Senior Information Technology Officer

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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.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 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 Digital FAO and Agro-Informatics Division (CSI) is responsible for all information technology (IT) activities within the Organization. CSI performs, on behalf of the Organization, the following critical roles: defining FAO IT policies and providing strategic advice on IT architecture and standards, governance, policy and operational matters while monitoring organizational compliance; defining the mechanisms for managing FAO's information and data; protecting FAO's information assets and ensuring confidentiality, integrity and availability; ensuring provision of IT services that are core for the Organization's global operations and supporting the information and business processes; coordinating organization-wide IT activities in order to reduce duplication and fragmentation and to increase integration of information, data, systems and platforms, mobilizing IT resources across the Organization.
CSI manages the Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform for the interest of the Organization. The platform is the collaborative result of various units in FAO, as well as external collaborators, and it is a successful model of data sharing and data federation for digital transformation in food and agriculture. An enhanced data platform will benefit FAO's digitalization and digital transformation efforts to fulfill FAO's mandate in fighting hunger and poverty and realizing UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The position of Senior Information Technology Officer (Agri-Data Platform Lead) is located in the Digital FAO and Agro-Informatics Division (CSI) at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Reporting Lines
The Senior Information Technology Officer (Agri-Data Platform Lead) reports to the Director, CSI, and receives work-planning and resource-allocation coordination from the Deputy Director, CSI.

Technical Focus
The Senior Information Technology Officer (Agri-Data Platform Lead) is responsible for the delivery and management of the agri-data platforms, digital solutions, services and digital public goods that support the Organization in accomplishing the technical programme at the global and country levels. The incumbent will act as a technical lead and project manager for the initiatives related, but not limited to, data integration, data federation, data engineering, data modelling and data visualization applications, working closely with IT management and FAO business units to ensure consistency of project execution with the Organization's strategic vision and enterprise data, as well as IT architecture and ensuring that it meets the Organization's priorities.

Key Results
Leading strategies and provision of advice as well as IT projects and activities, to ensure that the Organization's requirements for Information Systems (IS) and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) are effectively met.

Key Functions

• Leads specialized activities carried out by CSI.

• Prepares work plans and monitors progress to ensure delivery of operations and/or projects outputs as per Organizational needs and agreed priorities.

• Manages the assigned financial and human resources.

• Develops, monitors and reports on key performance indicators of the assigned functions.

• Advises senior management on IT matters including the implications of various functional and technological alternatives and on IS/ICT strategies, governance and standards including their impact on the Organization's ability to deliver its programmes.

• Leads the planning, coordination and setting of policies for the development and implementation of an Organization-wide IS/ICT strategy and for the development of supporting standards, procedures and practices according to the agreed work plans.

• Leads special projects and supervises staff, including external service providers and consultants.

• Represents the Organization and the Division in formal meetings, negotiations and/or mediation/problem resolution meetings to reach agreement on various IT issues and/or to resolve difficult or contentious problems.

• Promotes initiatives under the Organization's work on Corporate Environmental Responsibility to reduce emissions, increase efficiency and integrate sustainability into the Organization's daily operations.

Specific Functions

• Promotes collaborations internally and externally in the field of agro-informatics solutions development and operations.

• Acts as a technical leader in agro-informatics platform development and operation.

• Acts as a project manager in relevant agro-informatics application projects.

• Manages platform and application development teams and contractors, who work remotely from locations worldwide, collaborating with the teams of other FAO data platforms and systems to further integrate and consolidate the Organization's data infrastructure.

• Implements mechanisms to monitor, manage and provide progress on system development activities, ensuring the data solution fits with FAO business requirements, data protection and privacy policies and the end-to-end technical operations processes including systems, interfaces and platforms.

• Leads various technical teams in expanding analytics capabilities for non-corporate data across multiple FAO domains, ensuring agro-informatics platforms comply with the organizational data policy and standards.

• Contributes to data governance and data policy.

• Contributes to the organizational digital asset and digital public goods governance and policy.

• Contributes to the organizational data and IT Application Development Strategy.

• Contributes to agro-informatics IT security.

• Performs other duties as required.

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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in information technology, computer science, information systems, software engineering, mathematics/statistics, or related field.

• Ten years of relevant experience in implementing, supporting and managing large-scale data platforms or systems, preferably heterogenous big data platforms at a global scale.

• Working knowledge (proficient - level C) of English and limited knowledge (intermediate - level B) of another official FAO language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Competencies

• Results Focus

• Leading, Engaging and Empowering

• Communication

• Partnering and Advocating

• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

• Strategic Thinking

Technical/Functional Skills

• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions, is essential.

• Extent and relevance of experience in the field of corporate environmental responsibility is an asset.

• Extent and relevance of experience in providing services to clients.

• Extent and relevance of experience in leading diverse teams in international and multicultural settings.

• Extent and relevance of experience in managing business intelligence/analytics solutions, preferably in a public sector or international organization.

• Extent and relevance of experience in managing IT application projects in a multilingual context.

• Demonstrated experience in vendor negotiations and management.

• Demonstrated experience in drafting reports and documents in the required languages.

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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:
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.
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