Humanitarian Military Interaction (HMI) Officer – Lead for Policy Development
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.
Job Title: Humanitarian Military Interaction (HMI) Officer – Lead for Policy Development
Type of Contract: Consultancy
Division: Emergency Operations Division
Duty Station (City, Country): Rome HQ, Italy
Duration: 11 months
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
The current state of humanitarian response is characterized by more frequent natural disasters and the protracted nature of the most severe conflict-driven crises. Due to its mandate, operational presence, and size WFP is more regularly operating in contexts where military and other armed actors are present and are playing a leading role in responding to crisis. This has resulted in an unavoidable sharing of space between military entities and the humanitarian community.
As a result, WFP is working to establish a dialogue with military entities in areas of operation to improve information-sharing, coordinate predictable and systematic access of WFP personnel and cargo, as well as ensure appropriate logistics planning and response. Additionally, WFP seeks to establish context-specific, as well as thematic civil military coordination strategies and guidance where and when appropriate.
This includes engagement with critical partners – such as other UN agencies, military headquarters, and academic institutions on areas of research and guidance to drive field-based interactions forward in a more principled and efficient manner.
The position will report to the HMI Head of Unit.
ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:
WFP Institutional Capacity Strengthening:
- Design and manage HMI’s partnership agenda with academic institutions on topics related to the evolution and matriculation of civil-military coordination as a core aspect to the future of humanitarian response.
- Oversee and lead HMI’s research plan with Brown University focused on global geo-political and conflict trends, as well as the evolving role of militaries in crisis response.
- Develop and lead HMI’s research plan with Harvard University focused on global geo-political and conflict trends, as well as the evolving role of militaries in crisis response.
- Support inter-agency lesson learned initiatives to ensure WFP HMI remains at the forefront of the civil-military coordination and access functions throughout the humanitarian system.
- Lead the development of an HMI operational policy document to better codify the roles and responsibility of the function within the WFP eco-system.
- Act as a mentor to junior WFP staff – it is the responsibility of WFP officers to ensure the continuity of WFP’s mission through the development of the next generation. This is a corporate priority and one that should be considered vital to the longevity of the HMI workstream.
- Oversee and manage the update process for the 2013 DED/COO Directive: “WFP Civil-Military Coordination – Operational Guidance” to make it relevant for WFP’s current operational context.
- Manage staff dedicated to or in support of the Institutional Capacity Strengthening workstream,
Training & Advocacy:
- Support the curriculum development of/ and delivery of HMI trainings by the HMI training team.
- Participate in military exercises and trainings to enhance operational compliance by military entities for the purposes of influencing combatant behavior. This is in support the safeguarding international humanitarian law, humanitarian principles, and other relevant norms and standards and encouraging those actors to integrate these into their doctrine, education and training.
- Lead the HMI training assessments process through data collection and development of a lessons learned process for the further refinement of the training package.
- Act as a focal point for technical guidance for the HMI Global team
Operational Support and Emergency Response
- Be prepared to deploy as part of a WFP response and support WFP Country offices as follows:
- Serve as WFP’s primary focal point in the Country Office for all matters, including guidance , related to civil-military coordination, in close consultation with the Country Office, namely the Programme, Supply Chain and Security focal points.
- Provide expert assistance on civil-military coordination considerations during the development of CONOPs and other emergency response plans.
- Enhance understanding of the WFP (and broader humanitarian community) role and operations among military forces, to further WFP operational acceptance, access and security.
- Establish and maintain effective working relationships and dialogue with humanitarian actors, UN agencies, and particularly other actors engaged in humanitarian civil-military coordination.
- Establish and maintain reliable coordination mechanisms at the operational and tactical level with military and security forces and other armed actors regarding WFP activities to ensure an integrated planning process. This includes implementation of any agreed mechanisms.
- Participate in working groups, meetings and consultations with other UN agencies and humanitarian partners; establish, lead, or facilitate meetings on UN-CMCoord matters with Heads of Agencies or other appropriate entities as required/coordinated with OCHA or other relevant stakeholders.
- Provide situation reports to relevant WFP stakeholders on ongoing UN civil-military coordination activities in the relevant area(s) of responsibility, and the overall civil-military relations, in agreed formats and timeframe.
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- Perform other related duties as required.
DELIVERABLES:
- Initial tranche of research (year 1) developed by Brown university.
- Present a draft revision of the 2013 DED/COO Directive: “WFP Civil-Military Coordination – Operational Guidance”.
- Lead the development of a comprehensive handbook on the operational aspects of HMI activities.
- When deployed in support of HMI:
- HMI strategy for the operation(s) that the candidate is deployed to;
- HMI dashboard linking the HMI strategy to the CO CSP/LEO/CONOPs;
- Where required and relevant, re-vamped SOPs for armed escorts coordination;
- Where relevant, inclusion of HMI in new CONOPs;
- Where relevant/where Country Strategic Plans are being revised, inclusion of HMI as part of integrated activities and associated workplans;
- Where relevant/when deployed to another duty station/emergency, a brief lesson learned or Mission Report of said deployment;
- Handover/End of Mission report by the end of the assignment.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
Education:
University degree in one or more of the following disciplines: international relations, political/social science, security management, business administration, economics or management. OCHA CMCoord training is an advantage. National command and staff college, or equivalent, training is an advantage.
Experience:
A minimum of 7 years of postgraduate progressively responsible professional experience in international humanitarian work in a civil-military coordination, logistics, security or other operational management function, or related fields of work (security, logistics, etc) or military experience. Substantial exposure to, or experience in, both sectors is a strong asset.
Knowledge and Skills:
Strongly motivated by humanitarian work; understanding of the nature of both contemporary and future conflict, and the implications for humanitarian actions; resourcefulness, initiative, maturity of judgement, tact, negotiating skills; familiarity with and experience in the application of civil-military coordination, international policies and practices; strong analytical and presentation skills; capacity to conceptualize contemporary tactical environments to strategic level; flexibility in accepting work assignments outside normal desk description and willingness to work in hard-pressure and potentially austere environments for extended periods of time; willingness to work with all arms carriers in the contemporary operating environment; ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor own work plan in line with operational requirements and deliver results at a pace; excellent people skills, proven capacity to integrate within a team and adapt to new settings, combined with good networking skills and the ability to engage interlocutors from tactical to strategic level; knowledge of the integration of Law of Armed Conflict into the planning and conduct of operations. Operational exposure to the planning and conduct of military operations and/or time deployed to operations in conflict areas is desirable. Previous experience in an operational or strategic level HQ is an advantage.
Languages:
Fluency in spoken and written English is required. A secondary UN language is strongly 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: 28 March 2023
Ref.: VA No. 662822
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.
