her technical inputs to the sustainability strategy development. The Project Sustainability Specialist will also consult the international consultants who have worked with the project, in the area of their technical focus.

Technical Focus

The Project Sustainability Specialist will focus on the various aspects to be considered for retaining and scale up the key outcomes of the SLDM project after its closure, building up further to achieve the strategies and business goals of GLSC and the relevant government policies, priorities, and strategies in the wider land sector. The key project outputs whose sustainability will be highlighted in the Strategy are: the Strategic and Business Plan, National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Action Plan, Land Use Policy Paper, Next Generation Lease Management System, Spatial Data Infrastructure, as well as the deliverables under the Land Administration and Geographic Information System work, Base Mapping using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and aerial imagery, Geodetic Network and Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) network upgrade.
A range of wrap up activities have been identified that have the potential to significantly strengthen the capabilities of GLSC and other associated Guyanese agencies. This role will focus on supporting the delivery of these activities and ensuring that they are suitably embedded in the host organisation(s).

Tasks and Responsibilities

•    The Revise and assess the institutional structure, work processes and the current and future requirements that would emerge from SLDM and develop recommendations for optimal performance during and after the project.
•    Understand and document data and business flows within GLSC identifying dependencies between GLSC divisions and dependencies on external data to delivery functions and the production of organisational workflows in BPMN 2.0.
•    Documenting data and Land Lease system needs, identifying data quality requirements and aligning with operating procedures and legal mandates.
•    Support the implementation of some aspects of the NSDI infrastructure including the agreement and implementation of core GLSC metadata profile and developing core capability with existing Esri framework.
•    Provide recommendations to extend the NSDI framework, including the use of a dedicated data platform (e.g. CKAN) to provide enhanced functionality (reporting, metadata harvesting and cascading services).
•    Support the digital transformation strategy including the data curation and migration strategies for legacy datasets and transactional requirements.
•    Perform other duties, as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA

Minimum Qualification Requirements

•     Advanced (Master’s)  Degree in a discipline relevant to land administration, land management and development, geography, public administration, engineering, and other related areas.
•    At least 12 years of relevant work experience in land administration systems, preferable with Caribbean or other countries similar to Guyana.
•    Working knowledge (level C) of English and limited knowledge (level B) of French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, or Russian. For PSA, working knowledge of English.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Selection Criteria

•    Relevance of experience in Implementation of Land Administration Systems and working with multiple stakeholders.
•    Extent and relevance of experience of technical assistance provision to field projects on land administration. 
•    Extent and relevance of experience in reviewing national processes and undertaking diagnostic studies of business process and reengineering.
•    Proven ability to redact clear and concise technical reports. 
•    Extent and relevance of designing and implementing participatory approaches and to provide assistance in the organization of workshops, consultations, awareness, technical meetings and learning events. 
•    Proven ability to work in multidisciplinary team and including multiple partners.