Programme Policy Officer Job at World Food Programme (WFP):

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The hunger crisis in Afghanistan is unfolding at a rapid pace, with 15 million of population now facing acute food insecurity. Work opportunities are shrinking, with most households now reporting just one day of work per week. This comes on top of the worst drought in years, which is especially concerning for the 85 percent of the population who rely on agriculture for livelihoods. Preventing and mitigating a drastic increase in hunger and malnutrition is the aim of WFP in Afghanistan which can only be achieved through the scaled up and sustained complementary food security and nutrition interventions, combined with a scale-up of resilience interventions to safeguard gains. WFP has embarked on a significant month on month scale-up of its crisis response and resilience programmes across the country, ensuring that the programme is delivered at the right scale and time, targeted to the right areas. WFP is also actively following up on evolving trends to pre-empt hotspots, while guaranteeing quality and maximum impact of the programme through the monitoring of these hotspots to be able to support continued donor advocacy.

JOB PURPOSE

The Programme Policy Officer (Emergency Safety Nets) will, under the management of the Head of Emergencies and in close coordination with relevant programme units, especially the Deputy Head of Programme responsible for Social Protection across the operation, ensure the effective design, operationalization and management of transitional safety nets programming. This component is to be initially funded primarily through a World Bank project with an emphasis on Maternal and Child nutrition through cash transfers, social behavioral change interventions and complementary linkages to broader health and nutrition systems.

The role-holder will be expected to work in close coordination with Nutrition, CBT and Social Protection focal points as well as the relevant Area Offices and field teams involved in implementation. The position will require strong operational and technical competencies in the design and delivery of cash transfers in an emergency setting, data literacy, sharp analytical capacity and the ability to coordinate between multiple programmatic and field based teams in order to translate ideas into practical action across a very fast moving and large scale operation. This includes proactively identifying areas for contribution to programme design, planning and learning, and preparing and utilizing qualitative and quantitative data for programme improvement as well as participation in external project meetings, forums and reviews. A practical operational programme background will be essential, and familiarity with the key concepts of social protection.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

The Programme Policy Officer (Emergency Safety Nets) will report to the Head of Emergencies and may manage an additional national officer position working together on the safety nets component. Key responsibilities will include:

1. Proactively lead, through close coordination with relevant programme units, the overall delivery of the emergency safety net component (a major component of the operation’s overall approach to social protection) with an emphasis on operational implementation, programme quality, learning and improvement.
2. Support the development, expansion and advocacy for safety net approaches as a means of strategically transitioning large scale emergency assistance into longer term support for highly vulnerable populations who remain at risk of severe food and nutrition insecurity.
3. Contribute to formulation of WFP – wide programme policies in line with both organizational strategy and the practical realities of operating in the field; or translate programme policy into operational practices. Develop programme guidance and implementation modalities and operations, to ensure a clear and strong connection between programme policy and field operations.
4. Provide advice and support on moderately complex issues to clarify ambiguities and ensure that policy and programme operations are consistent with WFP policies, Executive Board decisions, and other relevant guidance.
5. Provide technical advice or mobilize technical expertise on programme and policy issues including assessment and analysis, the choice of objectives, activities, transfer modalities and appropriate food products, the deployment and testing of innovative approaches and the development of strategies to support efforts to reduce hunger and malnutrition.
6. Establish and maintain operational partnerships to identify opportunities for collaborative approaches and initiatives that improve assistance packages and support advocacy work.
7. Enhance WFP’s leadership status in forums relating to area of specialism through direct participation, briefings, information products and other materials.
8. Manage operational research and evidence building on issues relevant to food assistance.
9. Management the preparation and dissemination of timely analytical and critical reports, publications, and a variety of information products or proposals for internal or external use.
10. Contribute to resource mobilization efforts for WFP projects, including clearly articulating the need for food assistance and related programme opportunities, and follow up on the resource situation of projects including the commodity and cash availability, seeking advice from senior colleagues where necessary.
11. Advise and support the development of functional training in areas of expertise to enhance the capacity of WFP staff and partners to design and deliver effective food assistance programmes.
12. Lead, motivate and develop a team of staff to enable high performance.
13. Ensure the best use of assigned human and financial resources for achievement of set objectives within relevant budgets and structures.
14. Contribute to Country Office Emergency Preparedness (i.e. early warning, risk analysis, and contingency planning in order to respond to humanitarian crises and needs).
15. Other duties as required.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: 

• Postgraduate University degree in International Affairs, Law, Economics, Nutrition/Health, Agriculture, Social Sciences, Business Administration, Public Policy and/or Management or another discipline relevant to international development/humanitarian assistance.

Experience:

• Has at least 5 years’ experience in humanitarian and/or transitional operations, especially related to design and implementation of beneficiary targeting, registration, accountability to affected populations, operational information management/analysis, or delivery of cash based transfers.
• Additional experience and/or technical knowledge in relevant areas of Social Protection, capacity building, and/or complementary interventions through exposure to technical teams or demonstrated cross-functional coordination experience an asset.
• Has provided input into policy discussions and decisions.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Familiarity and comfort working with qualitative and quantitative data to produce operational and/or programmatic analysis and evidence to inform decision making.
• Ability to work under pressure, to tight deadlines, in a fast paced operational environment.
• Ability to plan own workload, with guidance on overall goals, and to meet set deadlines.
• Ability to coordinate across multiple stakeholders and communicate effectively at all levels.

Language:

• Fluency in both oral and written communication in English,

HOW TO APPLY

To be considered, interested candidates are invited to apply via (https://www.wfp.org/careers/job-openings). Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. We want to ensure the recruitment process is fully accessible. Please contact us at afg.hrrecruitment@wfp.org to advise us of any accessibility needs you may have.

WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFP’s standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment

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