Economist

2501059 Economist 

Job Posting

: 17/Apr/2025

Closure Date

: 08/May/2025, 9:59:00 PMOrganizational Unit: ESA

Job Type

: Staff positionType of Requisition: ProfessionalGrade Level: P-3

Primary Location

: Italy-RomeDuration: Fixed-term: two years with possibility of extensionPost Number: 0095869CCOG Code: 1L09

IMPORTANT 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.

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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 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 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

 

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 ESA team that coordinates and produces The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) report. The role will require close collaboration with FAO's other technical divisions as well as external partners. The SOFA team's primary focus lies in robust evidence generation on topics of general interest to agrifood system stakeholders with the objective of making agrifood systems more efficient, resilient and inclusive. This involves developing innovative economic analyses that may cover market structure in agricultural value chains, food security and nutrition, employment in agrifood systems, environmental sustainability and other issues of relevance for agrifood systems. The analyses are used to produce the State of Food and Agriculture report, which covers a different topic of general interest every year.

 

Reporting Lines

The Economist reports to the Senior Economist (SOFA), ESA, under the overall supervision of the Director of the Agrifood Economics and Policy Division (ESA).

 

Technical Focus

The Economist in this role will conduct economic analysis on a broad range of issues pertaining to the functioning of agrifood systems, including their sustainability and resilience, as well as their role in rural development and food security and nutrition. Likely areas of focus include market structure in agrifood value chains and employment in agrifood systems. The Economist will focus on providing technical expertise in advanced economic analysis, specializing in microeconomic techniques and tools. Depending on the topic being covered, this may include applying econometric methods, performing partial equilibrium or general equilibrium analyses, and framing these analyses for a general audience. The analyses will provide evidence-based support to and feed into the preparation of the annual FAO flagship publication of The State of Food and Agriculture report. The Economist will work in close collaboration and coordination with other FAO technical units and external partners who prepare technical background papers.

 

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

• Supports the SOFA team leader in planning and managing team activities, including the preparation and drafting of The State of Food and Agriculture report, and then revising the report based on expert inputs.
• Contributes to the development of the evidence base that supports ESA's divisional mandate including, but not limited to, the preparation of the SOFA report.
• Prepares briefs relating to the themes addressed in the SOFA report and other issues pertaining to any aspect of relevance to agrifood systems, agricultural and rural development and food security and nutrition.
• Drafts journal articles and other written materials based on the evidence base and analyses developed in collaboration with SOFA team members and presents them at professional conferences and in other relevant fora.
• Supports the SOFA team in identifying external partners, who can contribute to the topic at hand with technical background papers, managing their contracts and deliverables, as well as organizing meetings and workshops.
• Advises the SOFA team leader on the latest developments in the field of artificial intelligence that may be of interest to the team to improve workflows.
• Supports the SOFA team leader in disseminating the evidence generated by the SOFA team through academic and policy conferences as well as social media.
• Liaises with other FAO teams and external partners as necessary for the preparation of the SOFA and other evidence-based products in coordination with the ESA Editorial Board.
• Supervises staff at lower grades, consultants and interns as required.
• Performs other relevant tasks 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 system, including experience with econometric models, spatial analysis, management of large datasets, and research on food security and rural poverty.
• Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - level B) of another official FAO 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, is desirable
• Extent and relevance of experience and knowledge of applied quantitative research on major issues relating to food, agriculture and rural development.
• 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 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, as evidenced by relevant 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.

 

 

 

  

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FAO staff are expected to adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency.

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GENERAL INFORMATION

• Extension of fixed term appointments is based on certification of performance and availability of funds
• FAO reserves the right not to make an appointment.
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances. 

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
• 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
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• 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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