Gef Portfolio Specialist

Job Posting: 18/Aug/2025

Closure Date: 01/Sep/2025, 4:59:00 PM

Organizational Unit: FLBRA

Job Type: Non-staff opportunities

Type of Requisition: NPP (National Project Personnel)

Grade Level: N/A

Primary Location: Brazil-Brasilia

Duration: 12 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 Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment (OCB) works to ensure that countries and stakeholders respond to the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. OCB provides a cross organizational coordination role on issues related to climate change, biodiversity and the environment and is the focal point to major multilateral environmental agreements including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conferences (UNFCCC), and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

OCB hosts the FAO-Global Environment Facility (GEF) Coordination Unit. GEF is a global funding mechanism for five environmental conventions. The Unit supports eligible countries to access GEF resources. FAO’s global GEF portfolio has grown rapidly and currently exceeds USD $1.8 billion, with more than 300 approved projects, mostly implemented through the Operational Partnership Implementation Modality (OPIM). Such rapid growth comes with increasing demand for portfolio monitoring, quality assurance and implementation support, in close coordination with Project Task Forces (PTF), Decentralized Offices (DO) and Corporate Units, as the GEF prioritizes enhanced efficiency in the project cycle phases and links resource availability to projects’ achieving key milestones within hard deadlines

The GEF is a multilateral family of funds dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution, and supporting land and ocean health. The GEF is a financing mechanism for five international environmental conventions: the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), the UNCBD, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the UNFCCC that could be financed by the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund, the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), the Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund (NPIF).

FAO is one of the top GEF partner implementing agencies worldwide, with a portfolio of more than 300 projects valued at more than USD 1.8 billion. FAO supports eligible countries in accessing resources from all of the GEF family of trust funds. Brazil is one of the top recipients of GEF grant assistance worldwide. The project portfolio in Brazil has a crucial importance for GEF-7 and GEF-8 cycles, and a significant potential for GEF-9.

**Reporting Lines**

The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Brazil. The incumbent will work closely with FAO colleagues in the Office of Climate, Biodiversity and Environment (OCB), the technical divisions at FAO Headquarters (Rome), and FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (FAORLC).

**Technical Focus**

The GEF Portfolio Specialist will work at the FAO Office in Brazil, in close coordination with the OCB-GEF Unit and FAO RLC to design, monitor, operationalize and implement various projects - from all GEF focal areas - and mobilize additional resources in 2025 and 2026. One of the incumbent’s key responsibilities will be to speed up the implementation of GEF-5, GEF-7 and GEF-8 projects in Brazil, and support project proponents with the development of GEF and GBFF eligible projects at the nexus between sustainable agriculture and environment. This integration can contribute to developing concepts fully aligned with GBFF and GEF-9 programming directions aimed at achieving the targets of the above-mentioned conventions, embracing the healthy planet, healthy people approach, while contributing to the achievement of FAO's 4 betters. The GEF Portfolio will lead the project implementation processes in the Country Office.

**Tasks and Responsibilities**
- Oversee and ensur