Targeting & prioritisation – CST-I

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Job Title Programme Policy Officer – Targeting and Prioritisation

Type of Contract CST-I

Unit/Division Emergencies & Transitions Unit (PRO-P)

Duty Station (City, Country) HQ – Rome, Italy

Duration 11 months

ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT

Assisting more than 100 million people in over 80 countries each year, the World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian food security organisation – saving and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies, and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. To achieve its mandate, WFP must ensure that it reaches the right people and that it manages its relationship with those individuals and their communities in a responsible, accountable, and effective manner.

Guided by WFP’s Strategic Plan (2022-2025), the Emergencies and Transitions Unit (PRO-P) is responsible for key thematic areas critical to achieving people-centred programming:[1] protection, conflict sensitivity, accountability to affected populations, humanitarian access and principles, beneficiary data privacy, protection and management. PRO-P has recently restructured, shifting from a thematic- to function-based model to better integrate thematic content and deliver support to field operations across the programme cycle.

PRO-P functions through two interdependent pillars: 1. Strategy and Partnerships: helping position WFP within the wider humanitarian and development spheres; and 2. Programme and Field Support: focused on the design and operationalisation of innovative programme models to bridge the policy to practice gap. These two pillars are supported by an Evidence Building, Knowledge Management and Learning team.

In support of the implementation of the protection and accountability policy and the forthcoming conflict sensitivity mainstreaming strategy, the Programme and Field Support team (PFS) is responsible for developing people-centered standards, guidance and tools. Within the PFS team, a Data & Analytics team is responsible for providing improved access to data and analysis systems and capabilities required to establish and achieve people-centred programming standards and guidance.

A recent internal audit emphasised the need to “establish targeting as one of the core activities of WFP’s operations” and noted that the organisational capacity in terms of targeting and prioritisation requires strengthening. COVID-19 has increased the demand for guidance and support on targeting and prioritisation, including in urban spaces where WFP is increasingly operating.

Recognising the cross-functional nature of targeting, PRO-P seeks a Programme Policy Officer – Targeting and Prioritisation (CST-I) to support WFP’s targeting strengthening initiatives in order to address challenges and accountability issues related to targeting and prioritization.

JOB PURPOSE

Under the direct supervision of the Targeting and Prioritisation Officer (CST-II), who reports to the Head of Programme Field Support Team, the incumbent will, in close collaboration and coordination with headquarter and regional bureau RAM colleagues, support efforts to ensure targeting processes are leveraged as an opportunity to work alongside the people WFP serves to develop culturally appropriate and locally relevant processes to achieve better, higher quality programmes, increased transparency and fairness and better use of resources. This responsibility responds to the Executive’s January 2022 memo on the strategic priorities for 2022. The incumbent will have experience in community-based participatory targeting and good working knowledge of WFP’s programme modalities to support strategic engagement with regional bureaus and country offices on targeting issues and the development of a practical and relevant toolkit. The incumbent will support collaboration with the PRO-P Evidence Building, Knowledge Management and Learning team to develop and deliver learning products and services.

The incumbent will be based in Rome, Italy, with travel to regional bureaux and country offices as required, including travel to hardship duty stations.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive, within delegated authority):

1. Establish and implement a work plan for enhanced targeting and prioritisation capacity, including the mapping of targeting realities, mapping of business processes, and the building of an operational framework, to drive high-level collaborative engagement with between programme and RAM functions at headquarter and regional levels.
2. Support the development of evidence-based, field-tested guidance to inform targeting and prioritisation decisions, in collaboration with all relevant internal and external stakeholders. Manage or oversee operational research and evidence building on issues relevant to targeting.Document good practice using the evidence building and knowledge management template.
3. Support the collaboration with monitoring colleagues to identify structures and systems to monitor the effectiveness of targeting processes and outcomes, including whether selected beneficiaries align with eligibility criteria, inclusion and exclusion errors and the proportion of people in need covered by assistance, transfer values provided, and the outcomes on assisted and non-assisted populations.
4. Support the implementation of the global corporate directive on targeting, including working with RAM to update relevant guidance and training materials, and the implementation of the community engagement for accountability to affected populations strategy.
5. Contribute to the development of a range of training and capacity building modules to enhance the capacity of WFP staff linked to targeting and prioritisation and (ii) in coordination with Evidence Building, Knowledge Management and Learning team ensure targeting related materials are well organized and available in relevant knowledge platforms.
6. Support collaboration with the NGO partnership teams and programme to identify appropriate beneficiary selection standards and procedures.
7. Support the evaluation of new methods and explore advances in digital technologies to enhance targeting in line with WFP policies, strategies, and Executive Board decisions.
8. Support engagement with protection and gender focal points to design integrated and inclusive targeting strategy templates and monitoring frameworks relevant to country strategic plans, including where applicable general food assistance, livelihood, resilience-building, nutrition and school-feeding programmes based on good practices.
9. Support the incorporation of disability inclusion and gender perspectives in all areas of work to ensure equal participation of men and women. .
10. Support representation and coordination functions as required.
11. Support the representation of PRO-P’s vision for targeting and priortisation with internal and external stakeholders, including the UNHCR-WFP Joint Programme Excellence and Targeting hub.
12. Support the response, or the coordination of a response, to internal (CO/RB/HQ) and external (audit, inter-agency) requests in PRO-P thematic areas (protection, accountability to affected populations, humanitarian access and principles, beneficiary data management, protection and privacy, and/or conflict sensitivity) as applied to the area of targeting and prioritisation, and beyond if required.
13. Participate in cross-functional country support missions to review and validate targeting strategies and approaches and support COs to improve documentation including identification of best practices and lessons learned.
14. Support the organisation of learning events and webinars as required
15. .Conduct desk review, support documentation processes and report writing as required
16. Other as required.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

1. Input into the framework for programmatic targeting and prioritisation.
2. Input into the production of a progress monitoring report against the targeting directive.
3. Input into training and capacity building modules.

Inputs into mapping targeting realities exercise, best practices and lessons learned.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIRED EXPERIENCE

Education: Advanced university degree in social science, statistics, geography, economics or other related field. Or bachelor’s degree with two additional years of related work experience.

Experience: At least three years in targeting and prioritization in humanitarian and development contexts is required. Of which one must be at the country or field office responding in a technical capacity to a humanitarian or development context.

1. Knowledge & Skills: Applied technical experience in a country office of at least one of the following specialised areas in the programme cycle is required: Accountability to affected populations, including knowledge of community feedback mechanisms; protection; conflict sensitive programming; humanitarian access and principles; beneficiary personal data privacy, protection and management.
2. Applied technical knowledge of the programme cycle, with a particular focus on targeting and prioritisation. Demonstrated experience with field-based programme/project management and/or advice is required.
3. Strong skills in conducting and overseeing participatory qualitative data collection, including through focus group discussion, key informant interviews etc. is required. Protection and conflict sensitivity experience is an advantage.
4. Experience in capacity building activities for targeting and prioritisation applied to specific purposes (i.e., criteria selection) for different audiences is desirable.
5. Experience with WFP organisational structures and data systems is desirable.
6. Experience in change management or knowledge management is desirable.
7. Strong skills in conducting quantitative analysis is desirable. Advanced software skills in SPSS or other statistical software is desirable.
8. Required competencies: Cognitive capacity, teamwork, action management, innovation, partnerships, client orientation, strong analytical and writing skills, ability to work independently, interacting with technical and non-technical internal and external stakeholders including decision-makers.

Languages: Strong written and oral English skills (proficiency/level C), working knowledge in a second UN language (Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) is desirable.

Terms and Conditions

WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.

Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WFP.

http://www.wfp.org Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.

Deadline for applications: 12 September 2022

Ref.: VA No. 172823

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

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.

[1] People-centred programming is a standard of programming with any objective or activity that places affected people, communities, and their lived realities at the centre of decision making at every stage of the programme cycle, with their unique risks identified and meaningfully addressed.

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