National Training Specialist

Full Job Description

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• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application
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• Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered
• Your application will be screened based on the information provided in your online profile
•  We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.

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FAO IS A NON-SMOKING ENVIRONMENT

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing).

Organizational Setting

Upon request from the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, represented by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka; the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will provide technical assistance for the improvement of livelihood of farmers of selected districts (Anuradhapura, Hambanthota, Vavuniya and Kurunegala) through increasing productivity of paddy while diversifying a sizable quantity of paddy lands with legumes and other field crops (OFC) using Climate Smart Good Agriculture Practices (CSGAP) with increased cropping intensity, efficient water and fertilizer management systems which leads to increase overall land productivity, profitability, and sustainability of the system. 

The above will be accomplished through the 4-year Project OSRO/SRL/205/USA “Rice Rethink; Enhancing Paddy Farmer Resilience and Return through Crop Diversification”.  

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative, direct supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative (Programme), the guidance of the Project Management Specialist and in close coordination with the Administrative Section of the FAO Representation and consultants in the project. Additionally, he/she will work in close collaboration with other Government counterparts, the Lead Technical Officer (LTO), and Lead Technical Unit in FAO HQ.

Technical Focus

Technical training on climate smart farming of paddy and OFC with advanced technologies.

Tasks and responsibilities

•   Develop the curriculum, training material and related knowledge products as well as the structure of the training to be delivered to all the trainers in the Training of Trainers (TOTs) on climate smart OFC farming with advanced technologies.
•    Obtain input from relevant stakeholders and institutions (e.g.technical officers from the Department of Agrculture (DoA)) for the development of curriculum, structure, and training material.
•    Conduct TOTs on climate smart OFC farming with advanced technologies in collaboration with DOA, Provincial Department of Agriculture (PDOA) and Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka (MASL).
•    Through the TOTs, train 120 Agriculture Inspectors (AIs) and 20 subject matter specialists (SMS), altogether 120 technical officers.
•    Provide technical input towards training of farmers at FFS on climate smart OFC farming with advanced technologies.
•    Develop the curriculum, training material and related knowledge products as well as the structure of the training to be delivered to all the trainers in the TOTs on climate smart paddy farming with advanced technologies.
•   Obtain input from relevant stakeholders and institutions (e.g. Rice Research and Development Institute (RRDI)) for the development of curriculum, structure, and training material.
•    Conduct TOTs on climate smart paddy farming with advanced technologies in collaboration with RRDI.
•    Train 120 AIs through above TOTs at RRDI.
•    Provide technical input towards training of farmers at FFS on climate smart paddy farming with advanced technologies.
• Develop the curriculum and required material to train farmers to use existing FAO real time dynamic and centralized agricultural input and production database to support farmers with information on weather, input and production information for informed decision making. 
• Conduct above training to district based technical officers on the use of databases in 4 workshops (one per district).
•    Provide technical input towards training farmers at FFS by technical officers on the use of databases.
•    Prepare training outcome documents for all the training with necessary details.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements    

•    Advanced university degree in Agriculture or related fields.
•    A minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in conducting TOTs on paddy and other field crops.
•    Working knowledge of English and Sinhala/Tamil.
•    A national of Sri Lanka or must hold a regular work permit.

 
FAO Core Competencies

•   Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•   Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

•    Familiarity with the preparation of training material on technical details related to paddy and OFCs.
•    Prior working experience in projects

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device

FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO  Members in all regions.

• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture
• 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.