National Climate Change Planning Specialist

Organizational Context

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) supports sustainable agrifood systems for better production, nutrition, environment, and life. The FAO Subregional Office for the Pacific Islands (SAP), established in 1996 in Samoa, coordinates FAO's work across 14 Pacific nations. SAP oversees programmes addressing food security, nutrition, agriculture, and rural development, with a focus on gender, climate change adaptation, and anticipatory action, while maintaining relations with regional institutions.

Job Purpose

The National Climate Change Planning Specialist will support Samoa's climate change resilience efforts by contributing to the Readiness Needs Assessment (RNA), National Designated Authority (NDA) capacity building, Country Programme development, and visioning processes. This role involves conducting prefeasibility studies and developing a project concept note for a Green Climate Fund (GCF) project. A key responsibility is ensuring the project aligns with national climate change planning, facilitating communication between government departments, and supporting the NDA throughout project implementation, including capacity enhancement.

Responsibilities

The specialist will analyze Samoa’s climate change policies and regulations relevant to the Readiness project. Responsibilities include gathering information on private sector engagement in climate action and best practices for encouraging climate investments. The role involves supporting the drafting of concept notes and Terms of Reference (TOR) for GCF Readiness activities, and contributing to the co-design of a GCF project concept note for agri-food systems and water. Monitoring climate change developments and GCF projects, ensuring alignment with other initiatives, and drafting Back-to-Office Reports (BTORs) and meeting proceedings are also key. The specialist will support the results framework, monitoring, evaluation, and learning plan, gather literature, and report on project implementation. Coordination with the NDA Secretariat and relevant ministries, drafting meeting minutes, and supporting stakeholder meetings, workshops, and capacity development events are crucial.

Work Experience

Requires a university degree in a relevant field such as climate change, environmental science, or agriculture. A minimum of three years of demonstrated experience in climate change adaptation, planning, policy, and program implementation is necessary. Proficiency in English and national status in Samoa are essential.

Skills

Key skills include results focus, teamwork, communication, building effective relationships, and knowledge sharing. Experience in climate change adaptation planning, policy, and program management is essential. Familiarity with the situation in Samoa and Pacific Small Island Developing States is beneficial. Experience working with international organizations, managing climate change projects, proposal writing, and developing capacity-building materials is advantageous. Strong analytical, communication, and writing skills, with the ability to produce concise technical reports in English, are highly valued. Understanding of government processes and policy planning is also important.

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