Economist (SoilFER-VACS)
Italy-Rome
Job Posting
: 15/Jan/2025Closure Date
: 05/Feb/2025, 10:59:00 PMOrganizational Unit: ESAJob Type
: Staff positionType of Requisition: Professional ProjectGrade Level: P-3Primary Location
: Italy-RomeDuration: Fixed-term: one year with possibility of extensionPost Number: 2010512CCOG Code: 1L09IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device
The length of appointment for internal FAO candidates will be established in accordance with applicable policies pertaining to the extension of appointments
• 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 persons 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
• FAO staff are subject to the authority of the Director-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the Organization.
FAO’s commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.
Organizational Setting
FAO’s commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations.
The Agrifood Economics and Policy Division (ESA) conducts economic research and policy analysis and provides evidence-based support to national, regional and global policy processes and initiatives related to monitoring and analysing food and agricultural policies, agribusiness and value chain development, rural transformation and poverty, food security and nutrition information and analysis, resilience, bioeconomy and climate-smart agriculture. The Division also leads the production of two FAO flagship publications: The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) and The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI).
The position is based at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, within the Investments for Sustainable Markets, Agribusiness, and Rural Transformations (iSMART) team, which falls under the Agrifood Economics and Policy Division (ESA).
The role will require close collaboration with FAO's NSL (Land and Water Division), ESN (Food and Nutrition Division) and NSP (Plant Production and Protection Division) to ensure alignment of economic strategies with agronomic, nutritional and soil management insights, facilitating integrated solutions under the SoilFER-VACS framework. The iSMART team's primary focus lies in conducting economic analyses to promote investments, making agrifood systems more efficient, resilient and inclusive. This involves providing state-of-the art measures and categorization of territories, firms and household groups in terms of poverty, economic growth potential and environmental vulnerabilities. Providing innovative solutions to tackle existing challenges requires a deep analysis of public and private incentives, institutional designs e.g. contract farming, public-private partnership and digital innovations. The team evaluates these solutions through robust evidence generation in order to propose the most efficient options for scaling up. These analyses are crucial in understanding and promoting processes of inclusion, inequalities, resilience, sustainability, and transformation within agrifood systems.
Reporting Lines
The Economist (SoilFER-VACS) reports to the Senior Economist (iSMART), ESA, under the overall supervision of the Director of the Agrifood Economics and Policy Division (ESA).
Technical Focus
The Economist (SoilFER-VACS) in this role will primarily focus on providing technical expertise in advanced economic analysis, specializing in micro-economic techniques and tools. This includes the integration of econometric methods, ex-ante experimental design (such as Randomized Controlled Trials - RCTs and Discrete Choice Experiments - DCEs), survey design, sampling methodologies and cost-benefit analysis (CBA). The role will also encompass resilience and risk analysis, spatial analysis and impact evaluation techniques (including both experimental and quasi-experimental approaches). The Economist's work will focus on understanding the economic drivers that underpin soil management practices, and the role that diverse, nutritious and climate-adapted crops, grown in healthy soils, play in building a resilient food system. A key component will be conducting in-depth economic evaluations and impact assessments using data from Zambia and Guatemala. The position demands robust quantitative and analytical skills to drive policy formulation, strategic planning, and evaluate the economic impacts of interventions related to soil fertility management. In particular, the Economist (SoilFER-VACS) will contribute with the design and execution of RCTs for assessing the impacts of soil management interventions and utilize DCEs to evaluate farmer preferences and the cost-effectiveness of different practices. By harnessing data from multiple sources, including surveys, administrative data and remote sensing, the Economist (SoilFER-VACS) will analyse the trade-offs and synergies within agrifood systems, focusing on the economic feasibility and sustainability of soil fertility investments. This role will support activities related to FAO's flagship programmes SoilFER and VACS in Zambia and Guatemala, providing economic insights essential for scaling up climate-smart agricultural practices. The integration of financial analysis with soil nutrient maps and socio-economic data will be key in optimizing resource allocation and ensuring the long-term viability of agrifood interventions. The Economist (SoilFER-VACS) will play a crucial role in aligning economic strategies with the broader goals of enhancing agricultural productivity, food security and farmer resilience, delivering impactful outcomes aligned with FAO's strategic vision.
Key Results
Research and analysis of information, data and statistics, and the maintenance and updating of related tools, methodologies, and/or databases to support the delivery of programme products, projects, publications and services.
Key Functions
• Researches and analyses (agricultural, economic, trade, market, social, environmental, nutrition/food composition and/or gender related) data, statistics and information to provide technical, statistical and/or policy related information and analysis to support the delivery of economic and social development programmes work, products, projects, publications and services.
• Produces a variety of technical reports and input for technical documents, publications and/or web pages.
• Provides technical, statistical, and/or analytical services on various studies, projects and/or assessments and provides technical backstopping to field projects.
• Participates in the development of improved/updated technical, statistical and/or analytical tools, methodologies, systems, databases and/or key social/economic/environmental/nutritional and/or early warning indicators, etc.
• Participates in multidisciplinary teams, collaborates with other Divisions, Offices and Centres on work groups and committees and promotes best practices.
• Collaborates in capacity development activities involving the planning and organizing of training workshops, seminars, and major meetings and the preparation of related information, materials, on-line tools and information kits.
• Promotes knowledge sharing and best practices at international meetings and conferences and influences partners in stakeholder consultations.
• Participates in resource mobilization activities.
Specific Functions
• Contributes to economic research using advanced econometric, experimental and quasi-experimental approaches as well as spatial methods and sampling techniques, to understand the causes and dynamics of adoption, consumption and vulnerability in SoilFER-VACS project countries across the agrifood system.
• Analyses the impact of policies, investments and interventions that promote soil fertility for food security and nutrition, inclusive growth, increase incomes in the agrifood system.
• Provides support in the organization and implementation of data collection processes.
• Implements investment prioritization techniques in selected territories by developing and applying precise spatial quantitative analysis to shed light on the most strategic and high-impact investment opportunities in chosen areas. This process includes extensive spatial analysis, data evaluation and economic modeling to understand the potential returns and risks associated with different opportunity crop investments.
• Drafts various reports, briefs and other technical documents related to economic assessment of agrifood systems and policies.
• Performs other duties as required.
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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
Minimum Requirements
• Advanced university degree in economics, econometrics, agricultural economics, spatial economics, development economics or a related field.
• Five years of relevant experience in economic and quantitative analysis of agrifood systems, including experience with advanced econometric models, spatial analysis, management of large datasets, survey and sampling design, research on food security and rural poverty, resilience and vulnerability and practical application in policy formulation and strategic investment prioritization within the agrifood sector, particularly in developing countries.
• Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - level B) of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).
Competencies
• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
Technical/Functional Skills
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions.
• Extent and relevance of experience in applied quantitative research in the field of agrifood systems, including experience in preparation of papers and/or reports for publication.
• Extent and relevance of experience in economic and policy analysis of issues in agrifood systems and food security at a national, regional and/or global scale.
• Extent and relevance of experience in conducting quantitative economic analysis, economic modelling and/or applying econometric techniques in one or more of the relevant subject areas above.
• Excellent programming skills in specialized software, particularly R, but also others such as STATA, ArcGIS, Python or others are desirable.
• Quality of both oral and written communication in English, including the ability to write clearly and concisely for publications.
• Demonstrated ability to manage, analyse and present quantitative information clearly and effectively.
• Capacity to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams with minimal supervision and to plan workflows to meet tight deadlines.
Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency.
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GENERAL INFORMATION • FAO reserves the right not to make an appointment • Extension of fixed term appointments is based on certification of performance and availability of funds • Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.
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CONDITIONS OF SERVICE A competitive compensation and benefits package is offered. For information on UN salaries, allowances and benefits, click on the following link: https://commonsystem.org/cp/default.asp
Other benefits, subject to eligibility, include:
• Dependency allowances
• Rental subsidy
• Education grant for children
• Home leave travel
• 30 working days of annual leave per year
• Pension fund entitlements under the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund
• International health insurance; optional life insurance
• Disability protection FAO encourages a positive workplace culture to increase inclusivity and diversity within its workforce. FAO applies measures in which all staff members contribute equally and in full to the work and development of the Organization. This includes:
• elements of family-friendly policies
• flexible working arrangements
• standards of conduct ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
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;
• Your application will be screened based on the information provided on your online profile;
• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
• 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.
If you need help or have queries, please create a one-time registration with FAO’s client support team for further assistance: https://fao.service-now.com/csp
FAO IS A NON-SMOKING ENVIRONMENT* Salary range is an estimate based on our AI, ML, Data Science Salary Index 💰
Tags: Econometrics Economics .NET Python R Research Security Stata Statistics
Perks/benefits: Career development Competitive pay Conferences Fertility benefits Flex hours Health care Insurance Team events Transparency
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