Job Posting: 25/Jun/2025 Closure Date: 09/Jul/2025, 4:59:00 PM Organizational Unit: OIN - Office of Innovation Job Type: Non-staff opportunities Type of Requisition: Consultant Grade Level: N/A Primary Location: Italy-Rome Duration: 11 months Post Number: N/A IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device
- FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture.
- Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented Members and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply;
- Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold FAO's values
- FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination
- FAO’s commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations._ **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 Office of Innovation (OIN) is an important instrument within FAO to provide strategic direction and help drive and coordinate innovation across the work of the Organization, i.e., to consolidate and strengthen FAO's innovative spirit, including the innovation of approaches and cooperation models.



OIN supports the Programme Priority Areas, ensuring that FAO mainstreams innovation in its programs, facilitates cross-collaboration between the various FAO units, and aids in forging and reinforcing transformative partnerships. The Office of Innovation has established the Acceleration Zone (AZ) in FAO’s HQ in Rome. The AZ is a space dedicated to FAO teams that need innovative facilitation services to conduct collaborative workshops through which they can address problems or issues preventing the delivery of projects or programs they are responsible for. By leveraging innovative facilitation techniques, Acceleration Zone helps FAO teams accelerate the delivery of impactful programs and projects. Through its services, the AZ contributes to the mainstreaming in FAO of an innovation culture. **Reporting Lines** The Facilitation Specialist (Facilitation and Design Thinking) reports to the Innovation Officer (Innovation Accelerator) who is responsible for the managing of the AZ. S/he works in close collaboration with other technical staff in OIN’s Venture Team and across OIN. **Technical Focus** The Facilitation Specialist will also support teams in developing pitches for specific projects, with the objective of developing proposals that can make an impact on audiences, including donors or partners.



The incumbent will contribute to the continuous improvement of the AZ service offerings by co-developing facilitation tools, piloting new formats, building internal capacity, and ensuring that services are responsive to the evolving needs of FAO and its partners. The incumbent will design, implement, and evaluate services offered at the AZ in accordance with FAO’s Strategic Framework and policies. **Tasks and responsibilities**
- Facilitate design thinking sessions encompassing needs assessment, empathy mapping, and ideation.
- Facilitate different stages of the innovation process, including sourcing, design, implementation, and scaling using MG Taylor, design thinking and other participatory tools.
- Oversee 'test and learn' approaches for continuous evaluation and improvement of prototypes and pilot initiatives.
- Incorporate user feedback to make iterative enhancements to the solutions developed.
- Provide extensive support for innovation initiatives by integrating human-centric design principles.
- Participate in multi-disciplinary teams, and/or lead working groups/teams, collaborate with other departments and agencies on work groups and committee and promote best practices.
- Engage in planning and contributing to AZ workshops, conferences, and meetings by suggesting agenda items, and preparing essential documentation and presentations that align with innovation and design thinking principles.
- Support comprehensive field missions that focus on implementing innovative solutions, offering expert advice to consultants, government officials, and other stakeholders on organizing mission activities and compiling reports on findings and outcomes.
- Offer expert recommendations on the use of innovation methodologies in the formulation of projects, policies, and strategies, as well as establishi

📌 Facilitation Specialist (Facilitation and Design Thinking) (Roma)
🏢 Fao
📍 Roma