Organizational Setting
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through the 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.
The Office of Innovation (OIN) is an important instrument within FAO to provide strategic direction and help drive and coordinate innovation across the work of the Organization, i.e., to consolidate and strengthen FAO’s innovative spirit, including innovation of approaches and cooperation models. The Office identifies, strengthens, and complements priority areas for collective action, ensures that FAO mainstreams innovation in its programmes, facilitates cross-collaboration between the various FAO units and aids in forging and reinforcing transformative partnerships. OIN's ATIO and FutureFood –Lab units is responsible for leading the ATIO initiative.
The Office of Innovation is responsible for the delivery of the Agrifood Systems Technology and Innovation Outlook (ATIO), a flagship initiative. An initial inaugural ATIO report was published in 2022. ATIO contributed to the delivery of Output 2.1.3 (Updated information on the full range of innovations and their impacts analysed and disseminated) under the Strategy. It does so by creating a global public knowledge product that disseminates updated information about science and innovation at global, regional, and sub-regional and national level. As an initiative, ATIO consists of two outlets. The publication of the first edition ATIO Flagship is planned for October 2025 and thereafter on a biennial basis. The publication will be complemented by a global database on technologies of innovations.
OIN is seeking to recruit a senior advisor on agrifood technologies and innovations for agrifood system transformation that would contribute to the development and delivery of the ATIO initiative, including the ATIO Flagship and the associated database. The Adviser will support the ATIO initiative by designing and overseeing the meaningful involvement of research and farmers' organizations constituencies in the preparation of the ATIO Flagship and database, thus ensuring a more impactful innovation generation processes through the inclusion of different actors and forms of knowledge. The Adviser will provide his/her support to the identification and documentation, based on concrete cases and studies, of co-innovation processes that can enhance the effectiveness of future efforts to accelerate generation/strengthening, uptake and widespread adoption of appropriate, more locally adapted, and adoptable technologies and other forms of innovations. The contribution expected is also to help identify the incentives and “levers” for changes which can lead to more equitable, inclusive, and just research partnerships, touching upon organizational settings, development aid modalities/funding arrangements, collection of evidence supporting transformation of processes towards co-creation, enhanced learning, information sharing, new brokering roles, conducive policies.
Reporting Lines
The Senior Adviser reports directly to the Director, Office of Innovation (OIN) with day-to-day interaction and supervision by the Senior Technical Officer responsible for the ATIO initiative in OIN.
Tasks and responsibilities
• Advise on, coordinate, and conceptualize the ATIO Flagship report and the development of its annotated outline and related background studies, providing quality assurance support.
• Support the ATIO core team in coordinating the activities and meetings of the ATIO Technical Advisory Committee.
• Contribute to the review of technical papers/background studies and their integration into the ATIO Flagship.
• Mobilize the capacities and networks of research institutes, universities and other relevant partners and actors in support of the ATIO initiative.
• Advise, and collaborate with, the core ATIO team in designing and organizing innovative modalities of scientific content development (e.g., write-shops) and knowledge management activities that will be deployed to generate background analysis for, and sections of, the ATIO Flagship report.
• Advise on the development of the ATIO knowledge base by ensuring that user cases are well defined, and that partners and knowledge contributors are properly integrated through sound operational mechanisms and governance arrangements.
• Conceptualize a knowledge base for capturing technologies and innovations implemented at the grassroot level by small scale producers, including among indigenous and marginalized communities, leveraging appropriate governance and information gathering mechanisms that are aligned to FAO’s safeguard policies.
• Lead and coordinate dialogues with leading research centers, seeking appropriate interlocutors for producing examples/cases of best-bet innovations and related processes, building a partnership structure around this effort.
CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
Minimum Requirements
• Advanced university degree in communication science, social science, political science, behavioural science, innovation systems, or related studies or any other relevant degree.
• Working knowledge (Level C) of English and limited knowledge (level B) of one of the other FAO official languages (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, or Russian). For PSA.SBS, working knowledge of English is sufficient.
• For Consultants: 12 years of relevant professional working experience in the field agrifood technology and innovation systems, preferably with a focus on LMIC contexts in a similar environment.
• For PSA.SBS: 15 years of relevant professional working experience in the field agrifood technology and innovation systems, preferably with a focus on LMIC contexts in a similar environment.
FAO Core Competencies
• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
Technical/Functional Skills
• Substantive expertise in developing analytical instruments and tools to manage and systematize innovations and agrifood technologies.
• Excellent analytical skills.
• Good understanding of international development challenges, including operating in a developing country context.
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work.
• Demonstrated organization, research, presentation and writing skills.
• Excellent organizational, time management and planning skills with demonstrated capacity to work in a fast-pace, high pressure environment.