FAO Young Professional Officer – Rome 2026

Contexte

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is inviting applications for a Young Professional Officer – Community-Driven Innovation position based at its headquarters in Rome, Italy. The professional-level opportunity is part of the FAO Young Professionals Programme (YPP) and is aimed at talented early-career professionals interested in agricultural innovation, agrifood systems, rural development and agroecology. The position is a P-1 staff appointment on a fixed-term basis of two years, with the possibility of extension.

The position is located within FAO’s Office of Innovation (OIN), which supports innovation across the organisation and helps strengthen innovative approaches, cooperation models and partnerships. The Young Professional Officer will report to the Innovation Officer (Farmer Field Schools) and work with other OIN teams and FAO units. The technical focus is on innovation in agrifood systems, particularly community-driven and grassroots innovation, co-creation processes, multi-actor learning and evidence generation to support agrifood systems transformation, including agroecology.

Missions et responsabilités

• Provide research, technical analysis and project-related support for assigned FAO projects, products and services.
• Analysing social, economic, environmental, technological and statistical information and contributing to documents and technical outputs.
• Maintain records, databases and web pages while providing technical support to projects.
• Identify, document and analyse farmer and community innovations, particularly those connected to agroecology.
• Support the design and implementation of community-driven, grassroots and frugal innovation activities in agrifood systems.
• Promote innovation through Farmer Field Schools.
• Support the Global Farmer Field School Platform, contribute to knowledge management and communication, and help highlight innovations emerging through Farmer Field Schools.
• Contribute to multi-actor learning and innovation processes involving Living Labs, Innovation Think Labs and communities of practice.

Profil recherché

• Applicants must hold an advanced university degree, such as a Master’s degree or equivalent, in agricultural innovation, systems agronomy, agricultural economics or a related field.
• Candidates must have at least one year of relevant experience in international development, with a focus on agrifood systems, rural development and innovation.
• Language requirements include proficiency in English at level C and intermediate proficiency at level B in another FAO official language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish.
• Candidates must be 32 years of age or younger as of 31 December of the year of application.
• The Young Professionals Programme is primarily targeted at talented and qualified professionals who are nationals of non- and under-represented countries, with priority consideration given to candidates from Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and developing countries in general.
• Desirable experience includes working with community-driven, user-driven or participatory approaches in agrifood systems, knowledge of rural development and innovation systems, and experience with Farmer Field Schools or similar farmer-participatory approaches.
• Technical knowledge in participatory research, human-centred and co-design approaches, monitoring and evaluation, theory of change, KoboToolbox, data analysis using Stata, R or Python, food security metrics, value-chain analysis and gender and social inclusion analysis can be relevant. Field experience in developing-country contexts is also desirable.

Conditions et avantages

FAO states that a competitive compensation and benefits package is offered. Subject to eligibility, benefits can include dependency allowances, rental subsidy, education grants for children, home-leave travel, 30 working days of annual leave, pension entitlements, international health insurance, optional life insurance and disability protection. The organisation also highlights flexible working arrangements and family-friendly policies as part of its workplace measures.

Dossier de candidature

• Online profile containing employment history, academic qualifications and language skills.
• A letter of motivation attached to the online profile.

Comment postuler

Candidates must apply through the official FAO recruitment portal. Applicants should create and complete an online profile and attach a letter of motivation. Only applications submitted through its recruitment portal will be considered. Candidates are encouraged to apply well before the deadline of 14 October 2026 at 11:59 PM. Reference: Post number 2008723 / FAO Young Professional Officer 2026.