Partnerships Officer SC10, Khartoum
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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, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.
ABOUT WFP
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
The operation of WFP in Sudan is one of the largest and most complex operations of the organization, served by around 1,400 staff and 18 field offices, in a context of continuous political uncertainties and a vast array of challenges. In 2022, WFP served a total of 9.3M beneficiaries including 2.9M IDPs, 5.4M residents and 600,000 refugees through a variety of programmatic activities ranging from emergency assistance, nutrition, school meals, productive safety nets, post-harvest losses and common services. In 2022, WFP mobilized USD 600M from around 20 donors and made headway with expanding its partnership basis with IFIs such as the World Bank and the AfDB.
JOB PURPOSE
Amid continuously evolving sociopolitical dynamics, WFP Sudan is confronted with addressing aggravating food insecurity and funding shortfalls, the likes of which it has never seen before. While bilateral financing from existing traditional donors have been dwindling, the Country Office foresees growing opportunities to solicit financial resources directly or indirectly from development and international financing institutions.
This calls for a shift in strategic orientation and advocacy from dependence on existing partnerships base to meet growing financing needs through carefully identified emerging partnerships, some of which intimated above, of long-term strategic importance and transition towards a changing lives agenda.
To deliver against the above, the Country Office is seeking a Partnerships Officer (NOC) to provide support to its Strategic Partnerships department. The incumbent will operate under the direct supervision of the Strategic Partnerships Officer at P4 level leading on the strategic partnerships file within the External Relations Unit responsible for overseeing, managing and building strategic partnerships, notably relationships with development financial/financing institutions, including international financial institutions. The selected candidate for the position shall primarily focus on leveraging partnerships with institutions within and tied to the Government of Sudan, as well as with partners within the Arab Coordination Group and other strategic partners in the Arab region, extending into climate financing, as time permits.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)
1. Lead the implementation of the work plan for an assigned area by overseeing and delivering activities that identify, develop and maintain government partnerships and maximise funding.
2. Manage a portfolio of partnerships, soliciting contributions, providing donor stewardship, forecasting, negotiating changes and assessing results, to maximise resources raised.
3. Provide advice to technical units, regional bureaux and/or country offices as required in order to assist them to effectively manage and mobilise donor resources.
4. Provide advice and briefs on resourcing issues to Country/Regional/Division Directors, participate in the Strategic Programme Review Process (s-PRP) and the Electronic Programme Review Process (e-PRP) and act as a resourcing focal point to ensure issues are addressed.
5. Conduct negotiations for contributions and partnership agreements, in line with internal policies and external regulations, in order to reach advantageous outcomes for WFP, such as more flexibility and predictability.
6. Manage junior officers/staff to ensure appropriate development and enable high performance.
7. Coordinate and prepare accurate reporting on donors and resourcing status of programmes, identifying trends and issues, and proposing solutions, to enable informed decision-making and action planning by senior stakeholders.
8. Analyse data and propose well-researched ideas to senior government partnerships officers for new strategies to maintain and increase funding from new and traditional donors.
9. Educate new and potential donors on the strategy, design, relevance and impact of programmes, to advocate for the work of WFP.
10. Represent WFP at international meetings at appropriate levels in such a way that advances the government partnerships strategy and objectives, and builds support for WFP activities.
11. Prepare briefing documents for senior level management meetings with donors.
12. Build and maintain effective relationships with representatives of government donors through appropriate channels, and participate in regular donor meetings.
13. Coordinate work with other Government Partnership Officers to ensure the flow of information and other WFP units to align activities and ensure donor visibility and that donor conditions are met.
14. Contribute to preparedness actions, providing technical recommendations and guidance and monitoring the management of risks.
15. Other as required.
STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education: Advanced University degree in Political Science, International Development, Development Economics, Development Studies and/or other relevant field(s), or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses.
Experience:
- At least 5 years of relevant professional-academic level work experience in development, financing, strategic partnerships, resource mobilization, advocacy and communications, funds and program management.
- Demonstrated experience materializing and managing strategic partnerships, international financing and/or development financing in and/or with a development financing, international financial institution and/or the Government of Sudan in-country and/or beyond
Language: Fluency (level C) in English and Arabic.
OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS
Knowledge & Skills:
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Advanced understanding of modes of engagement with the Government of Sudan, identified partners and broader stakeholder landscape and thematic areas, including best practices thereof
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Knowledge of United Nations systems and its coordination mechanisms, World Food Programme’s operations, notably in East and Central Africa region
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Strong technical orientation for data-based decision-making, partner intelligence and corresponding platforms, as well as innovation of system improvements
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Experience in strategy development, policy work, planning and use of research methodologies and sources, to develop effective partnership arrangements
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Ability to conceptualize complex political issues, ecosystems, structures and strategic visions to identify modes of engagement
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Aptitude to navigate sensitive engagements with stakeholders with discretion and persuasiveness
DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE
- Has a good understanding of government and corporate strategies and priorities and gained experience in developing multi-stakeholder partnerships.
- Has gained significance experience in exploring new opportunities and providing inputs to design and develop solutions with prospective partners.
- Has developed long-term partner relationships and expanded engagements across geographies and sector.
- Has designed and managed all resource mobilization processes and resource strategies, negotiated contract terms and provided resourcing advice to seniors.
- Has used understanding of partner’s focus areas and knowledge of internal capabilities to create a Unique Value Proposition for the partners.
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
6th May 2023
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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
WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.
