Reporting LinesUnder the overall supervision of the Director NSL, Land and Water Division, Technical supervision of the Head of the Geospatial Unit, collaboration with IT Service Division (CSI). When activities are carried out in countries, the incumbent will be required to work in close collaboration with the FAO Representation in the relevant country of assignment, as well as the relevant FAO regional office. Technical Focus Geographic Information Systems/Remote Sensing. Tasks and responsibilitiesList of the tasks that the specialist will undertake include: • Provide technical assistance in the use of GIS/RS in support of project teams and national and regional offices;• Conduct technical assessment and identification of the most suitable satellite imagery, geospatial datasets and methodological approaches to support specific project's needs;• Provide technical assistance in developing solutions using geospatial and digital technologies for land and water monitoring in agriculture;• Provide technical assistance in satellite image pre-processing, including mosaicking, stacking, atmospheric corrections, object-based-image-analysis (OBIA) for segmentation and classification;• Provide technical assistance in monitoring land cover following international standards for legend preparation (LCML/ISO -2), including classification, validation and accuracy assessments;• Provide technical assistance in the development of innovative tools such as using cloud-computing platforms (e.g. GEE, SEPAL) and modules based on AI/ML/RS/GIS and big data;• Contribute to national capacity development by preparing guidance on using geospatial information and remote sensing;• Assist in the development and publication of geospatial datasets on land and water resources, agro-climatic resources, vegetation, crop production, emergency impact assessment, at various geographic levels;• Contribute to the development of innovative technical digital agricultural solution to generate timely and efficiently geospatial data in support to agricultural monitoring;• Support innovation in data collection through integrated approaches combining field and remote sensing, list and area frame sampling, for agricultural, land and water monitoring systems, including stratification, selection of sites for field data collection/validation; • Support the collation, standardization, analysis and reporting of geospatial data and metadata from multiple sources in support to the FAO Hand-in-Hand initiative;• Support the capacity development plans on geospatial technologies, including preparation of training and workshop material, preparation of information for meeting and conferences; • Disseminate the geospatial data and metadata produced, in the various media formats (e.g. digital and paper atlas, map layouts, posters);• Prepare technical and scientific reports, papers and guidelines describing the activities, results, conclusions and recommendations on the process and results;• Perform any other tasks required. CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING Minimum Requirements• University degree in GIS, Geography, Environmental Sciences or related field; • At least one year of experience for base level consultant or at least five years for middle level consultants in spatial data handling and analysis, satellite data processing and management, GIS and remote sensing applications; • Working knowledge (level C) of English, French or Spanish, and limited knowledge (level B) of one of the other two or Arabic, Chinese or Russian (for Consultants). Working knowledge of English (for PSA.SBS). FAO Core Competencies• Results Focus• Teamwork• Communication• Building Effective Relationships• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement Selection Criteria• Work experience in programming languages such as R and Python for GIS/RS;• Work experience in international organizations and in projects supporting developing countries• Work experience on satellite image analysis, geospatial data and metadata management and processing• Work experience on cloud-computing platforms (e.g. SEPAL, Google Earth Engine)• Work experience on batch-scripting for data processing, geo-statistical packages for automatic classifications• Work experience on capacity development and knowledge transfer on GIS/RS• Familiarity with the tools of FAO's Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) standard• Capacity to report results to different audiences.Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FAO does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing) Please note that FAO will only consider academic credentials or degrees obtained from an educational institution recognized in the IAU/UNESCO list Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at For more information, visit the FAO employment website Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.
