Programme Policy Officer at The United Nations World Food Programme

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Programme Policy Officer (Home-Grown School Feeding) SC9

Job ID: 142838
Location: Abuja
Employment Type: Full-time

Job Purpose

The Role of WFP In School Health And Nutrition:

• Globally, school feeding programmes have grown dramatically in quality and quantity over the last decade. It is countries and national governments which have driven this change: they invest most and make the biggest difference on the ground.
• In Nigeria, and as part of its technical support to strengthen existing social protection mechanisms and programmes (Strategic Outcome 4) WFP is working closely with the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHADMSD) to strengthen the government-led National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP).
• It is also clear that development partners can help strengthen and accelerate these government-led efforts, and that key changes to policy have played an important role in the growing sophistication of the programmes. WFP, as the United Nations lead on school feeding, has played important global roles both as a partner and as a catalyst for change; and is now taking more deliberate steps to strengthen and more clearly define these roles in the future, including in support of government-led school feeding programmes.
• Based on a recent WFP assessment of the NHGSFP focusing on policy and strategy, programme design and implementation, as well as monitoring and reporting, WFP is defining its technical support in these domains, in line with the assessment recommendations and in close consultation and collaboration with the FMHADMSD.
• To support this effort and subsequent WFP initiatives as part of its technical support to the Government of Nigeria, WFP is seeking to fill the position of Home-Grown School Feeding Officer (National Position).

Key Accountabilities (not all-inclusive)

Accountabilities / Responsibilities:
Under the overall supervision of the Head of Capacity Strengthening and Policy Coherence unit, the incumbent will perform the following duties

• Contribute towards the development of capacity strengthening activities in the area of Home-Grown School Feeding in close consultation with relevant government and other stakeholders;
• Conduct required research and analyses in support of unit objectives, including on Home-Grown School Feeding global practices, to inform the development of context-specific models for Nigeria, as appropriate;
• Support the identification of potential partnerships to strengthen WFP’s technical support including with donor countries;
• Support with the design of a strategic and coherent technical support package in keeping with WFP’s mandate and areas of expertise, and support its high-quality implementation;
• Provide project management support to the identified and agreed upon technical support package;
• Assist with organizing discussions, workshops, trainings and coordinating field missions;
• Support inter-unit tasks and provide inputs to other WFP units, as required.

Deliverables At The End Of The Contract:

• Supported the coordination of high-quality technical support to the government’s Home-Grown School Feeding Programme;
• Supported the strengthening of WFP internal coordination on the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (Headquarters, Regional Bureau, and within the Country Office itself);
• Provided effective project management support on WFP’s key Home-Grown School Feeding activities.
• Helped strengthen WFP’s engagement in support of the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme in partnership with relevant external stakeholders;

4Ps Core Organisational Capabilities

Purpose:

• Be a force for positive change: Flexibly adapts individual contributions to accommodate changes in direction from supervisors and internal/external changes (such as evolving needs of beneficiaries, new requirements of partners).
• Make the mission inspiring to our team: Recognizes and shares with team members the ways in which individual contributions relate to WFP’s mission.
• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Understands WFP’s Strategic Objectives and the link to own work objectives.
• Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Sets own goals in alignment with WFP’s overall operations, and is able to communicate this link to others.

People:

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Assesses own strengths and weaknesses to increase self-awareness, and includes these in conversations on own developmental needs.
• Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Proactively seeks feedback and coaching to build confidence, and develop and improve individual skills.
• Create an inclusive culture: Participates in open dialogue, and values the diverse opinion of others, regardless of background, culture, experience, or country assignment.
• Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Participates in accomplishing team activities and goals in the face of challenging circumstances.

Performance:

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Shows willingness to explore and experiment with new ideas and approaches in own work.
• Make commitments and make good on commitments: Commits to upholding individual accountabilities and responsibilities in the face of ever-changing country or functional priorities.
• Focus on getting results: Consistently delivers results within individual scope of work on time, on budget and without errors.
• Be Decisive: Makes rational decisions about individual activities when faced with uncertain circumstances, including in times of ambiguity regarding information or manager direction.

Partnership:

• Connect and share across WFP units: Seeks to understand and adapt to internal or cross-unit teams’ priorities and preferred working styles.
• Be politically agile & adaptable: Portrays an informed and professional demeanor toward internal and external partners and stakeholders.
• Build strong external partnerships: Demonstrates ability to understand and appropriately respond to and/or escalate needs of external partners.
• Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Provides operational support on analyses and assessments that quantifies and demonstrates WFP’s unique value as a partner.

Functional Capabilities:

• Broad Knowledge of Specialized areas (i.e. Nutrition, VAM, etc.): Demonstrates the ability to interpret basic data in the context of WFP specialised fields to contribute to technical programme design, implementation and monitoring.
• Emergency Programming: Displays ability to translate understanding of programme principles in emergencies and protracted conflict situations into relevant, effective, and context specific approaches.
• Strategic Policy Engagement w/ Government: Develops thorough recommendations using multiple inputs (e.g., government counsel, research, own experience) to strengthen national or subnational entities and government owned food and nutrition security programmes.
• Programme Lifecycle & Food Assistance: Displays ability to identify the main hunger problem at the national or subnational level to design and implement context-specific programmes that integrate complex analysis and the full range of food assistance tools.
• Transfer Modalities (Food, Cash, Voucher): Demonstrates ability to analyse and consolidate quantitative and qualitative information from different sources (e.g., market studies) to inform transfer modality selection and programme development.

Standard Minimum Qualifications

• Education: Advanced University degree in International Affairs, Economics, Nutrition/Health, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Social Sciences or other field relevant to international humanitarian and/or development assistance.
• Has experience working in the area of food security, nutrition and/or health. Experience in school health and nutrition would be an asset;
• Language: Fluency (level C) in English language, both spoken and written.
• Experience: At least four (4) years of relevant postgraduate professional experience required.
• Knowledge & Skills: Has experience working together with or for the government, United Nations, and/or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the area of humanitarian and/or development assistance.

Desired Experiences For Entry Into The Role:

• Has the ability to communicate effectively with a broad range of stakeholders.
• Has the ability to work effectively in close collaboration with others as well as the ability to complete individual tasks under minimal supervision.
• Has experience with providing input into strategic discussions and decisions;
• Has experience in supporting the implementation of programmes and activities;
• Has the ability to operate in a challenging and fast-paced environment and can effectively manage workload and competing priorities;

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:     
Click here to apply 

Note

• Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply.
• Only Nigerian national (or residents with valid residence and work permits) are eligible to apply.
• Applications must be submitted online and in English only.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.  Canvassing of any sort will lead to automatic disqualification of the concerned applicant
• No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.
• Female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply
• WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

Application Deadline: 13th July, 2021.