How to Get a Job at FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization Careers
FAO leads the UN's work on food, agriculture, and rural development. This guide covers FAO's roles, recruitment process, and how to become a strong candidate.
How to Get a Job at FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization Careers
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is the UN's lead agency for food security, agriculture, fisheries, and forestry. With headquarters in Rome and offices in 130 countries, FAO employs thousands of staff across a wide range of technical, policy, and operational functions. For professionals with backgrounds in agriculture, food systems, nutrition, natural resource management, or rural development, FAO represents one of the most relevant employers in the UN system.
What FAO Does
FAO's mandate spans five strategic objectives:
1. Help eliminate hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition
2. Make agriculture, forestry, and fisheries more productive and sustainable
3. Reduce rural poverty
4. Enable inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems
5. Increase the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises
This breadth creates opportunities across sectors: agronomy, fisheries management, climate-smart agriculture, food systems policy, plant and animal health, nutrition, statistics, and more.
FAO's Employment Categories
- Professional and higher categories: P1–D2 grades; internationally recruited; require a master's degree and technical expertise
- National Professional Officers (NPO): locally recruited at the country level; equivalent to P1–P4 for national professionals
- General Service: administrative and support staff at HQ and country offices
- Associate Professional Officers (APOs): equivalent to JPOs; funded by donor governments; good entry pathway
- Consultants: project-specific technical assignments
The Application Process
FAO posts all vacancies on fao.org/employment and on the iRecruitment portal. Key steps:
1. Register on iRecruitment and complete your profile in full — including your education, technical expertise areas, and publications if relevant
2. Apply to a specific vacancy and submit a cover letter addressed to the competencies listed
3. Technical assessment: FAO often includes a written technical test for professional positions, particularly in technical divisions
4. Competency-based interview: FAO uses a structured interview format similar to other UN agencies; their framework includes results, leadership, teamwork, communication, and building effective relationships
What FAO Looks For
FAO is a technical agency — it values depth of expertise in its core areas more than generalist development experience. Key assets:
- Advanced degree in agronomy, food science, economics, fisheries, forestry, nutrition, veterinary science, or a closely related field
- Field experience in developing countries applying technical knowledge (not just headquarters policy work)
- Knowledge of statistical methods and data systems used in agriculture (FAOSTAT, GAUL, SPAM)
- Familiarity with climate-smart agriculture approaches and the Paris Agreement's agricultural commitments
Associate Professional Officer (APO) Programme
FAO's APO programme is one of the best entry routes for junior professionals. APOs are junior international professionals placed in FAO country offices or technical divisions for two years, funded by their home government. Check your national government's APO or JPO programme for FAO placements.
Find FAO Roles on DevProcure
DevProcure aggregates all FAO vacancies — including professional posts, NPO positions, APO openings, and consultancies — alongside opportunities from UNDP, WFP, IFAD, and 200+ other sources. Set up a free alert for FAO roles to receive new postings by email.