Senior Digital Agriculture And Innovation Specialist

roma, lazio, Italy Company: JR Italy Client / Employer: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsOverview

Senior Digital Agriculture and Innovation Specialist provides senior‑level technical expertise to support FAO's Digital Agriculture programme across Europe and Central Asia. The role oversees the Digital Villages Initiative, Hand-in-Hand initiative and related projects, developing strategies, tools and capacity to promote digital transformation of agriculture.

• Lead and manage the digital agriculture programme and project portfolio across the region, ensuring technical supervision, reporting and monitoring.
• Develop analytical frameworks, methodologies and diagnostic tools to assess digital agriculture readiness and innovation systems.
• Supervise implementation of the Digital Villages Initiative and Hand-in-Hand initiative, ensuring successful delivery and outreach.
• Embed digitalisation in regional priority programmes and Country Programme Frameworks, ensuring synergies with cross‑programmes (youth, gender).
• Mainstream innovation and technology across the region to support Science and Innovation as Lead Technical Officer on large‑scale multi‑partner projects and technical cooperation projects.
• Build strategic partnerships with organisations such as ITU, UNDP, WTO and private sector, representing REU at high‑level forums.
• Lead outreach, dissemination and capacity‑development events on digital agriculture.
• Allocate resources and manage budgets and technological assets to achieve programme goals.
• Mobilise resources to grow the digitalisation, innovation and HiH investment portfolio.
• Provide technical inputs and supervise publications on digital agriculture.
• Prepare technical background documents and organise panels for governing body meetings.
• Manage the REU Digital Agriculture Team, identifying expertise gaps and mentoring staff and consultants.
• Scale the FAO AgriTech Observatory as a data‑driven knowledge base and related duties as required by the Regional Office.

Advanced university degree in Agricultural Science or a comparable field.