Organizational Setting The Partnerships and UN Collaboration Division (PSU) is responsible for coordinating and overseeing the identification, strengthening and stewardship of strategic partnerships with UN agencies and non-state actors (NSAs) including the private sector, civil society, academia and research institutions, family farmers' and Indigenous Peoples' organizations and parliamentarians. It ensures that multi-stakeholder processes and strategic interventions globally and locally are an integral part of FAO's work and provide targeted support for successful collaboration with NSAs and UN agencies. The Division has the lead responsibility for the implementation of the Private Sector Strategy (2026-2031), the Civil Society Strategy, promotion of the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI), the UN Decade of Family Farming (2019-2028) and the FAO Policy on Indigenous Peoples.

It is also in charge of FAO's e-learning programmes delivered through the FAO e-learning Academy and access to scientific and technical data through knowledge platforms and enhanced information policies and standards, promotes and facilitates knowledge sharing on sustainable food security and nutrition among various stakeholders.

The position is located in the Private Sector Unit (PSUS) of the Partnerships and UN Collaboration Division at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Reporting Lines The Senior Partnerships Officer (Private Sector) reports to the Director PSU.

Technical Focus

Lead the implementation of the Organization's strategy on partnering with private sector stakeholders (renewed 2026) to accomplish FAO's mandate. This includes the generation, maintenance, monitoring and evaluation and communication of private sector engagement, in collaboration with FAO's decentralized offices and technical divisions; support for the evaluation and formalization of partnerships with private sector actors at corporate level; and capacity building and support to FAO colleagues globally on approaches, tools and methodologies to engage with the private sector. The role requires the ability to lead FAO towards substantially increased and more meaningful collaboration between FAO and the private sector, with more robust engagement and monitoring mechanisms in place.

Key Results

Leadership and conceptual thinking for the development and implementation of comprehensive private sector partnerships within and outside the Organization with national, regional and international development partners.

Key Functions

- Leads the implementation of the FAO private sector strategy at the global, regional and national level.
- Leads multidisciplinary team(s), leads and/or participates in teams/committees, leads and/or participates in organization-wide committees and represents FAO at inter-agency meetings.
- Identifies strategic collaboration and partnerships with non-state actors for the fulfilment of the FAO Strategic Framework.




- Elaborates an annual work plan with the priorities and main activities of private sector, which will be aligned with the FAO Strategic Framework and programmes.
- Implements and monitors collaborative work with partners, including meetings, joint projects, information sharing, etc.
- Provides support to staff at headquarters (HQ) and in Decentralized Offices (DOs) on the use of corporate requirements, methods and approaches related to partnerships and on managing relations with non-state actors and multi-stakeholder partnerships.
- Provides advice to FAO entities and governing bodies, and other relevant regional and national entities, on policy discussions, including the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), on multi-stakeholder partnerships.
- Oversees and reviews the quality, consistency and appropriateness of country-specific partnership materials, tools and processes.
- Plans, organizes and participates in capacity development activities.
- Leads the development and implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation system for FAO's private sector partnerships.
- Produces annual report on the implementation of the private sector strategy for the appropriate Governing Bodies.
- Performs other relevant duties as required.

Specific Functions

- Supports the coordination of the partnerships function strengthening engagement with private sector partners and other relevant non-State actors.
- Co-ordinates the preparation of reports for presentation to FAO Governing Bodies, in particular on budget/programme performance or on programmatic/ substantive issues, as appropriate.
- Supports coordination, coherence and integration of the different elements of the partnerships support function across the range of partners, with a specific focus on private sector entities, foundations, financial institutions, and investment partners.
- Proposes ways to optimize the provision of partnership services from PSU to the other divisions and to country and regional offices, including the identification of appropriate key performance indicators with a view to strengthening private sector engagement and improving service delivery efficiency.
- Performs an analysis of the process and workflows of partnering with the whole range of non-State actors and proposes ways of streamlining and further enhancing efficiency, engaging other divisions/units working on partnerships (Project Support Division, PSS, Resource Mobilization Division, PSR, South-South and Triangular Cooperation Division, PST and Legal Office, LEG inter alia).




- Advises on possible gaps in the set of existing private sector partnerships to ensure that the Organization contributes effectively to agrifood system transformation and proposes possible improvements to better support partner engagement, tracking and reporting functionalities.
- Reviews existing tools and IT platforms for the different kinds of partnerships (including the FAO's CONNECT portal) and proposes synergies and/or improvements as necessary.
- Monitors and reports on private sector partnerships and proposes solutions to establish a robust mechanism to report on partnerships in the Organization.
- Supports effective internal communication and promotes knowledge sharing, intra-office cooperation and learning by leading, coordinating and/or participating in Organization-wide working groups or committees.
- Participates in international, regional or national meetings and provides programmatic/substantive expertise on an issue or holds programmatic/substantive and organizational discussions with representatives of other institutions.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

- Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in rural development, political science, international cooperation, development or business, economics or a related field to FAO's mandate.
- Ten years of relevant experience in international cooperation and/or business (with a focus on sustainability practices and public sector partnerships), donor programmes, government institutions, other UN agencies private sector functions; civil society organizations and/or NGOs, negotiations and/or public relations/advocacy.
- Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - level B) of another FAO Official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

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.
- Work experience in resource mobilization is considered an asset.
- Demonstrated results in partnership building, effective negotiations particularly with multi-stakeholders, public relations/advocacy in the areas of food security, social and economic development.
- Extent and relevance of experience in managing relations with non-state actors, particularly the private sector.
- Extent and relevance of experience in private sector partnerships and negotiation in the UN common system with a variety of stakeholders in the areas of food security and/or rural development is considered a strong asset.
- Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of another FAO Official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is considered an asset.

📌 Senior Partnerships Officer (Private Sector) (Roma)
🏢 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
📍 Roma