Food Systems Regional Specialist for Latin America

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• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture.
• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented Members and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply;
• Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold FAO's values
• FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination　　
• All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality

Organizational Setting

The UN Food Systems Summit (hereinafter UNFSS), held in September 2021 during the UN General Assembly, set the stage for global food systems transformation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The UNFSS made it clear that transformative action in food systems is fundamental to achieving the SDGs. As a follow up to the Summit, the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub (hereinafter the Hub) established to support countries implementing food system transformation pathways towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. The hub is hosted by FAO in Rome on behalf of the UN System and operates under the management of the FAO Office of Sustainable Development Goals (OSG).

The Hub has a coordinating and connector role drawing on the capacities of the UN system and leveraging on the advice and expertise from a wider ecosystem of support, serving countries, by incentivizing existing institutions to deliver on their mandates in a systemic way. In this context, the Hub works around the following coordinate clusters as emerged after the first UNFSS Stocktaking Moment held in July 2023 in Rome (hereinafter UNFSS 2)\:

• Landing the Vision
• Policy and Governance
• Science and Knowledge
• Strategic Partnerships and Collaboration
• Finance and Investments

Additional cross-cutting areas such as knowledge management and communication are supporting the work under these clusters.

In the Latin America and Caribbean Region, a UN Task Force has been established to support the follow up of the UNFSS. The Regional Task Force and the Hub are in a direct coordination and communication and work together with join activities for the region.

Reporting Lines

The Food Systems Regional Specialist for Latin America and the Caribbean will report to both the ADG/Regional Representative of FAO in the Latin America and Caribbean Region (FAORLC) and the Director of the of the Office of Sustainable Development Goals who is also the Director of the Hub.

Technical Focus

The assignment will provide state-of-the-art advisory services and technical support to the Hub Management and to the Head of the Regional Food Systems Task Force in the FAORLC in relation to food systems transformation challenges and opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean region, under the overall objective of supporting countries to operationalize and implement their Food Systems Transformation Pathways.

The specialist will develop a plan that will support the implementation of the Hub’s work plan in Latin America and the Caribbean region in direct coordination with the regional offices of the Agencies supporting the Hub (FAO, WFP, IFAD, UNDP, WHO, DCO) and the wider regional ecosystem of support on food systems transformation.

Tasks and responsibilities

Policy and Technical input

• Provide advice to inform all the work under the coordination clusters of the Hub.
• Ensure appropriate follow-up to requests for coordination support coming from countries and partners in the region.
• Produce comprehensive written outputs on regional policy issues e.g., draft background papers, briefing notes, analysis, sections of reports and studies, inputs to publications, concept notes, etc. as well as background notes, talking points and relevant material for the Director and Deputy Director of the Hub’s participation in meetings and events.
• Support the Hub’s engagement in global policy discussions to ensure regional dimensions are duly covered.
• Facilitate and support alignment and coherence of the work of the Hub with a) regional emerging trends and priorities in the area of food systems transformation; and b) the relation of the six transitions and four engine rooms for SDGs acceleration (as emerged from the 2023 SDGs Summit) to regional processes.

Partnership

• Identify strategic regional partners and create a channel of communication with key regional organizations with the goal of sharing strategic information between the Hub and the region and vice versa.
• Liaises and maintains strong working relationships with National Convenors, UN Resident Coordinators, UN Regional Directors and UN Representatives, regional bodies, coalitions and key food systems partners and actors in the region; create and leverage opportunities for new strategic partnerships.
• Facilitate knowledge management, exchange of lessons-learned and best practices, peer learning and south-south cooperation amongst countries in the region, support capacity building initiatives at regional level.
• Support regional inter-agency coordination and networking as well as collaboration across regions, enable the inclusion of food systems-related issues in the work of the United Nations Regional Collaborative Platforms

Organization of the second UNFSS Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS 4)

• Support the Hub Director and Deputy Director in articulating and communicating the Hub’s unique value proportion, in general, and specifically in collective and integrated advances towards the UNFSS 4
• Lead the preparation of regional touchpoints, workshops, annual regional meetings and other Hub-led meetings and engagements in the region; consolidate and report on inputs received from Member States during those meetings. Ensure that the results of Hub activities in the region are documented, shared and known across countries to demonstrate the impact of the interventions, support outreach, advocacy, communication and visibility, donor relations and resource mobilization.
• Collaborate with other Hub staff to support the effective implementation, monitoring, reporting and widespread and accessible dissemination on all Hub-led activities in the region.
• Collaborates effectively with the other Hub Regional Focal Points
• Participates on behalf of the Hub in events relevant to the region.
• Performs other related duties, as required.

In close coordination of the technical teams in the ALC, support the positioning of the FAORLC on UNFSS in the region (30% of the time)\:

• Support the FAORLC technical team with the regional task force
• Provide advice to enhance the work of FAORLC on FSS follow-up activities
• Support in the formulation of discussion points and relevant material for the participation of the RLC-ADG and the regional technical team in meetings and events related to FSS follow-u
• Collaborate with the regional technical team in the work of technical assistance to countries and FAO National Offices on the development of FSS Hub activities and requested inputs for the implementation of the pathways

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Masters’ degree in sustainable development, political science, environment, economics, natural sciences or other area directly related to the work of the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub.
• At least 7 years of relevant experience providing advisory and technical support services in at least one of the following areas\: 1) sustainable development goals, 2) policy development and implementation, 3) food systems transformation
• Working knowledge of English and Spanish are required for this position.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Knowledge and expertise in food systems transformation.
• Knowledge of the content of, and familiarity with, global, regional and sub-regional sustainability agendas such as the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement, the CELAC Plan for Food and Nutrition Security, the Caribbean Sustainable Development Framework etc.
• Excellent writing and report writing skills as proved by publication records.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with liaising with different stakeholders and presenting ideas and exchanges.

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency

HOW TO APPLY

• To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, and language skills
• Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile
• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application
• Candidates may be requested to provide performance assessments and authorization to conduct verification checks of past and present work, character, education, military and police records to ascertain any and all information which may be pertinent to the employment qualifications
• Incomplete applications will not be considered
• Personal information provided on your application may be shared within FAO and with other companies acting on FAO’s behalf to provide employment support services such as pre-screening of applications, assessment tests, background checks and other related services. You will be asked to provide your consent before submitting your application. You may withdraw consent at any time, by withdrawing your application, in such case FAO will no longer be able to consider your application
• Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered
• Your application will be screened based on the information provided in your online profile
• We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.

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