Communication Specialist

Organizational Setting

Adopted by the FAO Conference in 2001, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) aims to facilitate the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their use.

The Benefit-sharing Fund (BSF) is a funding mechanism of the ITPGRFA and supports projects in developing countries for small-scale farmers to improve livelihoods, food security and adaptation to climate change. This is achieved by enhancing the on-farm management and improvement of plant genetic diversity, strengthening local value chains and supporting communities of practice to conserve and sustainably use plant genetic materials and related knowledge. Established by the Governing Body and operational since 2009, the Benefit-sharing Fund has supported actions in 78 developing countries through five project cycles, with each cycle building on lessons learned and good practices under the previous ones.

The BSF project PR-154-S-Brazil “Support network for local conservation (in situ/on farm) of plant genetic resources in Brazil and integration with Embrapa genebanks” is one of the 28 projects funded under the 5th BSF cycle of the ITPGRFA. The project aims to strengthen the conservation, management and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity in Brazil, with emphasis on in situ and on-farm conservation approaches. Implemented at national level, the initiative involves multiple research units and institutional partners across different Brazilian biomes and promotes the generation, systematization and dissemination of knowledge to support public policies, traditional agricultural systems and community-based conservation initiatives.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent reports to the Assistant Representative in FAO Brazil – Programme.

Technical focus

The assignment focuses on communication, visibility and knowledge management for a national, multi-institutional project. Key areas include support coordination of communication networks, development of institutional and journalistic content, support to digital communication tools, and dissemination of project results and lessons learned to policy-makers, partners and other stakeholders, with particular attention to agrobiodiversity conservation across different Brazilian biomes

Tasks and Responsibilities

In close collaboration with Office of Communications (OCC) branches and appropriate Communication focal points, the incumbent will:

• Activate and maintain a support network among the organizational communication centers of the various Embrapa research units participating in the project;
• Coordinate and articulate joint communication actions with these centers to ensure a unified and effective project narrative across the national territory;
• Produce high-quality journalistic content (articles, news releases) highlighting project activities, such as the support to Community Seed Banks (CSBs), conservation in Indigenous Lands (ILs), and Traditional Agricultural Systems (TAS).
• Contribute content to institutional websites, newsletters, reports, digital platforms, social media channels and other project-related communication channels.
• Assist in the development and implementation of the project’s web landing page by providing content for storing and sharing information on in situ/on-farm conservation.
• Support the dissemination of project results to national policy-makers and stakeholders, ensuring that lessons learned in different biomes (Amazon, Pampa, Caatinga, etc.) are accessible.
• Liaise closely with communication focal points of the participating research units and other relevant stakeholders
• Ensure the visibility of FAO's role in the project across all communication materials they develop.
• Monitor the outcomes of media outreach, providing reports to the country office´s Communicator on media appearances pertaining to project results or activities.
• Deliver audiovisual assets in high-resolution, edit pieces in various sizes and orientations to meet different usage requirements. Submit the raw footage and B-roll for video recordings.
• Organize, classify, and securely store video and photo records. Generate relevant metadata for each record, including date, place, context, participants, credit, and a description of the image.
• Secure the necessary signatures from all individuals featured in the photographs and videos on the FAO image use consent form. Subsequently, create digital copies of these forms and upload them to the project's designated image bank, ensuring each form is correctly linked to its corresponding photograph or video.

FAO Standards and guidelines:

• Liaison with OCC will be maintained, either directly or through an agreed focal point/coordinator, to ensure compliance with OCC standards, aligned messaging, and appropriate review and clearance processes.
• All communication materials will follow FAO clearance processes and comply with FAO standards, including:
  FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31: https://www.fao.org/strategic-framework/en   
  FAO social media policy and guidelines: https://www.fao.org/2/socialmedia   
  Social Media Branding Guidelines: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb5044en  
  FAOSTYLE https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb8081en   
  FAO terminology http://www.fao.org/faoterm   
  FAO Names of Countries https://www.fao.org/nocs/en      
  Story guidelines, Story template, UN map standards, FAO logo policy and related branding guidelines (available to staff). 
• Further guidance regarding FAO communications, policies and procedures can be found through the FAO intranet, OCC section.
• Videos should follow the FAO Video production guidelines: https://www.fao.org/3/cc5308en/cc5308en.pdf
• Photos should follow the FAO Photo Library Production Guidelines: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pu6vckocxhlc7fc/FAO_Guidelines_for_Photo_Production_202206.pdf?dl=0

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING:

Minimum Requirements  

• University degree in journalism;
• Minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience in institutional communication, journalism or knowledge dissemination.
• Working knowledge (level C) of Spanish and/or English, and working knowledge of Portuguese.
• Brazilian nationality

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Proven experience in producing written content for institutional purposes, including articles, news releases and reports.
• Ability to develop content for multiple communication channels, including websites, newsletters and social media.
• Familiarity with digital communication tools.
• Capacity to support communication alignment and institutional visibility at national level.
• Experience in communication related to agriculture, biodiversity, environment or rural development.
• Previous experience with the United Nations or international cooperation projects.
• Photography and/or video production skills

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION