Organizational Effectiveness Consultant

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO's goal is to achieve food security for all and ensure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 195 members - 194 countries and the European Union, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide and has started working in Viet Nam since 1978 with its Representation (Country Office) opened in Ha Noi.

FAO Viet Nam is strengthening its organizational arrangements, operational processes and workforce planning to ensure that the Country Office remains fit for purpose and responsive to its current and projected programme and project portfolio. The assignment will support management in reviewing the office structure, clarifying roles and workflows, improving service delivery

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative, and under the supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative (Admin).

Technical Focus

The consultant will conduct an integrated organizational effectiveness review and develop practical, implementable tools and recommendations to improve the Country Office organizational structure, operational workflows and cost recovery for operational services.

Tasks and responsibilities

Review and visualization of Standard Operating Procedures

• Review existing Country Office SOPs and related guidance for consistency, usability and alignment with the revised organizational arrangements.
• Convert agreed SOPs into clear and user-friendly visual products, including process maps, flowcharts and swimlane diagrams.
• For each process, clearly present the main steps, responsible and accountable roles, consultation points, approval authorities, expected timelines, control points and required records.
• Identify areas requiring clarification, consolidation, simplification or update, while maintaining compliance with applicable FAO rules and procedures.

Development and optimization of key workflows

• Document the current process and develop an improved future-state workflow for priority operational areas, including travel, payment processing, procurement, recruitment and onboarding, Letter of Agreement preparation and facilitation, and event budget estimation and approval.
• Review approval chains, hand-offs, workload distribution, control points and expected turnaround times.
• Develop a responsibility assignment matrix for each priority workflow.
• Recommend options to reduce duplication, avoid unnecessary hand-offs, improve traceability and strengthen accountability and internal controls.
• Identify opportunities for appropriate digitalization or automation, subject to available corporate systems and applicable FAO requirements.

Workload assessment and operational staffing model

• Conduct a structured workload assessment of current operational functions and staffing, covering at least human resources, finance and payment processing, procurement, administration, travel, event support and project operational support.
• Assess transaction volumes, complexity, staff time, peak workload periods, existing role allocation, service demands and foreseeable requirements associated with the project pipeline.
• Identify workload imbalances, capacity constraints, single points of dependency, competency gaps and functions requiring additional or different support.
• Develop staffing scenarios and recommend an appropriate, scalable operational support model for projects, including role profiles, deployment options and prioritization principles.

Local service catalogue and price list

• Review operational support services provided by the Country Office to projects and the existing approach to estimating or recovering related costs.
• Develop a standardized local service catalogue covering, at a minimum, recruitment, travel support, payment processing, Letter of Agreement preparation and facilitation, and procurement services.
• For each service, define the service scope, inclusions and exclusions, standard activities, responsible unit, expected turnaround time, information required from the requesting project and applicable service level assumptions.
• Develop a transparent costing methodology based on documented workload drivers, staff time, direct and indirect inputs, service complexity and transaction volume, as appropriate.
• Prepare a proposed local price list showing an appropriate charging unit and rate for each service, together with the assumptions and calculation basis.
• Benchmark proposed rates against available internal data and relevant comparable arrangements, where accessible and appropriate.
• Recommend governance arrangements for approval, application, monitoring and periodic review of the service catalogue and price list, ensuring consistency with applicable FAO financial and cost-recovery rules.

Consultation, validation and implementation planning

• Review relevant policies, SOPs, organizational documents, job descriptions, workload and transaction data, project portfolio information and available cost information.
• Conduct structured consultations with management, operational personnel, programme teams and selected project personnel.
• Facilitate validation sessions on preliminary findings and incorporate agreed feedback.
• Prepare a prioritized implementation roadmap specifying actions, sequencing, responsible functions, dependencies, resource implications, risks and suggested indicators.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements    

• Advanced university degree from an institution recognized by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/UNESCO in organizational development, business administration, public administration, management, industrial engineering, organizational psychology or a related field. Consultants with bachelor's degree need two additional years of relevant professional experience.
• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience in organizational development, business process improvement, workforce planning, human resources strategy, institutional strengthening or related work, consistent with FAO Category A requirements.
• Working knowledge of English; knowledge of Vietnamese is an asset.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

•     Strong analytical, facilitation, consultation, change management, report-writing and presentation skills.

Selection Criteria

• Demonstrated experience in organizational reviews, SOP development and visualization, process mapping, workload assessment and staffing analysis.
• Demonstrated experience in developing service catalogues, costing methodologies, shared-service pricing or cost-recovery frameworks is highly desirable.
• Experience with FAO, the United Nations system, international organizations or development institutions is highly desirable.