Senior Regional Technical Specialist (Natural Resource Management & Infrastructure)

Organizational Setting

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating rural poverty and hunger. It does so by investing in rural people. IFAD finances programmes and projects that increase agricultural productivity and raise rural incomes, and advocates at local, national and international levels for policies that contribute to rural transformation.

The Office of Technical Delivery is responsible for providing expert technical guidance to IFAD teams engaged in the design and implementation of projects and programmes to deliver the high technical quality investments that facilitate rural transformation, and which comply with IFAD's mandate and operational policies. The Office ensures IFAD applies and disseminates state of the art knowledge in its investments and evidence on strategic themes and encourages the innovative application of global knowledge and evidence in IFAD investments. This helps countries tackle complex development challenges in fostering inclusive and sustainable rural transformation including mainstreaming areas. The Office of Technical Delivery (OTD) is led by a Managing Director and is comprised of two (2) divisions: the Environment, Climate, Gender and Social Inclusion Division (ECG) and the Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division (PMI).

The Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division (PMI) facilitates improved and efficient delivery of IFAD's corporate mandate, predominantly through the quality of the design and implementation of its policies, country strategies and projects. Key functions and activities of PMI include Quality Enhancement, Policy Engagement, Networking and Strategic Partnerships. PMI's technical mandate covers a range of themes, all of which are key to deliver IFAD's strategic framework, including: agronomy, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, markets and value chains, agriculture research for development (AR4D), ICT4D, inclusive rural finance (including PARM, INSURED and remittances), rural institutions and farmers organizations, rural infrastructure, water, land and natural resources management.

PMI is led by a Divisional Director.

Job Role

The Senior Technical Specialist serves as IFAD's technical expert in their area of expertise. The position supports country/regional programs by providing state-of-the-art global technical advice throughout the project cycle (strategic and operational), as well as contributes to the corporate agenda, in their technical area of expertise.
Within their areas of responsibility, the Senior Technical Specialist exercises a high degree of independence in providing reliable programme delivery. The incumbent at this level performs the full complexity range of work independently, including the analysis and approval of complex and/or precedent setting cases with the aim to ensure cohesion and synergy in the application of technical advice and provision of programme development support. The incumbent works collaboratively with the thematic Technical Specialists, Country Directors (CD)/Heads of Multi-country Offices (MCO) and other staff to ensure consistency, cohesion and synergy in the application of technical advice and provision of programme development support.

Position specifics:

The Senior Regional Technical Specialist (NRM and infrastructure) acts as a regional specialist in the area of natural resources management and infrastructure. This covers areas such as natural resources governance, participatory landscape approaches involving multi-stakeholder processes for land-use planning and restoration of degraded ecosystems, investments in soil and water conservation, and sustainable production technologies and practices as well as postharvest aggregation, value addition and marketing.

• The incumbent provides guidance on participatory rangeland and community forest management and rehabilitation including strengthening of local resources governance and conflict resolution institutions, the use of remote sensing data to monitor resource recovery and use sustainability, diversified agroforestry systems and opportunities for payment for ecosystems services (PES) such as but not limited to carbon credits.
• The incumbent provides guidance on tenure system diagnostics and design of interventions to strengthen the tenure security of targeted communities involving both customary and formal tenure systems with emphasis on women and young peoples' access to land and other natural resources.
• The incumbent provides guidance on holistic agroecology approaches and practices including the use of farmer-to-farmer experimental learning. The agroecology practices are grounded in the use of agrobiodiversity to create synergies, resources use efficiency and recycling and build resilience by spreading risks. Guidance is provided on the production and use of bio-inputs and practices for integrated soil fertility and pest management ensuring the circular and regenerative use of local resources, and effective supplementary irrigation, digital and mechanical solutions. The aim is to strengthen the production outcomes and incomes for small-scale farmers transitioning to agroecology systems despite impacts from climate change and market shocks and thereby support inclusive food systems within sustainable bioeconomies that benefit rural vulnerable communities.
• The incumbent provides guidance on infrastructure necessary for sustainable natural resources management, including water harvesting and small scale irrigation, soil and water conservation infrastructure, and other production related infrastructure.
• The incumbent supports country/regional programs primarily in the West and Central Africa (WCA) region, with some support to other regions as required, by providing state-of-the-art technical advice throughout the project cycle, and contributes to the corporate agenda, knowledge building, technical guidelines and dissemination as well as strategy and policy setting. Within the above fields of expertise, the Senior Regional Technical Specialist exercises a high degree of independence in providing technical support to the design and implementation of country programme and/or investment projects.

Key Functions and Results

1.SENIOR TECHNICAL ADVICE: The incumbent provides technically authoritative advice on their area of specialization to improve the capacity of IFAD to position itself as an influential global player in these domains, and to improve related national government policies and programmes and ensure IFAD is regarded as a trusted and valued partner. Accountabilities may include but are not limited to:

• Providing IFAD staff and partners with up-to-date professional advice on policy, institutional and technical issues.
• Contributing to ensure that IFAD senior management is regularly and adequately briefed to engage effectively in high level fora with policy implications for rural transformation.
• Providing senior level technical expertise.

2. KNOWLEDGE AND ADVISORY SERVICES: The incumbent enhances the development of viable and sustainable policies and supports regional and global thematic input through authoritative technical knowledge sharing for their area of specialization. The position will ensure access to the latest sources of knowledge and innovation, strengthen technical capacity and establish new knowledge and advisory partnerships. Accountabilities may include, but are not limited to:

• Supporting intelligence gathering and analysis of debates relevant to inclusive and sustainable rural transformation;
• Supporting the coordination of the relevant knowledge development and dissemination with institutions outside of IFAD, within the region concerned and national Institutions, disseminating knowledge and lessons learned with external partners and stakeholders through publication of Occasional Papers, journal articles, seminars and workshops, through electronic media and the development of new knowledge products and operational tools that are informed by learning from the field;
• Participating in IFAD-wide thematic discussions and developing appropriate technical and operation approaches of relevance to the country/divisional strategies and programmes;
• Planning and leading learning events to strengthen IFAD's knowledge and capacity to engage in global debates with policy implications for rural transformation.

3. PARTNERSHIP BUILDING AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES: The incumbent develops and maintains a network of strategic partnerships that can help advance IFAD's mandate and messages around rural transformation in the global debate. The position develops peer contacts inside and outside IFAD to keep up-to-date on activities at the country and regional levels, to support joint advocacy and for knowledge sharing to enhance the Fund's profile as a highly competent and viable partner in development. Accountabilities may include:

• Building partnerships with centers of excellence, complementary technical organizations and specialized departments of other development institutions (including United Nations agencies, International Financial Institutions, bilateral cooperation agencies, non-governmental organizations, and others) as strategic partners;
• Strengthening IFAD's representation and communication in policy processes (including representing IFAD at international, regional, inter-agency meetings, seminars and conferences);
• Developing and cultivating alliances in key global policy forums to strengthen IFAD's influence over time, with a strategic focus on specific themes in their area of specialization.

4. MONITORING, EVALUATION AND REPORTING: The incumbent supports the Director/Lead Technical Specialists in knowledge management and other monitoring and reporting activities to enhance country level programme and funding decisions.

5. MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS: The incumbent is accountable for integrity, transparency, and equity in the management of IFAD resources. This includes, among others, people management through support to recruitment of technical specialists and technical leadership/capacity development, coaching and mentoring of new and/or more junior staff, supervisory role and evaluation of performance of professionals and general service staff under their purview.

Position specifics:

6. TECHNICAL ADVICE TO COUNTRY PROGRAMMES: The incumbent serves as a broker in their area of technical expertise to facilitate the integration of global best-practices in country programmes in the WCA region. This also includes seeking better collaboration with the private sector, medium, small and micro enterprises and rural market development, among others. The incumbent has an over-sight function to ensure consistent application of corporate quality standards within the area of technical expertise and serves as technical peer reviewer in corporate quality enhancement processes to ensure adherence to relevant quality standards and policies. Based on a planning exercise undertaken jointly between DCO and OTD, and working in close collaboration with the CDs/Head MCOs, the incumbent provides targeted technical advice within their thematic area of expertise to country programmes in WCA, including supporting the preparation of Results-based Country Strategic Opportunities Programmes (COSOPs), Country Strategy Notes (CSNs), project designs and project supervision/implementation support, through participation in project teams and missions as required. The incumbent may serve as Technical Lead for selective project designs and implementation supervision and support, ensuring overall technical quality of the project design across all thematic areas, including drafting of terms of reference for technical team members (incl. consultants), selecting and providing over-sight of qualified technical consultants, facilitating technical inputs from other IFAD staff and/or others (i.e. centres of excellence, research institutions), ensuring the technical quality of the project design report, participating in or leading select missions and ensuring comments provided through corporate quality enhancement and assurance processes are adequately addressed. The incumbent will:

1. Provide support on NRM, Agroecology and Rural Infrastructure areas of technical expertise to ongoing projects across the globe (in particular projects for which the incumbent is the Project Technical Lead (PTL) or projects at risk), and ensure consistent application of corporate quality standards within the technical area of expertise during project supervision and implementation support.
2. Introduce to country counterparts innovative and integrated solutions for strengthening land tenure and natural resources governance and agroecology practices at farm and landscape level including bio, digital and mechanical solutions to improve productivity and resilience;
3. Provide solutions for post-harvest and connectivity to markets connecting producers and consumers around the value of sustainably produced food in order to increase the farm level value of the production, including aggregation, branding and labelling, traceability and participatory guaranty systems, storage, processing and drying facilities, farm track roads, access roads and marketplaces;
4. Incorporate renewable energy where appropriate with other climate-smart elements to qualify national programs and projects for climate adaptation and mitigation financing where possible;
5. Ensure that IFAD SECAP procedures are followed for all NRM and Agroecology investments and activities including soil and water management and postharvest infrastructure;
6. Identify opportunities and entries for private sector engagement, in particular for marketing, bio-inputs, digital and mechanical solutions, and setting up other services, promoting job creation for rural youth and landless rural poor when possible.

7. POLICY ENGAGEMENT AND PARTNERSHIPS: The incumbent develops and maintains a network of peer contacts and partners outside IFAD to keep abreast of recent developments and trends and facilitate brokering of partnerships to enhance the Fund's profile as a highly competent and viable partner in development. Specifically, on the basis of the thematic expertise and skills and working closely with the CDs, the other PMI specialists, the Lead Regional Economist, the incumbent contributes to the development of relevant technical policies and strategies in the thematic areas concerned, building on the knowledge generated from IFAD's country programs. The incumbent represents IFAD in regional fora related to policy formulation on NRM and infrastructure. The incumbent develops and maintains strategic partnerships with relevant organizations, centres of excellence, private sector partners, research institutions, thematic platforms at the regional level, in the framework of The Global Land Agenda, the agroecology Coalition and other relevant forums

Key Performance Indicators

Assignments require the provision of authoritative technical expertise in the field of specialization. The impact of work by the incumbent directly affects country programmes and contributes to regional and corporate policy and strategy. The impact on the overall IFAD country and regional programmes is significant in projecting the Fund's role/capacity as a reliable, viable partner in development. Work is intricate in that it requires consideration of a wide range of technical factors and related data. Senior Regional Technical Specialists also select and provide oversight of external consultants, participate as experts in field missions and in the servicing of intergovernmental and expert group meetings of a technical nature.

Work at this level normally is not reviewed for technical accuracy. Senior Regional Technical Specialists thus exercise independence and initiative in assessing needs and advising governments when on field mission. Decisions are made on the research or analytical strategies to be followed in resolving problems of concern in the technical area. Established methods and procedures are adapted as necessary in order to achieve desired results.

Position specifics:

The incumbent has the above KPIs for the area of NRM and Infrastructure with a focus on the WCA region.

Working Relationships

The work relationships of Senior Technical Specialists involves the provision of technical advice and the negotiation and resolution of problems that arise in technical project design and appraisal, supervision/implementation support and in the preparation of studies and reports. The incumbent serves as an expert in the area of specialization and works with full technical independence in the provision of technical expertise and methodological guidance at the country level, as well as regionally as required. Contacts are with counterparts and senior officials within other United Nations organizations, IFIs governments, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations, private sector research institutes and academia. In servicing intergovernmental bodies, expert and working groups and other meetings, the Senior Technical Specialist provides technical expertise and recommendations for investment, policy formulation and official conclusions in a consultative and Specialist capacity; the incumbent also may provide information regarding the organization's policies, and act as the representative of the organization. Maintain contacts to identify and evaluate emerging developments.

Position specifics:

The incumbent works collaboratively with the other Technical Specialists in the region as well as the other specialists in the global team for NRM and infrastructure in PMI, Country Directors (CD)/Heads of Multi-country Offices (MCO) and other staff to ensure consistency, cohesion and synergy in the application of technical advice and provision of programme development support. The incumbent represents IFAD at the regional level within the area of expertise and contributes to the knowledge flow among technical staff working in other regions and globally, in particular also working with the International Land Coalition (ILC) and the Agroecology Coalition members.

Job Profile Requirements

Organizational Competencies:

Level 2:

• Building relationships and partnerships - Builds and maintains strategic partnerships internally and externally
• Communicating and negotiating - Acquires & uses a wide range of communication styles & skills
• Demonstrating leadership - Leads by example; initiates and supports change
• Focusing on clients - Contributes to a client-focused culture
• Learning, sharing knowledge and innovating - Challenges, innovates & contributes to learning culture
• Managing performance and developing staff - Manages wider teams with greater impact on others and on the organization
• Managing time, resources and information - Coordinates wider use of time, information and/or resources
• Problem-solving and decision-making - Solves complex problems and makes decisions that have wider corporate impact
• Strategic thinking and organizational development - Staff in management and/or strategic leadership roles
• Team working - Fosters a cohesive team environment

Education:

• Level - Advanced university degree (Master or equivalent) from an accredited institution in a technically relevant area.
• Areas - Environmental Science, Sustainable Land and Water Management, Rural Development, Natural Resource Management and/or governance, Rural Infrastructure, Agroecology or other sustainable farming approaches, etc.
• Degree must be an accredited institution listed on https://www.whed.net/home.php.

Experience:

• At least eight (8) years of progressively responsible professional experience in the field of NRM and Infrastructure development, specifically in the formulation of technical guidance and advice on NRM, Land Tenure, Agroecology and Rural Infrastructure (e.g. for land and water conservation, water harvesting and irrigation). Experience of development programmes and investment projects promoting inclusive and sustainable rural development, value chains development, market creation and development, greater partnerships with the private sector, as well as management of regional and/or global capacity building grants and programs for civil society organizations, in particular for producers organizations.
• At least five (5) years of relevant experience in a multi-cultural inter- governmental organization.
• Highly specialized experience in NRM and Infrastructure (e.g. for land and water conservation, water harvesting and irrigation) is requested. Experience in international policy frameworks related to global agricultural, food security and rural development issues is an asset as well as experience in the field of linking consumers and producers around sustainably produced food (Participatory guaranty systems (PGS) and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)), particularly in the formulation of technical guidance and input to agriculture and rural development programmes. Familiarity with application of IFIs safeguards to manage the social and environmental effects of soil and water conservation infrastructure and rangeland and watershed restoration projects is a strong asset.

Languages:

• Required: English and French (4 - Excellent)
• Another IFAD language is desirable: Spanish and/or Arabic (4 - Excellent)
• Position-specific requirement: Good skills both in speaking and drafting technical documents.

Skills:

• Advocacy: Ability to leverage IFAD knowledge and/or communication materials to maintain and promote constructive dialogue around IFAD`s vision and strategic priorities to external actors
• Specialized communication skills: Technical know-how relevant to the specific communication role considered (e.g. communication planning, building and maintaining media relations, video production, publishing, web and other digital media, graphic design, visual identity, brand management, internal communication and events management)
• Risk management (e.g. reputational): Identification and assessment of potential liabilities and risks in IFAD's activities, particularly vis-à-vis third parties; ability to handle risks via contingency and mitigation strategies
• Stakeholder management: Strong alignment capabilities and consultation skills, building on effective interactions and relationships with different stakeholders (e.g. for the co-creation of communication material with member states) and ability to build and maintain a strong network (e.g. with journalists, media outlets, etc.)
• Strategy implementation: Ability to lead and manage the development and implementation of medium to longer-term strategies for IFAD / for respective divisions
• Resources management: Know-how in the management of human, financial and material management of IFAD resources
• Adaptability: Adaptability and flexibility when facing new or unexpected situations, and to specific constraints and circumstances and managing complex processes
• Confidentiality & Discretion: Establishes self and division as trusted advisor to internal stakeholders by maintaining high level of discretion and confidentiality in assignments; demonstrates sound judgement when dealing with sensitive and/or confidential matters; drives good governance and is a "Culture Carrier" demonstrating IFAD institutional conscience through their work.
• Corporate approach: Ability to bring in corporate vision and priorities into one's area of work (e.g. budgeting going beyond simple budgetary considerations, taking into account strategic priorities)
• Interpersonal skills: Ability to deal patiently and tactfully with others (e.g. visitors, clients, callers, etc.), including senior individuals (e.g. high-level meeting participants)
• Leadership: Group thought leader, sought out by others and providing mentorship and effective guidance to others; Ability to build trust, inside and outside the organization by acting as a role model for IFAD's core values and competencies, and to provide a clear sense of direction, mentorship and effective guidance to the team, strategizing the IFAD's goals, giving the vision, empowering the team and ensuring a positive environment for all.
• Synthesis: Outstanding ability to synthesize and simplify complex technical information for a variety of (non-technical) audiences
• Verbal communication: Clear, succinct and convincing verbal communication; highly professional, balanced and diplomatic language
• Written communication: Clear, succinct and convincing written communication in the language needed for specific role; highly professional, balanced and diplomatic language (e.g. for drafting of position papers, briefings, etc.)
• Evidence-based policy: Know-how in the formulation of concrete and actionable policy recommendations based on hard evidence (going beyond simple data interpretation)
• Programme/Project development, management: Know-how in Programme/Project development, implementation, management
• Social & Environmental Safeguards: Know-how in Social & Environmental compliance as specified in the IFAD's Social, Environmental and Climate Assessment Procedures (SECAP)
• Cross-cutting themes - Environment & climate change: Expertise specific to the environment and climate change cross-cutting theme (e.g. climate and environmental policy, biodiversity, agroecology)
• Cross-cutting themes - Gender and social inclusion: Expertise specific to gender and social inclusion cross-cutting theme (e.g. youth, targeting strategies)
• Cross-cutting themes - Nutrition: Expertise specific to nutrition cross-cutting theme (e.g. food systems)
• NRM, and Infrastructure: Expertise in sustainable natural resources management on rangeland, cropland, watershed and in agroforestry systems, expertise in customary and formal tenure systems and participatory NR governance mechanism, expertise in bio-inputs and agroecology practices at farm, landscape and market level, and expertise in related rural infrastructure (soil and water conservation, irrigation, etc.)

Other Information

Applicants should note that IFAD staff members are international civil servants subject to the authority of the President of IFAD. In accordance with IFAD's Human Resources Policy, the President can decide to assign them to any of the activities of the Fund. All International Professional staff members are required to be geographically mobile and positions in the professional category are subject to changes in location at any time in line with strategic priorities and reform initiatives in IFAD.

In accordance with IFAD's provisions, all new staff members will normally be placed at the first step in the grade level for which they have been selected. For information on IFAD's remuneration package, please visit IFAD's compensation and benefits page on our website. Applicants are invited to use the ICSC compensation calculator to estimate the salary and benefit entitlements. See here.

Candidates may be required to take a written test and to deliver a presentation as well as participate in interviews.

In the interest of making most cost-effective use of funds and resources, we are only able to respond to applicants who are short-listed for interview. Candidates who do not receive any feedback within three months should consider their application unsuccessful.

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