Project Coordinator (National Project Personnel) – FAO job in Turkiye

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Türkiye (FETUR) is responsible for developing, promoting, overseeing and implementing strategies for addressing food security, agriculture and rural development priorities in Türkiye. The Organization’s technical assistance includes institution building, development of knowledge and competencies, and exchange of experience among countries facing the challenges of transition.

FAO Türkiye will start implementing a three-year project entitled “Enhancing the Capacity of the Turkish International Forestry Training Centre ” under the FAO Türkiye Forestry Partnership Programme (FTFP) funded by the Government of Türkiye.

The objective of this project is to establish an international training centre for the provision, on a sustainable basis, of capacity development in selected fields of forestry education to interested countries, including Türkiye. The project aims to increase the capacity of the existing International Forestry Training Centre, currently focusing on forest fire management, by enriching its training curricula including gender-sensitive content by addressing different roles, responsibilities, and vulnerabilities of women and men using case studies and best practices. These case studies and practices will highlight gender dimensions in forest fire management, including gender-sensitive modules in training programmes covering topics such as communication, leadership and decision making. The enriched training curricula will also promote active participation of women in training sessions and leadership roles While project will mainly be implemented in Turkiye, capacity building component of the project will include Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan as well.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Subregional Coordinator for Central Asia and FAO Representative in Türkiye, direct supervision of the AFAOAR, technical guidance of the Lead Technical Officer and in collaboration with FTFP National Programme Coordinator, National Operations Specialist and FAO Communication Team, other international and national consultants and government counterparts at national and local levels in participating countries, the Project Manager will be responsible for the following:

Technical Focus

Natural Resource Management, Project Management and Coordination and Forestry Training

Tasks and responsibilities

The Project Coordinator will be responsible for the precise preparation of annual workplans, ensuring their effective implementation and adequate reporting on project progress and budget expenditures towards FAO.  Additionally, S/he will play a key role in planning training activities, collaborating with project experts for relevant content. The management of staff duty travels will also fall under their purview, requiring a keen eye for detail. A close collaboration with the Lead Technical Officer (LTO), budget holder unit and National Project Coordinators (NPCs) will be maintained to achieve seamless coordination and successful project outcomes.

Institutional framework development
•    Participaten in  meetings with the FTFP Steering Committee and FAO Project Task Force,
•    Contribute to the review of the TIFTC mandate and to the development of a strategy to strengthen the TIFTC,
•    Provide advice to Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry on institutional, policy and legal issues related to project implementation,
•    Contribute to the formulation of a follow-up project proposal.

Mobilization of inputs
•    Personnel: Prepare terms of reference, identification of potential candidates and recruitment,
•    Equipment: Prepare technical specifications for necessary equipment and procurement,
•    Subcontracts: Prepare terms of reference, identification of possible contractors, and procurement of services,
•    Monitor work progress and certification of satisfactory services delivery.

Training and workshops
•    Prepare and organise training and activities,
•    Prepare and organise an inception and of a strategy development workshops,
•    Select participants in consultation with national forestry agencies concerned,
•    Ensure the preparation of the workshops reports and distribution of mentioned reports to the donor and beneficiary countries,
•    Assess impact and lessons learned to be integrated into future activities.

Financial Management
•    On the basis of semi-annual workplans, prepare  financial forecasts.
•    Initiate budget revisions, on the basis of actual delivery.

Managerial duties
•    Ensure gender mainstreaming in all project activities
•    Facilite the work of international and national consultants and certification of their satisfactory performance
•    Supervise financial monitoring and reporting, as well as record keeping
•    Perform other coordinating tasks as appropriate for the successful implementation of the project in accordance with the project document and workplans.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements 

•    Post-graduate education level in forestry or a related field
•    At least 7 years of relevant experience in the forestry field, preferably in forestry education; working experience in developing countries or in countries in transition is desirable.
•    At least 3 years project management/implementation experience at national/international level
•    Working knowledge of English and Turkish is required.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    Demonstrated experiences in providing policy advise at national level
•    Demonstrated management experience and organisational capacity.
•    Work experience in more than one location or area of work
•    Ability to plan and organize institutional and technical work and support work of multi-disciplinary teams,
•    Relevant experience in program/project management working in policy-driven programs/projects,
•    Previous experience with forestry field, preferably in forestry education
•    Knowledge of the socio-economic conditions and institutions in Central Assia and Caucasus,
•    Demonstrated analytical, negotiating and advisory skills,
•    Computer literacy with spreadsheets, databases and electronic programmes is required,
•    Multi-cultural and interpersonal skills with hands-on experiences in networking with partners at all levels (ministry, donors, private sector, NGOs and local community-based organizations),
•    Quality of both oral and written communication skills,
•    Quality of written reporting skills in working language.

Selection Criteria 

•    Involvement into at least one national or regional project/programme related to development policy/strategy and planning for forestry.
•    Project Cycle Management knowledge is preferred,
•    Previous experience/familiarity with FAO (or other implementing institutions) is an asset.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION