Programme Policy Officer – Programme Design and Adaptation CST I

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, color, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status, physical or mental disability.

We are seeking to fill position of Programme Policy Officer – Programme Design and Adaptation CST-I based in the Emergencies and Transitions Service (PROP) at our Headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Job Title: Programme Policy Officer – Programme Design and Adaptation

Type of Contract: CST I

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. 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. Policy, Partnerships and Advocacy: 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.

The Programme and Field Support team is responsible for developing people-centred standards, guidance and tools. In support of the implementation of the corporate strategic plan, the protection and accountability policy and the forthcoming conflict sensitivity mainstreaming strategy, the Programme and Field Support team works with key stakeholders to support country-level community-based participatory strategic and operational programme design and adaption. The corporate results framework (CRF), which monitors the implementation of the corporate strategic plan, includes a number of indicators linked to PRO-P’s thematic areas.

PRO-P seeks a Programme Policy Officer – Design and Adaptation (CST-I) to support the Programme Design and Adaptation sub-team systematise and centralise PRO-P thematic areas throughout the project cycle, resulting in greater achievement of people-centred outcomes evidenced appropriately in annual reporting.

JOB PURPOSE

The incumbent will work within the PFS Programme Design and Adaptation team in helping regional bureaux and country offices in designing quality country strategic plans, accompanying them through the internal and external review and approval process. The incumbent will help coordinate design and adaptation support across PRO-P, monitor requests for field support in PRO-P’s internal tracking system, and engage with other stakeholders within the programme department.

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

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

1. Provide people-centred programme design guidance to country offices, ensuring reflection of PRO-P thematic areas and learning in country strategic planning, reporting and evaluation processes. Within the framework of new or ongoing country strategic plans (CSP), identify strategic entry points for better engagement with affected populations, integration of protection principles, and improved conflict sensitive programming, reflecting on CSP evaluation findings and recommendations
2. Manage the Annual Country Report (ACR) exercise by updating corporate guidance for PRO-P thematic areas of protection, accountability to affected populations, and conflict sensitivity, supporting roll out of the guidance to RBs and COs, and reviewing ACRs to ensure adequate reporting in these areas. Lead coordination with Performance Management and Accountability (CPPP) for this exercise.
3. Lead the collaborative and high-level engagement with project cycle management (PRO-M), the Office of Evaluations (OEV), and other HQ colleagues to ensure that PRO-P areas of interest are adequately captured and integrated in CSP guidance, approval and evaluation processes.
4. Support the implementation of the community engagement for accountability to affected populations strategy, with a particular focus on community consultations for CSP design and the design and implementation stage of the programme cycle.
5. Manage the Programme and Field Support e-mail by receiving requests from country offices, regional bureaux, HQ units and other organisations, logging requests in the tracking system, assigning to relevant teams/persons for their action, and ensuring timely follow-up is taken. Provide bi-weekly updates to the PRO-P unit.
6. Support the response to CO/RB requests linked to PRO-P thematic areas (protection, accountability to affected populations, humanitarian access and principles, and conflict sensitivity) as applied to the area of programme design and adaptation.
7. Incorporate disability inclusion and gender perspectives in all areas of work, to ensure equal participation of women and men with and without disabilities.
8. Other related tasks, as required.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT

• PRO-P thematic areas incorporated into country strategic plans, evaluations and annual country reports
• Updated CSP and ACR guidance for PRO-P thematic areas
• PFS e-mail tracking system kept up-to-date

REQUIRED AND DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE:

1. At least three and recommended five years of professional experience in programme design or implementation 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.
2. 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.
3. Applied technical knowledge of the programme cycle, with a particular focus on design and adaptation.
4. Working knowledge of industry best practice in people-centred programme design and topics relevant to WFP programming (e.g., food security, political economy, migration, conflict, development) is desirable.
5. Experience in capacity building activities for programme design and adaptation applied to specific purposes (i.e., country strategic plan processes) for different audiences is desirable.
6. Experience in outreach, coordination and/or research is desirable.
7. Experience with WFP organisational structures and data systems is desirable.
8. Experience in change management or knowledge management is desirable.
9. 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.

STANDARD MINIMUM ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:

Education: Advanced university degree in social science, statistics, geography, economics, international relations or other related fields or other field relevant to international development assistance. Or a bachelor’s degree with two additional years of related work experience.

Language: 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: 3 March 2023

Ref.: VA No. 417237

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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