Chief Scientist

Job Posting: 31/Oct/2024

Closure Date: 12/Dec/2024, 4:59:00 PM

Organizational Unit: DDCC - Chief Scientist

Job Type: Staff position

Type of Requisition: Senior-level

Grade Level: ADG

Primary Location: Italy-Rome

Duration: Fixed term: two years with possibility of extension

Post Number: 2007885

CCOG Code: 1H01
- **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**:

- FAO’s commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations._

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.

**Organizational Setting**

FAO has established the Core leadership composed by Three Deputy Directors-General (DDGs), Director of Cabinet, Chief Economist and Chief Scientist with an Organigramme and a modular management structure that avoid silos and promote working jointly at all managerial levels in a cross-sectoral and global manner for a more efficient and effective Organization.

The Organizational structure is designed to create cooperation, both within FAO and by building up its comparative advantages to work with other organizations outside of FAO. Heads of Units (Offices, Centres and Divisions) are accountable, and each Head reports directly to either a Deputy Director-General (DDG), the Director of Cabinet, the Chief Economist or the Chief Scientist.

The core leadership members’ function as a unified leadership team working jointly in a cross-sectoral and global manner, supporting the Director-General in all areas of the Organization’s mandate. Each DDG and Chief is accountable for overseeing specific units (A reporting). In addition, each has defined alternate oversight responsibility for a number of units for which they are not the lead, but provide support and replace when needed the primary person of the leadership team responsible, including when the primary person is out-of-office (B reporting). The Director-General is establishing the specific reporting line of each Head of Unit to a DDG, Chief Economist or Chief Scientist taking into consideration the background, skills and knowledge of the individuals in the leadership team and after internal consultations. In addition to these specific responsibilities within the proposed Organizational structure, each member of the leadership team has responsibility for specific transversal areas that require overall corporate leadership.

**Reporting Lines**

The Chief Scientist reports to the Director-General.

**Summary of Duties and Functions**

Accelerating and scaling up innovation is fundamental for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leveraging emerging opportunities for reaching a world free from hunger, poverty and malnutrition. It is an opportune time for FAO to harness and increase its knowledge and expertise, building on its comparative advantage, promoting a more holistic and coordinated approach to address the complex and interconnected challenges facing agriculture and food systems.

In the framework of FAO’s mandate, Strategic Framework, Programme of Work, agreed Organizational results and technical, operational and administrative corporate procedures and policies, the Chief Scientist is an aggregator with convening capacity to improve delivery of results and strengthen FAO’s innovative spirit throughout the Organization and in its interaction with others.

The Chief Scientist works under the guidance of, and reports to, the Director-General of FAO. In particular, the Chief Scientist will:

- Promote innovative approaches in order to scale up the work on the ground and in cooperation with public, private, academia and civil society;
- Leverage science, innovation, technology and new approaches across the Organization and in support of countries for better results and strengthening partnerships;
- Coordinate intelligence gathering and medium
- to long-term prioritization processes for identifying new programmes and cooperation models;
- Lead task forces on nexus approaches in order to look at sustainability issues in an integrated and innovative manner;
- Emplo