Young Professional Officer (Agricultural Biotechnologies)

The Young Professional Officer (Agricultural Biotechnologies) supports the development and implementation of programmes related to agricultural biotechnologies for agrifood systems transformation and food security. The role involves technical analysis, project support, knowledge generation, and partnership strengthening within the Office of Innovation at FAO headquarters in Rome.

Responsibilities

• Analyse relevant technical social, economic, environmental, and technology information, data and/or statistics for input in various documents.
• Maintain records and update databases and web pages.
• Provide technical support to various projects.
• Collaborate in the development of training tools and materials and the organization of workshops/seminars.
• Participate in the organization and follow-up of meetings, consultations and conferences, the production of required materials and the provision of information and assistance to partners.
• Assist to collate, review and analyse information and documents on agricultural biotechnologies and related initiatives at global, regional and country levels.
• Support assessments of gaps, opportunities and scale-up of biotechnological solutions in support of FAO's priorities.
• Assist implementation of projects and activities related to agricultural biotechnologies based on requests from regional and country offices.
• Assist the monitoring and reporting on the implementation of FAO's work related to agricultural biotechnologies.
• Support mobilization of resources through development of concept notes and project documents by compiling inputs from FAO offices and stakeholders.
• Contribute to organizing meetings, conferences and workshops related to science and innovation, especially on agricultural biotechnologies.
• Support in preparation and dissemination of FAO messaging on priority areas related to agricultural biotechnologies through policy briefs, technical knowledge products to inform evidence-based decisions.
• Assist in strengthening partnerships with national and international institutions on biotechnologies and support to prepare relevant partnership instruments.
• Assist in knowledge generation by drafting articles, statements, briefing notes, talking points and key messages.
• Perform other duties as required.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in biotechnology (e.g. agricultural biotechnology, genetics, breeding, genomics), with food security and international development as an applied focus, rather than fundamental science.
• One year of relevant experience in agrifood biotechnologies programmes and projects of relevance to agrifood systems and food security.
• Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - level B) of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).
• Candidates should be 32 years of age or younger as of 31 December of the year of application.
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions.
• Biotechnology knowledge and relevance of experience in multiple domains of agrifood systems, including agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, food and nutrition, innovation, technology, veterinary sciences, biodiversity conservation, natural resources management, or related fields.
• Understanding of state of the art, frontier knowledge and leading institutions globally in agricultural biotechnologies of relevance to agrifood systems and food security.
• Understanding of policy and regulatory frameworks relating to agricultural biotechnologies globally, including biosafety and intellectual property systems.
• Strong informatics skills in R, Stata, Python, with some experience of bioinformatics, big data analyses, and of data visualisation for effective communication.
• Proven experience in scientific writing to a professional standard, including as first author on peer-reviewed scientific papers.
• Experience in science communication and stakeholder engagement, including translating biotechnology risk/benefit trade offs for policymakers and public audiences.
• Experience in the preparation, editing and revision of technical/scientific documents and in organizing meetings and workshops.
• Experience in establishing and maintaining partnerships with government institutions, research organisations, universities, NGOs, civil society, farmers organizations and private sector.
• Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of another official FAO language would be an asset.

Skills

• Agricultural Biotechnology
• Genetics
• Breeding
• Genomics
• Food Security
• International Development
• Agrifood Systems
• Biotechnology Programmes
• Biotechnology Projects
• Agriculture
• Forestry
• Fisheries
• Aquaculture
• Food and Nutrition
• innovation
• Veterinary Science
• Biodiversity Conservation
• Natural Resource Management
• Policy and Regulatory Frameworks
• Biosafety
• Intellectual Property Systems
• STATA
• Python
• Bioinformatics Analysis
• Big Data Analytics
• Data Visualization
• Scientific Writing
• Science Communication
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Technical Document Development
• Meeting and Workshop Organization
• Partnership Building

Languages

English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish