Senior Regional Technical Specialist - Natural Resource Management (NRM) & Infrastructure

The role of the Senior Regional Technical Specialist (NRM and infrastructure) is to act as a regional specialist in the area of natural resources management and infrastructure. This specialization 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, sustainable production technologies and practices, as well as postharvest aggregation, value addition, and marketing. The specialist provides guidance on tenure system diagnostics and the design of interventions to strengthen the tenure security of targeted communities, involving both customary and formal tenure systems, with emphasis on women's and young people's 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, resource 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, effective supplementary irrigation, and digital and mechanical solutions that can strengthen the production outcomes and incomes for small-scale farmers transitioning to agroecology systems despite impacts from climate change, thereby supporting inclusive food systems within sustainable bioeconomies that benefit rural vulnerable communities.

The incumbent also provides guidance on infrastructure necessary for sustainable natural resources management, including small scale irrigation, soil and water conservation infrastructure, and other production related infrastructure.

The incumbent supports country/regional programs primarily in the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) 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, dissemination, as well as strategy and policy setting. Within these fields of expertise, the 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

• Providing IFAD staff and partners with up-to-date professional advice on policy, institutional and technical issues.
• Contributing to ensuring 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

• Supporting intelligence gathering and analysis of debates relevant to inclusive and sustainable rural transformation.
• Supporting the coordination of 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 operational 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

• 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

• Supporting 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

• Accountable for integrity, transparency, and equity in the management of IFAD resources.
• This includes 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

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 other 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.
• Area: 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 from an accredited institution.

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.
• Experience in 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 is requested.
• Experience in international policy frameworks related to global agricultural, food security and rural development issues is an asset.
• Experience in the field of linking consumers and producers around sustainably produced food (Participatory guaranty systems (PGS) and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)) is an asset, 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.