Organizational Setting
FAO's Land and Water Division (NSL) foresees a future whereby governments, development partners, civil society, academic institutions as well as the private sector and farmers, all work together to ensure that land, soil and water resources are wisely used, conserved and restored for sustainable and resilient agrifood systems that support food security, nutrition and human wellbeing. NSL provides policy guidance, technical and financial assistance to Member Nations in developing policies, programmes, best practices and management tools for ensuring productive and efficient use of land, soil and water resources to meet present and future demands for agricultural products, while ensuring the long-term sustainability of these resources. It promotes equitable access to and sustainable management of these natural resources with a view to enhancing productivity, livelihoods, equity, health and ecosystem services.
Under the new FAO Conceptual Framework for Integrated Land and Water Resources Management, NSL will work towards a core set of five outcomes that have been elaborated to cut across the thematic areas of land, water, soils and geospatial areas of work of the Division: (1) Good governance; (2) Wise use and restoration; (3) Mitigation and resilience; (4) Integrated solutions; (5) Data, digitalization, technology and innovation.
Reporting Lines
Under the overall supervision of the Director of the Land and Water Division, the specialist will report and work under the day-to-day supervision of the Soil Information and Data Team Lead.
Technical Focusย
The role focuses on supporting the implementation of the relevant activities within Soil Information and Data Area of Work of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP-SID) and SoilFER-VACS Project.
Tasks and responsibilities
โข ย ย Assist in the development of relevant tools and soil information systems within the GloSIS and SoilFER-VACS frameworks.
โข ย ย Support the ongoing work on the development of the National and Regional Soil Information Systems, as well as the Global Soil Information System (GloSIS) and its components (Discovery Hub and Map Service).
โข ย ย Assist in the development of software bundles for the National Soil Information Systems within GloSIS and SoilFER-VACS Framework.
โข ย ย Contribute to the development of capacity-building activities within the GloSIS framework.
โข ย ย Work closely with relevant experts at the Soil Information and Data (SID) Team, FAOโs Digitalization and Informatics Division (CSI), and within FAO's Hand in Hand Initiative (HiH) to make existing soil data and information available via GloSIS services.
โข ย ย Harmonize existing soil data and metadata (Global, Regional, and National).
โข ย ย Support the Global Soil Partnership activities in integrating national soil information systems into the GloSIS Federation.
โข ย ย Optimize existing soil data and information for GloSIS web services.
โข ย ย Support the adaptation and refinement of the GLOSIS data model to ensure it meets GloSIS requirements.
โข ย ย Assist in organizing relevant events and training.
CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
Minimum Requirements
โข ย ย Advanced university degree in Remote Sensing, GIS, Cartography, soil science, agronomy or related fields
โข ย ย 5 years of relevant experience in managing, analyzing, and interpreting soil, environmental, or geospatial data, including hands-on work with soil information systems.
โข ย ย Working knowledge (level C) of Englishย
FAO Core Competencies
โข ย ย Results Focus
โข ย ย Teamwork
โข ย ย Communication
โข ย ย Building Effective Relationships
โข ย ย Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
Technical/Functional Skillsย
โข ย ย Work experience in more than one location or area of workย
โข ย ย Proven expertise in projects involving soil data collection, analysis, and system development.
โข ย ย Familiarity with soil data management protocols, including QA/QC processes
Selection Criteria
โข ย ย Limited knowledge (level B) of one of the other FAO languages (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Russian) is an asset.