EuFMD - Programme Specialist (various profiles)

The European Commission for the Control of Foot and Mouth Disease (EuFMD) is an Article XIV body responsible to its Member States and donors to deliver an extensive work programme on Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) emergency preparedness, response and control, to its 39 Member States, to a further 20 European neighbourhood countries, and to other regions through its arrangement with FAO decentralized offices.

The strategy is decided by the Member States every two years, revised programming occurs every six months after Executive Committee Sessions and in relation to disease emergencies. The programme is arranged in three Pillars with 16 workplan components. Technical input as well as operational delivery is entirely managed by the Commission Secretariat. Full details are available in the EuFMD work programme.

The programme involves considerable travel for its professional staff and consultants. The Training /Capacity Building programme is globally recognized and its growth in delivery to additional regions of Asia and Africa is foreseen in the workplan for the 2017-19 and 2019-23. The EuFMD plays a significant role in the animal health part of FAO’s programme to increase resilience of livelihoods to food and agriculture threats and crises (SO5).

FAO International Consultant and Call purpose

A consultant/PSA is engaged by the Organization to provide expertise, skills or knowledge for the performance of a specific task or piece of work, which would be short-term by nature. The assignment may involve full-time or part-time functions similar to those of staff members.

Candidates may be involved in more than one orientation and may be invited to undertake short-term assignments ranging in duration from a few days or weeks to a maximum of 11 months.

The possibility of extension is subject to satisfactory performance and depending on the resources and needs of the Organization.

The purpose of this call is to attract talents to populate rosters for EuFMD Programme Specialists

Reporting Lines

Programme Specialists, in close collaboration with the Communications and Networks Manager, report directly to the Chief Operations Officer and to the EuFMD Executive Secretary for functional and policy guidance.

Support to delivery of donor-funded work programmes of the EuFMD Commission at global, regional sub-regional and country level.

The EuFMD workplan develops in three Pillars\:

Pillar I – Improve – Improve readiness for FMD crisis management by Member States

Pillar II – Reduce – Reduce the risk to EuFMD Member Countries from European neighbourhood

Pillar III – Promote – Improve uptake of the global strategy for progressive control of FMD

The EuFMD provides on-line and face-to-face courses and, considering the level of the progression along the FMD Progressive Control Pathway (PCP), identifies specific needs in the regions and the opportunities of making the best use of national and international expertise to assess the effectiveness of Risk Based Strategic Plans (RBSP), improve disease risk information and assist in the design, implementation and evaluation of risk based surveillance and risk based control measures.

The consultant/PSA will provide support to the implementation of the EuFMD work programme at global, regional sub-regional and country level, this includes but it is not limited to the surge of support required for managing the changing priorities following disease emergencies and changes in programme decided by the Executive Committee and the major donors.

Following are the generic functions for which candidates are sought. Specific tasks and responsibilities will be defined in Terms of Reference prepared for different assignments, according to\:

• the profile orientation required; and
• the selected candidates’ experience, qualifications and expertise.

• Coordinate and/or provide operational support activities related, but not limited to\:
• project team formulation and delivery planning, liaise with relevant parties; ensure follow-up actions to ongoing projects;
• budget and funding (programme/project preparation and submissions, progress reports, financial statements, etc.) and prepare related documents/reports (pledging, work programme, programme budget);
• Provide support for mission and meetings formulation and planning related to the organization of the EuFMD meetings in FAO headquarters and in the field; ensure communication with FAO headquarters, decentralized and regional offices to inform them of EuFMD activities in good time;
• Research, analyse and present information gathered from diverse sources including, but not limited to, feasibility studies, graphics and statistics using FPMIS tools to analyse EuFMD Projects;
• Ensure follow-up actions by evaluating related economical and financial impact also monitoring and updating of the EuFMD project status in FAO Field Programme Management Information System (FPMIS). Financial reporting to be provided;
• Contribute implementing the yearly plan for Procurement, Letters of Agreement and Framework agreements;
• Contribute planning missions and activities.
• Undertake field missions, as needed;
• Perform other duties, if required.

• Advanced University Degree (for Consultants) in economics, development studies, political science, social science, international relations, business administration, management, information systems, communication or fields related to FAO’s Programme of Work;
• University Degree or Technical specialization or equivalent (for PSA) in economics, development studies, political science, social science, international relations, business administration, management, information systems, communication or related field;
• At least two years of relevant work experience in public administration, communications, international affairs or international meetings management; in results-based project/programme planning and monitoring, including practical experience in project formulation, appraisal, implementation, monitoring, communication and/or in financial and budget planning;
• Working knowledge of English, French or Spanish and limited knowledge of one of the other two or Arabic, Chinese, Russian. For PSA, only one language can be required.

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

• One to three years of relevant experience in one or more areas related to policy, planning, programming and administrative management in public or private sectors relating to programming, planning and technical co-operation in food and agriculture, particularly in the delivery of technical missions and assistance to countries in the European region and European neighbourhood will be considered an asset;
• Working knowledge of additional languages for the organization and development of the EuFMD events organized locally will be considered an asset;
• Familiarity with liaising with FAO HQ and decentralized offices as well as the knowledge of protocol procedures and use of TALEO will be considered an asset.
• Strong communication skills in English.
• Ability to work accurately under pressure paying attention to details.
• Independent and capacity to prioritize requested actions in order to meet all the deadlines.