Role overview
Job Posting: 28/Jan/2026
Closure Date: 11/Feb/2026, 4:59:00 PM
Organizational Unit: ESS
Job Type: Non-staff opportunities
Type of Requisition: Consultant / PSA (Personal Services Agreement)
Grade Level: N/A
Primary Location: Italy-Rome
Duration: 11 months (with possibility of extension)
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
- All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
- All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality
FAO’s commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations.
What we're looking for
- Demonstrated proficiency and extensive experience in performing the above-mentioned tasks and responsibilities in relevant statistical or data science fields.
- Experience in data exploration, preprocessing, and transformation techniques for handling diverse data types, including structured and unstructured formats like text, images, and time-series data. Proficient in statistical analysis and feature engineering to create informative predictors and enhance model performance. Experienced in a variety of machine learning classification models and clustering algorithms. Competent in evaluating and optimizing models using metrics. Knowledgeable in ETL processes and data engineering.
- Strong foundation in deploying, fine-tuning, and customizing Large Language Models (LLM) for NLP tasks. Experienced with models such as GPT, BERT, and T5, applying them to tasks like text generation, summarization, translation, classification and sentiment analysis. Skilled in fine-tuning LLMs on domain-specific data using frameworks like Hugging Face Transformers and TensorFlow or PyTorch. Proficient in Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) models.
- Proficient in Python (with extensive use of libraries such as Pandas, NumPy, Scikit-learn, TensorFlow) and R for data manipulation, model development, and deployment. Skilled in data collection methods, including web scraping, API integration, and working with distributed data processing tools like Spark, Hadoop, and Dask. Knowledgeable in SQL and NoSQL databases for data storage and querying. Experienced in creating and optimizing ETL pipelines and understanding big data principles for handling and processing large-scale datasets. Skilled in cloud computing platforms like GCP (preferably), AWS, or Azure for scalable data science solutions.
- Knowledge of a second FAO language will be considered an asset.
- Ability to draft quickly, clearly and concisely and to communicate effectively in English.
- Ability to work with a high degree of autonomy in complex analytical assignments, while coordinating effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Previous working experience with FAO and its partners in the above-mentioned domains and tasks would be an asset.
- Experience in the provision of technical assistance to countries and/or professional experience in national statistical services.
Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency
- To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, and language skills
- Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile
- Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application
Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/. These qualifications should be in alignment with the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) mappings.
Candidates may be requested to provide performance assessments and authorization to conduct verification checks of past and present work, character, education, military and police records to ascertain any and all information which may be pertinent to the employment qualifications
Incomplete applications will not be considered
Personal information provided on your application may be shared within FAO and with other companies acting on FAO’s behalf to provide employment support services such as pre-screening of applications, assessment tests, background checks and other related services. You will be asked to provide your consent before submitting your application. You may withdraw consent at any time, by withdrawing your application, in such case FAO will no longer be able to consider your application
Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered
Your application will be screened based on the information provided in your online profile
We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.
If you need help or have queries, please create a one-time registration with FAO’s client support team for further assistance: **https://fao.service-now.com/csp
FAO IS A NON-SMOKING ENVIRONMENT