Organizational Setting 

The main aim of the Sub-regional office is to provide technical assistance and support to governments and country offices in the sub-region to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner.

Reporting Lines

The Project Task Specialist will work under the general supervision and guidance of the Subregional Office for Southern Africa (SFS) Forestry Officer and in close coordination with the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Coordination Unit in HQ and will be supporting the formulation and implementation of GEF projects in the SFS sub-region, and securing day-to-day provision of GEF technical support to FAO country office and Lead Technical Officers (LTOs).
Technical Focus

The incumbent will provide support on natural resources management, forestry and climate change project formulation and implementation.

Tasks and responsibilities

Identification & Formulation (30% of time): 
Supporting Country Offices in identifying and formulating project ideas and entry-points for GEF funding as requested by governments, and assess coherence with FAO’s priorities and strategic framework, and Country Programme Framework (CPF) and donor guidelines. This includes:
•    Provide substantive guidance in the identification and design of project proposals ensuring to address national priorities of recipient countries and alignment with FAO´s Strategic Objectives, programme priorities and operational procedures of FAO with GEF or other environmental and climate change funds i.e., Green Climate Fund (GCF).
•    Screen project ideas for GEF for FAO and donor eligibility, together with the LTOs and FAO GEF & GCF teams in FAO Regional Office for Africa (RAF) and Headquarters , ensuring FAO standards, rules and procedures are applied and the consistency and quality of project documents is guaranteed;
•    Support country officers in the identification and, if needed, in the liaison with potential co-financing partners and operational partners;
•    Provide support with the hiring of staff and affiliate workforce.
•    Assist LTOs and GEF focal point in SFS in ensuring the consistence and quality of the project documents being presented to the GEF Coordination Unit in HQ before approval and appraisal;
•    Coordinate support to SFS in developing GEF9 pipeline and strategy, including the participation in Programmatic Areas of Work (PAWs);
•    Support the identification of synergies and complementarity with other environmental and climate change funding (i.e. GCF) including identifying relevant initiatives and possibilities for replication and scale-up.

Project Implementation Oversight and Support (40%):
•    Assist in processes related to inception, contracting and start-up of projects including establishment of indicators, benchmarks, work plans and inception workshops;
•    Assist LTOs in providing technical oversight and guidance on activities carried out by projects, ensuring coherence with FAO’s CPF and strategic framework and if requested coordinate technical inputs from LTOs;
•    Closely monitor RAF Project Dashboard to identify any alerts for management action to be taken and advise the Budget holder (BH) and LTO accordingly;
•    Assist LTOs and country offices in completing the annual Project Implementation Review (PIR) reports, based on the six monthly project progress reports (PPR) and findings from supervision and technical backstopping missions;
•    Support the preparation of management responses ensuing from evaluations and providing BH and LTOs oversight to their implementation.

Project Operationalisation Support (30%):
•    Support project proponents with the Operational Partners Implementation Modality (OPIM) package preparation during Project Preparation Grant ( PPG);
•    Support project proponents with the OPIM package approval during PPG;
•    Assist project proponents with the signature and operationalisation of the Operational Partners Agreement (OPA).

Knowledge Management:
•    Support the preparation and delivery of training courses and toolkits targeted to both FAO and other stakeholders;
•    Respond to queries on project progress, impacts and lessons;
•    Support in the preparation of regional reports and communication materials
•    Perform other tasks as requested, such as participation in interview panels of PPG and PMU members

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    Advanced university degree in forestry, environmental sciences, economics, agriculture, natural resources management or related field
•    Five years of relevant experience in climate and environmental project formulation, implementation and operational support, with experience in developing countries
•    Working knowledge (level C) of English

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

•    Good knowledge of corporate information systems
•    Good analytical and writing skills
•    Good communication and advocacy skills
•    knowledge of French will be considered as an asset