Programme Policy Officer (Head of Programme)

TERMS OF REFERENCE

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

Job Title: Programme Policy Officer (Head of Programme)

Work Area: Programme

Contract Type: Fixed Term

Grade: NO-B (National Officer Level B)

Contract Duration: 1 year as a probatory period (Yearly renewals)

Duty Station: El Salvador/San Salvador

ABOUT WFP:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world´s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters, and the impact of climate change to change their lives.

Funded entirely by voluntary contribution, WFP assists more than 140 million people in over 120 countries and territories to bring life-saving food to people displaced by conflict and destitute by disasters and help individuals and communities find life-changing solutions to the multiple challenges they face in building better futures.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT:

This position is based in the Country Office of WFP in El Salvador and reports directly to the Deputy Country Director or the designate, forming part of the Management Team of the office.

In July 2022, WFP El Salvador initiated its new Country Strategic Plan (CSP) 2022-2027. Based on a comprehensive consultation process and an analysis of key drivers of food security and nutrition in the country, and building on top of WFP’s humanitarian assistance, the important themes of resilience building, climate change adaptation and changing food preparation practices and eating habits have emerged as priorities for the WFP programme portfolio. Climate change multiplies existing threats to food security and malnutrition. It will make natural disasters more frequent and intense, fertile land and water more difficult to access, and an increase in agricultural productivity even harder to achieve. It will disproportionally impact the most vulnerable people, most of whom live in fragile areas prone to climate hazards, ultimately putting their livelihoods at risk, pushing people to seek opportunities in urban areas, often relying on the precarious informal sector or migrating irregularly outside of the country.

WFP’s interventions will focus on diversifying livelihoods, enhancing climate change adaptation to smallholder producers, and rehabilitating/restoring degraded lands through community asset creation in rural areas. In urban areas, WFP will work with at-risk youth to provide vocational training opportunities and placement in private sector companies and through entrepreneurship for formal job opportunities. WFP will support government systems to optimise their work and create models that national institutions can replicate and scale up with national funding and ownership. This will require negotiations with national institutions and actively seeking and matching opportunities with International Financial Institutions to identify sustainable funding. Therefore, there is a need to ensure strong links in all programmatic activities with a food systems approach from production and supply chain to consumption.

Job holders operate with a high degree of independence and manage several teams to ensure that programme and policy objectives are fully achieved. They are regularly involved in various programme and policy activities and analytical work, some of which may be of considerable complexity. At this level, job holders are expected to contribute to significant performance improvement.

To support these efforts, WFP El Salvador is recruiting a professional with experience with resilience and development programming, climate change adaptation, and sound knowledge of food security and nutrition.

JOB PURPOSE:

To design and manage programmes that effectively meet food assistance needs with a food systems approach, spearhead programme design and funding proposal drafting and provide technical advice and oversight on programme implementation, leading a medium-sized team.

ACCOUNTABILITIES:

Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Country Director and supervising the entire Programme Team of WFP El Salvador, the incumbent is accountable to:

1. Contribute towards developing a wide variety of projects, plans and processes, ensuring alignment with wider programme policies and guidance.
2. Provide project management support to programmes and projects of considerable size/complexity, ensuring a coordinated approach with Country Office and regional plans and programmes that they comply with WFP standards and procedures.
3. Develop and coordinate data gathering and monitoring systems, ensuring rigorous quality standards are maintained.
4. Research and analyse a range of policy and operational issues to inform the development of policies, programmes, and activities.
5. Contribute to preparing accurate and timely reporting on programmes and activities that enable informed decision-making and consistency of information presented to stakeholders.
6. Liaise with internal and external counterparts to ensure effective collaboration, monitor ongoing projects, highlight potential risks to project delivery and propose proactively carefully analysed solutions to manage them.
7. Support identifying, developing, and managing potential strategic partnerships to expand collaborative work, leading to improved programmes supporting Government priorities, including with International Financial Institutions.
8. Gather socio-political insights to support WFP’s effective positioning vis-à-vis national governments, regional and international institutions to influence the policy agenda (these include external developments such as national budgetary processes, loan negotiations, policy, and programme approvals, among others).
9. Based on aforementioned socio-political insights and in close collaboration with relevant colleagues, support the development of WFP’s value proposition and specific offerings as a partner of choice to the Government and other development actors.
10. Facilitate corporate dialogue with partners through networking and information sharing; Proactively highlight strategic issues to senior managers and propose options for the best course of action to nurture trust and partnership growth.
11. Support the capacity building of WFP staff, partners, and national government to prepare for and respond to food assistance needs, e.g., through identifying needs and preparation of training materials and identifying resources to make them happen.
12. Guide and supervise staff, acting as a referral point and supporting them with analysis and queries.
13. Other as required.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK: COMMON STANDARDS OF BEHAVIOUR

Leads by Example with Integrity	Upholds WFP values, principles, and standards Demonstrates and encourages others to uphold the WFP values, principles and standards	Respects others and values diversity Values diversity using respectful and inclusive language, and encourages others to do the same	Stays focused and calm under pressure Stays focused and calm when under pressure, encourages others to do the same, and offers guidance and support to manage difficult situations	Demonstrates humility and a willingness to learn Demonstrates humility and a willingness to learn and share knowledge, frequently seeking and acting on feedback, and pursuing opportunities to develop
Drives Results and Delivers on Commitments	Delivers results for maximum impact Identifies and aligns objectives to the required outcomes, holding self and/or others accountable for the delivery of results for maximum impact	Delegates appropriately Delegates responsibly and provides appropriate support empowering others to deliver results	Adapts readily to change Responds readily to change in different contexts and adapts accordingly
Fosters Inclusive and Collaborative	Is inclusive and collaborative Promotes inclusive teamwork and psychological safety by encouraging colleagues to collaborate by sharing ideas and openly raising issues	Gives timely and constructive feedback Supports development for others by giving timely and constructive feedback	Builds and shares new perspectives Seeks out, trusts and listens attentively to diverse views to capture, learn, build and share new perspectives
Applies Strategic Thinking	Communicates and fulfils WFP’s vision Commu icates and fulfils WFP’s vision and operational outcomes to deliver meaningful solutions	Embraces curiosity and new ways of doing things Demonstrates curiosity, designs and implements new ways of doing things when relevant	Analyses and evaluates data Gathers data and different perspectives, shares knowledge and uses evidence to inform decision making	Considers the impact of decisions Implements decisions, considering the risks and implications of actions for teams, projects and other initiatives
Builds and Maintains Sustainable Partnerships	Builds partnerships Initiates and builds partnerships by identifying and promoting opportunities for mutual areas of interest and benefit	Collaborates to deliver common objectives Collaborates with partners to deliver common objectives by sharing information and cocreating innovative solutions with beneficiaries when appropriate

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES:

Capability Name	Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level
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.
Broad Knowledge of Specialised 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.

EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE:

• Ideally, a director level government experience and the ability to interact effectively with staff at the ministerial level and at the international financial institution management level
• Has strong experience in programme planning and implementation.
• Has been responsible for a diverse programme portfolio and leading a team of people to achieve its results.
• Experience with and understanding of i) Government policy processes (from planning to implementation), ii) negotiations and support modalities of International Financial Institutions, and iii) national Country Capacity Strengthening initiatives are considered an added value.

STANDARD MINIMUM ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:

Education:

Advanced University degree in International Affairs, Economics, Nutrition/Health, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Social Sciences, or other field relevant to international development assistance, or First University Degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses

Language: Fluency (level C) in English and Spanish.

Please visit the following website for detailed information on working with WFP: https://www.wfp.org/careers

Qualified female applicants are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate based on HIV/AIDS status.

Qualified candidates will be retained on roster and considered for future vacant posts.

Deadline for applications: March 14th, 2023.

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