Senior Agricultural Officer (Team Leader)

Organizational Setting

The Plant Production and Protection Division (NSP) enables the transition to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable plant production and protection through optimization and minimization. This requires the integration and harmonization of all appropriate crop production policies and practices in order to increase production in a sustainable manner so as to eradicate hunger and malnutrition while preserving the natural resources and environment for future use.

The Senior Agricultural Officer (Cropping Systems - Team Leader) will lead the Crop and Mechanization Systems team (NSPLD), one of the six teams that make up the Plant Production and Protection Division (NSP). NSPLD contributes to NSP's overarching goal of fostering resilient and sustainable plant production and protection systems that produce more with less. The team leads efforts to develop, validate, and promote the adoption of context-specific, modern agronomic practices with sustainable agriculture mechanization as an integral part that sustainably enhances the productivity, efficiency, and resilience of diverse cropping systems.

The position is located in the Plant production and Protection Division (NSP) at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Reporting Lines

The Senior Agricultural Officer (Team Leader) reports to the Director of NSP.
 

Technical Focus

Support Member States in fostering sustainable crop production systems through policy development, capacity building, knowledge transfer and technical/project support. In so doing, promote the use of context-sensitive and fit-for-purpose modern agronomic techniques, strategies, and practices, which encompass efficient, productivity-enhancing, and environmentally-sound methods for land preparation, sowing, managements of soil fertility and moisture, and harvest of crops that are grown for food, feed, fiber, oil, ornamental, and industrial purposes.

Key Results

Leadership and technical policy expertise for the planning, development and implementation of divisional/cross-divisional programmes of work, projects, products, and services in accordance with the FAO Strategic Framework.

Key Functions

Plans, manages, or leads highly specialized or multidisciplinary teams, leads, coordinates, and/or participates on Organization-wide, cross-divisional committees, project teams, and working groups, and/or provides technical leadership/secretariat services on technical networks and/or international technical policy and standard setting bodies.

Analyses global and country specific requirements and relevant technical issues to provide critical inputs into the FAO Strategic Framework, Programme of Work, work plans and the supporting budgets and/or resourcing strategies.

Implements and monitors programmes of work involving the development of the approach, evidence-based strategies, and related tools, methodologies and the supporting system/database, monitoring and reporting frameworks.

Conducts, designs and oversees research and analysis' activities to support the development of technical standards, international instruments, innovation, technical reports, publications and/or on-going programme development as well as the provision of technical and/or policy advisory services.

Provides technical and policy advisory services to Members and technical support to Decentralized Offices in the development and implementation of their programmes of work.

Leads and/or collaborates in, provides technical backstopping to and ensures the quality/effectiveness of capacity development and knowledge sharing activities within Members such as policy support, organizational development and individual learning events including preparation of related information, learning materials, on-line tools.

Represents the Organization at international/inter-governmental meetings and conferences, advocates strategic partnerships, best practices and increased policy dialogue and develops and negotiates effective working relationships/consensus and agreements with international and national partners.

Leads or participates in resource mobilization activities in accordance with the FAO Strategic Framework.

Specific Functions

Leads the development of interventions that use modern crop production and protection systems to address

Members' development needs relating, in particular, to climate change adaptation and mitigation; nutrition

outcomes; and overall input use-efficiency.

Promotes the use of modern agriculture technologies e.g. drones, remote sensors, artificial intelligence,

digitalization, information technology, etc. that are context-sensitive to enhance the productivity and resilience of

cropping systems while promoting sustainable agricultural mechanization; and efficient soil fertility and moisture

management.

Provides technical, capacity strengthening and policy support to Members to respond to their cropping systems'

needs and enables them to adopt sustainable agricultural production and protection practices in rural, urban and

peri-urban settings.

As a member of the NSP management team, contributes to the programmatic and administrative operations of the

division, through the exercise of responsibility for the agronomics component of its work on sustainable crop

production systems.

Manages efficiently NSPLD team's human and material resources to deliver high quality results and products that

constitute an integral part of NSP's contribution to the implementation of the Organization's Strategic Framework,

through leadership in strategic planning, organization of work, direction to staff and the judicious use of funds.

Provides oversight and quality assurance for the Organization's work in Member Nations pertaining to the

enhanced productivities of diverse cropping systems, especially for the crops that are grown for food, feed, fiber,

oil, ornamental, and industrial purposes.
                                                                                    

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

Advanced University degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in agronomy, crop science, soil science, sustainable agriculture mechanization or related fields.