Senior Project Coordinator

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO's goal is to achieve food security for all and ensure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 195 members - 194 countries and the European Union, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide and has started working in Sri Lanka since 1979 with its Representation (Country Office) opened in Colombo.  The FAO contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through its Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems, and through four Betters (Better production, Better nutrition, a Better environment and a Better life) - leaving no one behind.

FAO is implementing a United States (US) Macro Grant project in Sri Lanka aimed at strengthening the preparedness, resilience, and adaptive capacity of vulnerable farming communities facing multiple and interconnected shocks. These include the impacts of Cyclone Ditwah, disruptions associated with the Middle East crisis, and the forecasted El Niño conditions expected to affect agricultural production and water availability in the coming seasons.

The project targets smallholder paddy farmers in the districts of Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Puttalam, and Vavuniya, as well as vegetable farmers in Badulla and Nuwara Eliya. This project’s interventions seek to safeguard agricultural production, enhance food security, and strengthen livelihoods through a combination of agricultural input support, climate-resilient production practices, and anticipatory action measures.

Key project interventions include the provision of fertilizer and other essential agricultural inputs to smallholder farmers during the Maha 2026 cultivation season. Certified paddy seed producers will receive short-duration paddy seed varieties, fertilizer, hermetic storage bags, and moisture meters to support quality seed production during the Maha 2026/2027 season, ensuring the availability of suitable seed stocks for the Yala 2027 season, when water scarcity risks are expected to increase due to El Niño.

Vegetable farming households will receive quality seeds, fertilizer, and plastic crates to improve crop production and post-harvest management.

To mitigate anticipated water shortages during the Yala season, the project will promote Other Field Crop (OFC) cultivation through the provision of solar-powered irrigation pumps, supporting efficient and climate-resilient agricultural practices.

As part of a broader livelihood diversification strategy, the project will also support women farmers in Batticaloa through backyard poultry interventions, contributing to improved household income generation, nutrition, and resilience.

In addition to direct livelihood support, the project will place significant emphasis on strengthening anticipatory action systems at the local level. This will include enhancing community preparedness, early warning dissemination, risk-informed planning, and response mechanisms for both flood and drought hazards, thereby improving the capacity of farming communities and local institutions to anticipate, prepare for, and mitigate the impacts of climate-related shocks and stresses.

The Senior Project Coordinator will support effective coordination, implementation, monitoring, and delivery of project activities and contribute to achieving the expected results across all project outputs by working closely with the project team, government counterparts, implementing partners, service providers, and other relevant stakeholders.

Reporting lines

Under the overall supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative (Programme) and in close coordination with the Project Management Specialist the Senior Project Coordinator will provide coordination, administrative, operational, and technical support to ensure the efficient, timely, and effective implementation of project activities. The incumbent will work closely with government counterparts, project consultants, implementing partners, service providers, and other stakeholders to facilitate project planning, implementation, monitoring, reporting, and compliance with FAO regulations, donor requirements, and national policies. In particular, the incumbent will:

Tasks and responsibilities

Programme Coordination and Implementation

•    Coordinate and support the implementation of project activities in accordance with approved work plans, budgets, and project objectives.
•    Liaise with government institutions, implementing partners, consultants, and other stakeholders to ensure effective coordination and delivery of project interventions.
•    Support the preparation and monitoring of annual work plans, implementation schedules, and activity plans.
•    Maintain an integrated implementation tracker by Macro Grant output, district, beneficiary/household target, seasonal deadline, procurement status and budget, and promptly flag delays requiring management action.
•    Facilitate communication and collaboration among project stakeholders at national, district, and community levels.

Technical and Operational Support

•    Support the organization and implementation of training programmes, workshops, meetings, field missions, awareness programmes, and other project events.
•    Coordinate the delivery, distribution, and monitoring of project-supported inputs, equipment, and other resources.
•    Coordinate operational aspects of the IDEA digital voucher scheme, including beneficiary data preparation, local agro-dealer coordination, redemption records, issue resolution and reconciliation with relevant FAO units.
•    Assist in identifying implementation challenges and support the development of practical solutions to ensure smooth project implementation.
•    Provide operational support to project teams and consultants engaged in project activities.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting

•    Monitor project implementation progress against planned targets and timelines.
•    Collect, compile, verify, and maintain project data, records, and documentation required for monitoring and reporting purposes.
•    Consolidate beneficiary lists from field teams and support validation with the Department of Agriculture, Provincial Departments of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Development and district authorities; facilitate cross-checking with WFP records where available in common districts and ensure application of approved eligibility and vulnerability criteria.
•    Support the data flows required for baseline, seasonal and endline assessments and for reporting against the Macro Grant results framework.
•    Support the preparation of periodic progress reports, technical reports, donor reports, briefs, success stories, and other project documentation.
•    Contribute to project monitoring, evaluation, learning, and knowledge-management activities.

Administrative and Financial Coordination

•    Support administrative, procurement, and logistical processes required for project implementation in compliance with FAO procedures.
•    Assist in monitoring project expenditures and implementation activities against approved budgets.
•    Coordinate with relevant FAO units to facilitate procurement, contracting, payments, travel arrangements, and other operational requirements.
•    Track project-supported assets from procurement through delivery, beneficiary/institutional handover, operation and maintenance training, inventory update and reconciliation; support market availability and price monitoring for market-based assistance.

Stakeholder Engagement and Compliance

•    Maintain effective working relationships with government agencies, development partners, donor representatives, private-sector actors, and community organizations.
•    Support the sharing of seasonal workplans, beneficiary validation/de-duplication information, monitoring findings and relevant 5W/coordination inputs with government, WFP and other agreed coordination mechanisms.
•    Ensure that project activities are implemented in compliance with FAO policies, donor requirements, and relevant national regulations.
•    Support project audits, evaluations, monitoring missions, and review processes by providing the required information and documentation.

Other Duties

Perform any other duties as required by the Project Management Specialist, Assistant FAO Representative (Programme), and FAO management to support the successful achievement of project objectives.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements    

•    University degree in Agriculture, Public or Business Administration, Social Sciences or any another related discipline.
•    At least 4 years of relevant experience in Programme/project coordination. 
•    Working knowledge of (level C) English and Sinhala and/or Tamil.
•    National of Sri Lanka.

FAO Core Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

•    Strong coordination and stakeholder engagement skills
•    Excellent communication and reporting skills in English
•    Demonstrated professionalism, adaptability, and ability to work independently with minimal supervision in a results-oriented environment

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION