Finance Partnerships Officer

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Job Title: Finance Partnerships Officer (Consultancy)

Type of Contract: Consultancy Contract: Level II

Division: School-based Programmes

Duty Station (City, Country): Rome HQ, Italy

Duration: 11 months

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

WFP’s School-based Programmes Division (SBP) serves as the coordinating body of the Global School Meals Coalition, a government-led multistakeholder initiative made up of more than 85 countries from the global North and South together with more than 95 partners (including UN agencies, NGO’s, think tanks and academic partners) that have come together to improve and restore school meals programmes as a transformational platform for food and education systems. The Coalition will pool resources – best practices, experience, information and technical support and will address implementation bottlenecks, strengthen evidence for decision-making, provide opportunities for improved coordination and generate the political will and buy-in needed for change through advocacy.

This role will widen the resource base for WFP’s school feeding programmes with new donors and opportunities. Specifically, it will, under the guidance of the Senior Partnerships Officer, manage efforts to engage International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and other regional and sub-regional multilateral banks, innovative financing mechanisms, as well as multi-donor and multi-stakeholder partnership funds in coordination with other corporate teams. Background is needed in innovative finance mechanisms (blended finance, debt swaps, etc).

The role will also provide targeted support to the work of the School Meals Coalition’s Sustainable Financing Initiative for School Health and Nutrition (SFI). The SFI is one of the four initiatives of the Coalition and it seeks to provide technical advice to support member state signatories, particularly ones in low-income contexts, in their resource mobilization efforts for school meals through innovative financing solutions, and promoting global efforts to marshal the resources necessary to address this global challenge.

This role will also manage the flow of relevant information between WFP and partners in the global development finance landscape, and make clear recommendations for synergies that maximise results, partnerships, and unlock new funding opportunities for WFP’s school-based programmes.

ACCOUNTABITLITIES / RESPONSIBILITIES:

Within the direct supervision of the Senior Partnerships Officer – Resource Mobilization Lead, the consultant will be responsible for the following duties:

Partnerships

1. Develop, organize and manage the innovative financing focus of School-based Programmes.
2. Explore opportunities for innovative financing mechanisms for school feeding in close collaboration with other relevant WFP teams.
3. Contribute to the rolling out of a Partnership & Resource Mobilization Plan developed in line with the new school feeding strategy, leading on the IFIs and other regional and sub-regional multilateral banks, multi-donor or multi-stakeholder partnerships and innovative financing mechanisms.
4. Foster internal partnership relations (HQ units/RBs and COs) to effectively mobilize donor resources for school feeding.
5. Support the identification and development of new partnerships and manage existing key partnership accounts, including IFIs and regional and sub-regional multilateral development banks.
6. Support the preparation of multi-country or country-focused strategic School Health and Nutrition funding proposals, budgets and briefing documents.
7. Collaborate with other School-Based Programmes (SBP) staff to provide a toolkit for fundraising and other support materials for RBs/COs by identifying best practices. Support efforts to disseminate this information across programmes and teams as well as with donors.

School Meals Coalition

8. Support in the establishment and day-to-day management of the Sustainable Financing Initiative and associated supporting entities including communities of practice.
9. Lead inputs to technical and information support packages to member states of the Coalition to inform their bilateral discussions with potential donors, on an ad hoc basis.
10. Lead on landscape analysis of School Feeding Financing options (including technical notes on non-traditional sources of financing such as earmarked taxes, pooled funds, sovereign wealth funds with a socio-economic development mandate, debt swaps, Islamic finance instruments like Zakat Funds and Sukuk, ESG bonds…)
11. Lead on and create linkages between financing opportunities identified in the Financing Initiative and financing approaches to WFP’s school-based programmes.

Country support

12. Support Regional Bureaux in the development of their regionalized partnerships and resource mobilization plans based on the school feeding global fundraising guidance and regional/country priorities and funding opportunities.
13. Support to Regional Bureaux and Country Offices regarding resource mobilization for school feeding activities, including through the review of concept notes, proposals, and engagement documents for strategic opportunities, supporting on streamlining their innovative financing efforts.
14. Organize seminars and briefings for Regional Bureaux and Country Offices to update them on resourcing opportunities.

DELIVERABLES QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

1. Set up and carry out an organized way of working, mapping and strategy to deepen and widen the resource base for WFP’s school feeding programmes with existing and new donors and opportunities in the innovative financing sphere.
2. Manage the HQ school-based programmes innovative financing portfolio.
3. Innovative financing initiatives developed and implemented
4. Provide targeted support to the work of the School Meals Coalition’s Sustainable Financing Initiative for School Health and Nutrition (SFI).
5. Other deliverables as defined and needed.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced degree in Development Finance, Political Science, International Development, Law, Marketing communications or relevant field or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training courses.

Experience:

A minimum of seven years of relevant experience in International Development or International Relations, with past experience engaging actors in the global development finance landscape and experience with innovative finance mechanisms.

Knowledge and Skills:

Relationship/partner management, resource mobilization, demonstrated ability to produce high-quality written outputs including proposal writing, and analytical skills. Knowledge of innovative financing for development. Ability to develop and maintain networks with a variety of stakeholders. Some knowledge of school feeding programs would be an asset.

Languages:

Fluency (level C) English. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second UN language is a plus.

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: 18 September 2023

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.