GIS (Geographic Information System) and Remote Sensing (RS) Specialist

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.

The FAO Representation in Ghana is the body in charge of ensuring liaison between FAO and the Government of Ghana and is the first port of call for analyzing and appraising government assistance requests; identifying, formulating, implementing and monitoring all FAO programmes and projects; managing all phases of the project cycle for national projects for which operational and budget holder responsibilities have been assigned by the Technical Cooperation Department; identifying opportunities for collaboration, and mobilizing technical and operational support from the Regional Office, Headquarters and other funding sources as appropriate.

FAO Ghana’s programme of work is guided by the Country Programming Framework (CPF) 2023-2025. In line with Priority 3 of the CPF - Increased resilience to climate change through sustainable natural resource management, ecosystem services, anticipatory action, and climate justice - and aligned with its mandate and comparative advantage, FAO works on enhancing disaster risk reduction (DRR), to protect food security and agriculture, amongst others through early warning and anticipatory action interventions.

The Government of Ghana and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations are current implementing various initiatives in this area. The projects “Strengthening Resilience of Vulnerable Communities in Northern Ghana Through Climate-Resilience” (GCP/GHA/043/NOR) and “ Increasing climate resilience and improving farmers livelihoods in Ghana’s Upper East region” (OSRO/GHA/042/CAN), will 1) Strengthen multi-hazard early warning systems and anticipatory actions mechanisms, and 2) Strengthen capacities of key stakeholders and communities on DRR in agriculture in the Upper East and Savannah regions. Furthermore, FAO is supporting the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to develop a comprehensive National DRR Strategy and Action plan.

Reporting Lines

The GIS (Geographic Information System) and Remote Sensing (RS) Specialist will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative for Ghana in close collaboration with the Programme/Operations/Administrative Units and in consultation with the Lead Technical Officer (LTO) and other relevant Technical Units in the Regional Office for Africa (RAF), Sub- Regional Office for Western Africa (SFW) and headquarters (including Agro-Informatics platform team - HiH team).

Technical Focus 

The GIS and RS Specialist will support the technical planning and implementation of the Early Warning and Anticipatory Action components of the projects “Strengthening Resilience of Vulnerable Communities in Northern Ghana Through Climate-Resilience” (GCP/GHA/043/NOR) and “Increasing climate resilience and improving farmers livelihoods in Ghana’s Upper East region” (OSRO/GHA/042/CAN).

Additionally, the Specialist will support other Early Warning (EW) and Anticipatory Action (AA) programmes and activities in Ghana related to 1) disaster risk knowledge; 2) observation, monitoring, analysis, and forecasting; 3) warning dissemination and communication; 4) preparedness, anticipatory action and response capabilities. The Specialist will work across all components, with a focus on the development of technical products and services around observation, monitoring, analysis, and forecasting.

Tasks and responsibilities

•    Contribute to the technical design of FAO supported early warning systems and anticipatory action mechanisms.
•    Lead the development of geospatial data collection protocols, storage, transmission and analysis of geospatial data.
•    Support the development of statistical tools and techniques for multi-hazard monitoring.
•    Identify and propose data sources as well as stakeholders whose systems could be useful for unilateral data integration.
•    Seek and design Application Programming Interface (APIs) for integration of such data or with stakeholders’ systems as will be identified.
•    Develop protocols, tools or techniques to automate routine analysis of related hazard monitoring variables.
•    Design, maintain and update geospatial databases as needed
•    Develop training materials for GIS, remote sensing, data analysis, and visualization, and deliver workshops / training events for FAO field staff and the government.
•    Produce and/or review (ensure quality of) maps and other products based on geospatial and remote sensing data as requested.
•    Maintain a database of quality-assured base layers including and not limited to administrative, hydrographic, climatological, and demographic layers.
•    Utilize GIS tools and remote sensing techniques to analyse and assess hazard-prone areas, vulnerability, and exposure to natural disasters.
•    Provide training and technical support to staff and stakeholders on GIS and remote sensing applications.
•    Supports and participates in field missions, including provision of guidance to external consultants, government officials and other parties.
•    Perform all other duties as would be required in relation to remote sensing, data analysis, automation and integration.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    Advanced University Degree in Geospatial Sciences, Remote Sensing, Geography, Environmental Science, or a related field.
•    Minimum 5 years of relevant professional experience in GIS and remote sensing, preferably in the context of disaster risk management or early warning systems.
•    Working knowledge of English
•    National of Ghana

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    Work experience in more than one location or area of work.
•    Extent and relevance of experience in GIS and remote sensing applications
•    Extent and relevance of experience in computer programming languages such as python.
•    Knowledge of spatial modeling and prediction techniques.
•    Familiarity with geospatial databases and data management practices.
•    Experience with remote sensing data processing and analysis.
•    Extent of experience in disaster risk management/reduction, food security and/or agricultural meteorology.
•    Experience in working with government partners at different levels.
•    Demonstrated ability to open to innovative approaches and new practices.
•    Ability to deliver project outputs in a timely manner with high standard quality.
•    Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills within team and with external stakeholders.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION