Senior Animal Health Officer

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

FAO's commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations.

The Animal Production and Health Division (NSA) promotes and facilitates the sustainable development of the livestock sector, integrating scientific and technical expertise and policy advice. It hosts technical networks in areas of animal health, genetics, feed and animal husbandry and provides analysis, policy dialogue (including intergovernmental bodies) and technical assistance to countries. It also supports emergency responses, mostly in animal health. The One Health and Disease Control Branch (NSAH-CJW) under the NSA Division leads and coordinates the prevention and control of endemic and emerging transboundary animal diseases and health threats that emerge at the animal-human-plant-environment interface including zoonoses and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

FAO supports Members in building and implementing effective collaborative One Health strategies and capacities, simultaneously addressing the health of people, animals, plants and the environment. One Health for agrifood systems transformation is a key Priority Programme Area, and part of FAO's Strategic Framework (2022-2031). The One Health and AMR Cluster coordinates and implements work across different FAO divisions to mainstream One Health and AMR in FAO activities, integrating scientific and technical expertise and policy advice. Externally, this cluster streamlines FAO collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) as the Quadripartite to address health threats at the human-animal-plant-environment interface and to promote health and sustainable development.

The position is located in the One Health and Disease Control Branch, One Health Coordination and AMR Cluster (NSAH-CJW), in the Animal Production and Health Division (NSA) at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Reporting Lines

The Senior Animal Health Officer (Antimicrobial and One Health Coordination) reports to the Chief, One Health and Disease Control Branch (NSAH/CJW), within the Animal Production and Health Division (NSA).

Technical Focus

The technical focus is on One Health in Agrifood Systems Framework in animal health and production systems, including herd and flock health, disease prevention, biosecurity and hygiene, responsible antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) mitigation. Areas of work include production diseases, endemic and epidemic diseases of public health and socio-economic importance, epidemiology and surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, AMR and antimicrobial use (AMU) surveillance, risk management, value chain approaches, and strategic interventions to strengthen animal health, One Health and sustainable livestock development. The position promotes multisectoral collaboration and partnerships to advance disease prevention, control and AMR mitigation in agrifood systems supporting implementation of the One Health Joint Plan of Action, the Global Action Plan on AMR, the FAO Resolution on AMR, and the UNGA Political Declaration on AMR.

Key Results

Leadership and technical policy expertise for the planning, development and implementation of divisional/cross-divisional programmes of work, projects, products, services in accordance with One Health domain of the FAO Strategic Framework.

Key Functions

•          Plans, manages, or leads highly specialized or multidisciplinary teams, leads, coordinates, and/or participates in Organization-wide, cross-divisional committees, project teams, and working groups, and/or provides technical leadership/secretariat services on technical networks and/or international technical policy and standard setting bodies.
•          Analyses global and country specific requirements and relevant technical issues to provide critical input into the FAO Strategic Framework, Programme of Work, work plans and the supporting budgets and/or resourcing strategies.
•          Implements and monitors programmes of work involving the development of the approach, evidence-based strategies, and related tools, methodologies and the supporting system/database, monitoring and reporting frameworks.
•          Conducts, designs and oversees research and analysis' activities to support the development of technical standards, international instruments, innovation, technical reports, publications and/or on-going programme development as well as the provision of technical and/or policy advisory services.
•          Provides technical and policy advice to Members and technical support to Decentralized Offices in the development and implementation of their programmes.
•          Leads and/or collaborates in, provides technical backstopping to and ensures the quality/effectiveness of capacity development and knowledge sharing activities within Members such as policy support, organizational development and individual learning events including preparation of related information, learning, on-line tools.
•          Represents the Organization at international meetings and conferences, identifies and implements strategic partnerships, advocates best practices and increased policy dialogue and develops and negotiates effective working relationships/consensus and agreements with international and national stakeholders.
•          Leads and/or participates in resource mobilization activities in accordance with the FAO Strategic Framework.

Specific Functions

• Leads and coordinates FAO's AMR and One Health work in agrifood systems, ensuring alignment across divisions, Decentralized Offices and corporate priorities, while promoting innovation and scaling effective approaches to strengthen country implementation of National Action Plans on AMR and National One Health Implementation. 

• Leads and coordinates FAO's One Health Technical Working Group with relevant divisions, centres and offices across the Organization. 

• Leads corporate planning, programme development, monitoring and reporting on One Health and AMR, including strategic advice to governing bodies and senior management. 

• Oversees the quality and continuous improvement of technical, policy and programmatic products (guidance, reports, knowledge and advocacy materials, project documents, investment proposals and monitoring frameworks). 

• Coordinates FAO's engagement in Quadripartite One Health and AMR mechanisms, ensuring alignment with FAO's Strategic Framework and strong integration of agrifood priorities including implementation of the One Health Joint Plan of Action and the Global Leaders Group recommendations, as appropriate. 

• Leads the development and implementation of FAO corporate strategies and programmes on One Health and AMR, including the AMR roadmap and One Health in Agrifood Systems framework.  

• Provides oversight of flagship initiatives (e.g. RENOFARM, InFARM) and their integration into country support, surveillance, capacity development and policy dialogue including strengthening national AMR and AMU surveillance systems and promoting evidence-based decision-making. 

• Provides technical and policy advice to Members and Decentralized Offices on strategies, national action plans and programme implementation. 

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• Leads resource mobilization and partnerships, including donor engagement, proposal development and investment cases supporting sustainable financing for One Health and AMR programmes at global, regional and country levels.

• Strengthens collaboration with key partners (Quadripartite, academia, private sector and others) to advance coordinated action. 

• Promotes the development and implementation of integrated AMR surveillance, laboratory capacity, antimicrobial stewardship, and data-driven monitoring systems across terrestrial and aquatic animal production systems, in collaboration with national and international partners. 

• Ensures integration of sustainability, gender, inclusion, country ownership and capacity development, translating global commitments into practical, result-driven action.

   

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•         Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in biology, life sciences, veterinary medicine, or related field.
•        Ten years of relevant experience in animal health and production, public health, disease prevention and management, including regulatory aspects, standard setting, medical microbiology and/or epidemiology with demonstrated experience in One Health and antimicrobial resistance programmes at international level and in national institutes.
•        Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - level B) of another FAO official language (Chinese, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian).

Competencies

•          Results Focus
•          Leading, Engaging and Empowering
•          Communication
•          Partnering and Advocating
•          Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
•          Strategic Thinking

Technical/Functional Skills

• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions, is essential.
• At least two years of relevant work experience in AMR and animal health in more than one location, particularly in field positions or in direct support to countries and regions, is essential.
• Extent and relevance of experience in One Health and/or AMR coordination and programming in agrifood systems at international, regional and country levels, including multidisciplinary approaches to disease prevention, management and socio-economic implications.
• Extent and relevance of knowledge of One Health and/or AMR in food and agriculture, including multisectoral coordination across animal, plant, food, environmental and public health sectors; responsible use of antimicrobials and reduction of the need for antimicrobials; surveillance and evidence generation; food safety and animal health systems; and implementation of national One Health strategies and AMR national action plans.
• Extent and relevance of experience in coordinating multidisciplinary and interagency initiatives, including with international organizations, global partnerships, regional bodies, national authorities and global governance or standard-setting mechanisms.
• Extent and relevance of experience in planning, implementing, monitoring and reporting programmes and projects in development organizations, including capacity development, knowledge generation, policy dialogue and communication for policy uptake and country-level implementation, including monitoring frameworks and results-based reporting.
• Proven ability to develop project proposals, investment cases and resource mobilization strategies, and to organize high-level international meetings, consultations, seminars and training courses.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the One Health Joint Plan of Action, the FAO One Health in Agrifood Systems Framework, the Global Action Plan on AMR, the FAO Resolution on AMR, the UNGA Political Declaration on AMR, and the Quadripartite collaboration (FAO, WHO, WOAH and UNEP).
• Demonstrated experience supporting AMR surveillance systems, including laboratory networks, epidemiological analysis, antimicrobial use monitoring, and data management platforms such as the International FAO Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring (InFARM) system.
• Ability to edit and write clearly and concisely technical content for publications by Digital and AI tools.