Programme Policy Officer – Social Protection (SC8) (Re-advertised)
.
WFP encourages female candidates and people with disabilities to apply.
WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis. We are committed to promoting diversity and the principle of equal employment opportunity for all our employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of religion or belief, ethnic or social background, gender, gender identity and disability.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Position Title: Programme Officer – Social Protection
Contract Type: Service Contract (SC-8)
Contract Duration: 1 Year
Duty Station: Colombo, Sri Lanka
Nationality: Sri Lankan only
Vacancy Number : 828554
Date of Publication: 22.07.2023
Deadline of Application: 05.08.2023
This vacancy announcement is for Sri Lankan Nationals only.
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 website for detailed information on working with WFP: http://www.wfp.org
Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.
JOB PURPOSE
Programme Officer – Social Protection will be under the general supervision of the Head of Resilience, and will be responsible for the Social Protection initiatives of the programme.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)
1. Manage the design, the implementation and monitoring of WFP social protection related programmes that effectively meet food security, nutrition needs and/or respond to major shocks (e.g., adaptive and inclusive social protection), ensuring alignment with wider WFP social protection policies and guidance, and qualitative programming.
2. Lead the development of a variety of social protection projects, plans and processes, ensuring alignment with WFP’s corporate programme policies and guidance.
3. Engage with the Regional Office to support the Social Protection Implementation Plan (SPIP) 2022-2026.
4. Research and analyze a range of policy and operational issues to inform the development of social protection policies, programmes, and activities.
5. Support advocacy work on strengthening national social protection systems and policy by collaborating with government and other development partners to identify a research agenda for generating evidence for adaptive and shock responsive social protection systems.
6. Distill lessons learned and good practice from other countries with shock responsive social protection programming and identify implementation challenges and results.
7. Identify, establish, and maintain partnerships with the Department of Samurdhi Development (DSD), Disaster Management Center, Ministry of Health and other relevant government entities, UN agencies, development partners, IFIs, research partners and academic institutions to strengthen national social protection systems and enhance effective partnership.
8. Support the office in the digital social protection transformation agenda.
9. Monitor cash assistance operations provided through SP mechanism and undertake global reconciliations in collaboration with Government’s counterpart.
10. Liaise with internal WFP counterparts (Management, Finance, Budget and Programming, Nutrition, EPR, Resilience, ICT, Communication) to ensure effective cross-functional collaboration and monitoring of ongoing projects.
11. Support the capacity building of WFP staff, partners, and national government on shock responsive social protection to prepare for and respond to emergency and crisis
12. Coordinate with the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit to ensure social protection activities are undergoing the appropriate monitoring and recommendations are considered to inform decisions and change when needed.
13. Contribute to the preparation of accurate and timely reporting on programmes and activities.
14. Liaise with the Community Feedback Mechanism Unit to provide communication on SP programming and handle information flow.
15. Other as required.
STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education:
- B Sc degree or equivalent in a related field.
Experience:
- Minimum five years of experience in Programme humanitarian portfolio, preferably in food assistance, progressive responsibility in technical assistance, policy analysis and guidance, and/or operational experience in the field of social protection;
- Familiarity with Cash-Based Transfers is considered an asset;
- Experience working with UN, donor organization, non-government organization or government;
- Previous experience with Government (Department of Samurdhi Development, MoF, Presidential Secretariat, MoWCA or other) is desired;
- Sound understanding of policy-making processes and the ability to distil operationally relevant recommendations/lessons for governments and other partners;
- Proven experience in managing cross-agency collaboration work along social protection;
- Ability to manage and prioritize workload;
- Excellent communication skills in both written and spoken English;
- Experience in research and policy advocacy desired.
Knowledge & Skills:
- Excellent coordination and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to lead a team from different units of a supervisory roles.
- Strong analytical skills
- Working knowledge of MS office package (Outlook, Word, and Excel)
Languages:
- Proficient knowledge of English and a second national local language is highly desirable.
HOW TO APPLY
HOW TO APPLY
To be considered, interested candidates are invited to apply via (https://www.wfp.org/careers/job-openings). Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
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.
Request for Disability related Reasonable Accommodations:
It is important to WFP to create an accessible and inclusive workplace for everyone. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions. If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the selection and hiring process, please direct your request and inquiries to the Diversity and Inclusion team on: global.inclusion@wfp.org, cc’ing gimhani.kariyawasam@wfp.org.
A member of the reasonable accommodation team will contact you to confidentially discuss your needs.
This email is only to be used for any disability related accessibility requirements, and not for sending the application itself. Due to volume of applications, any applications or CVs sent through this email address will not be considered as a formal application and will not receive a reply from WFP.
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
Sri Lanka is experiencing an unprecedented macroeconomic, political and social crisis, compounded by lasting effect of COVID-19. It has seen a significant reduction in agricultural production and yield, a sharp decrease in foreign exchange reserves, and a steep rise in inflation and food prices.
The intensifying economic crisis continues to threaten food security. The persistence of high food and fuel prices has pushed food further out of reach. More than one-third of the population (37 percent) is currently facing acute food insecurity, according to WFP’s remote household food security surveys done in August 2022 in Sri Lanka. Within this perspective, WFP’s economic crisis response aims to reach a total of 3.4 million people across three main activities: (1) unconditional food assistance through cash or in-kind; (2) school meals; and (3) nutrition support, and overall, through social protection lenses.
The CSP aims to contribute to four Strategic Outcomes that are aligned to four Strategic Results of SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for Development). A total of 4 Activities are planned to be implemented to achieve the contributions to the four Strategic Outcomes, which are the following:
- Strategic Outcome 1. People are better able to meet their urgent food and nutrition needs.
- Strategic Outcome 2. People have better nutrition, health & education outcomes
- Strategic Outcome 3. People have improved & sustainable livelihoods
- Strategic Outcome 4. National programmes & systems are strengthened
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
Saturday 05 August 2023
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 (SDG 2) 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. WFP has been present in Sri Lanka since 1968 providing assistance to the country in emergency situations and conducting protracted recovery interventions in the aftermath of man-made disasters such as the 27-year conflict and recurrent natural disasters (droughts and floods/landslides). The country’s on-going economic crisis — the worst in decades – has triggered a spike in the cost of living, along with lost jobs and reduced incomes. Coupled with the lingering effects of COVID-19 and impacts of climate change, the country is experiencing a concerningly high level of food insecurity. These challenges threaten to reverse years of development gains, undermining the country’s ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Even before the ongoing crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, Sri Lankan women and children had very high rates of malnutrition: 17 percent of children under 5 were too short for their age (stunted) and 15 percent were too thin for their height (wasted), a figure which is considered 'very high’ in WHO classifications. The current economic crisis will likely aggravate this further. WFP commenced its second-generation five-year Country Strategic Plan (CSP) for the period 2023 – 2027 (CSP 2018-2022) which aims to address immediate food and nutrition needs while building medium to long-term solutions through four strategic outcomes.
All WFP Employees are expected to demonstrate the competencies and standards of behaviour aligned with our core values and defined in the WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK, namely:
Leading by example with integrity,
Driving results and delivering on commitments,
Fostering inclusive and collaborative teamwork,
Applying strategic thinking,
Building and maintaining sustainable partnership.
WFP is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce. WFP has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, abuse of authority or discrimination. 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.
