CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST - VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT: 2002499

Organizational Setting

The FAO Regional Office for Asia Pacific (RAP) is building an ambitious programme of transboundary water management projects in partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) International Waters portfolio. FAO seeks an experienced International Waters specialist to lead the programme, both in terms of managing the active projects and developing new project opportunities, from within the RAP Natural Resources Management (NRM) Group.   

Reporting lines

The incumbent will work under the overall managerial administrative leadership of the Assistant Director-General (ADG) for Asia and the Pacific, direct supervision of the NRM Group Leader, RAP and in close collaboration with the GEF Technical Officer, RAP, the GEF International Waters (IW) Technical Officer, GEF Unit, the Country Support Group, RAP and the NRM Group, RAP.

Technical Focus

• Water resources management for sustainable agriculture in Asia Pacific, including irrigation, climate change, water-food-energy trade-offs, water quality and agrochemicals, water and food security, source to sea management, etc.
• Transboundary water management, law and negotiation processes.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Lead the development of new GEF Project Identification Forms (PIFs) to augment the IW programme in Asia, including liaison with country teams and help drive the required national political negotiations.
• Secure Letters of Endorsement and donor approval for the existing PIFs (
• Respond to requests for further information from GEFSEC and GEF Council Members and updating documents accordingly
• Seek opportunities for new projects (new transboundary water bodies and/or thematic issues) to continue to augment the RAP program
• Ensure a coherent and consistent technical and socio-political approach to the IW portfolio in Asia, utilising economies of scale where possible
• Utilise the existing IW projects to help countries leverage new resources from bilateral and multilateral donors;
• Contribute to evolving RAP and FAO GEF policies, strategies and procedures (from the perspective of IW and including for GEF-8);
• Provide specific IW inputs to RAP work planning processes for 2021
• Undertake all activities required of FAO Lead Technical Officer for the existing IW programme, meeting all GEF and FAO requirements and deadlines, including:
  • Initiate the full-sized Song Ma Song Ca project in Lao PDR and Viet Nam.
  • Lead the on-going GEF Project Preparation Grant (PPG) process for the Mekong Delta Aquifer project (Cambodia and Viet Nam) including supervising international and national consultants, technical oversight of all documents and working closely with the Budget Holder in RAP on implementation arrangements.
  • Lead the transition from PIF to Project Preparation Grant phase for the Panj River Basin project (Afghanistan and Tajikistan) including supervising international and national consultants, technical oversight of all documents and working closely with the Budget Holder on implementation arrangements.
  • Lead the transition from PIF to Project Preparation Grant phase for the Pacific volcanic groundwater project (Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu) including supervising international and national consultants, technical oversight of all documents and working closely with the Budget Holder on implementation arrangements.

• Provide technical oversight as Responsible Officer for ongoing Letters of Agreement (LOAs) with partners in the IW programme portfolio and support development of new LOAs as needed;
• Work closely with the RAP Country Support Group to help develop new operational processes suitable for executing transboundary IW projects;
• Support the GEF International Waters (IW) Technical Officer, GEF Unit to work with IW LEARN to ensure high awareness and regional level learning from the RAP programme.

For more information on the requirements of the position and how to apply, please visit the official vacancy posting on the FAO website.