International Consultant Programme Policy Officer- Head of Programme Tshikapa/DR Congo

Qualified women and people with physical impairments are strongly encouraged to apply.

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INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL VACANCY

JOB TITLE: PROGRAMME POLICY OFFICER/HEAD OF PROGRAMME

TYPE OF CONTRACT: INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT LEVEL1

UNIT/DIVISION: PROGRAMME

DUTY STATION: TSHIKAPA/DR CONGO

DURATION: 11 MONTHS

JOB DESCRIPTION BACKGROUND:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the largest humanitarian organization addressing the challenges of global hunger and nutrition. WFP works with its partners to achieve the vision of zero-hunger. 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.

While WFP’s mandate clearly articulates both humanitarian and development responsibilities, the organization’s comparative advantage and long experience call for prioritization of emergency, lifesaving and development-enabling work that benefits the poorest and most marginalized people. The Sustainable Development Goals require moving beyond saving lives to changing lives, focusing first on the people in greatest need, not just in least-developed countries but universally throughout the world.

DRC is one of the largest hunger crisis in the world. Hunger and conflict fuel one another, with armed conflict and widespread displacement prevailing for the past 25 years and multiple other crises compounding DRC’s humanitarian challenges. The number of acutely food-insecure people stands at 25,4 million, making access to food a daily struggle for a significant part of the Congolese population. An estimated 3.4 million children are acutely malnourished. Kasai province is one of the worst affected areas, with 1.1 million of its population suffering from food insecurity, representing 41% of the total population. almost 1 child out of two is chronically malnourished.

DRC Strategic Plan aligns WFP’s work with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and covers the period 2021–2025 through : i) unconditional food-resources transfers to crisis affected and food insecure populations; ii) nutrition prevention activities against moderate acute malnutrition among children under age 2 and pregnant and lactating women; iii) nutrition treatment activities to children under age 5 and pregnant and lactating women suffering from moderate acute malnutrition; iv) school feeding programme to children at school; v) nutrition prevention activities against stunting; vi) support to small holder holders’ farmers and support to asset creation and livelihood interventions.

Tshikapa Field Office is mainly focusing on providing life-saving emergency food assistance, nutrition prevention and Treatment and nutrition sensitive interventions, through food, cash and capacity strengthening. The Office will progressively implement resilience activities to help changing people lives in DRC.

JOB DESCRIPTION AND SUPERVISION:

Under the direct supervision of the head of sub office, the Programme Policy Officer will be responsible for the overall programme leadership in the strategic shift towards capacity strengthening of the government, providing technical guidance, and programme team management for the effective implementation of strategies.

KEY ACTIVITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Provide overall strategic planning leadership and oversight in all aspects of programme management, planning, and implementation of programme activities including the shift from crisis response to early recovery and resilience building.
2. Collaborate with governments and other partners in identifying where food assistance can be usefully deployed at the local level and provide support and technical expertise for the planning, formulation and implementation of food assistance programmes, including advice on the context-specific transfer modalities (food, cash or vouchers);
3. Provide guidance, leadership and motivation to Programme teams in Tshikapa sub-office and coordinate staff activities including work-planning, budget formulation, reviews and information management, as well as coaching to enable effective performance.
4. Provide leadership in mobilizing technical expertise on a wide range of programmes and policy issues including assessment, analysis, choice of objectives, activities, transfer modalities and appropriate food products.
5. Contribute to the design and resource mobilization efforts, including the development and drafting of project proposals and their budgets, strategic plan, donor updates, and field visits.
6. Provide guidance for incorporating gender and protection perspectives in all areas of work, to ensure equal participation of women and men.
7. Contribute to sub-office Emergency Preparedness i.e. early warning, risk analysis, and contingency planning in order to respond to humanitarian crises and needs.
8. Prepare and negotiate Field Level Agreements (FLAs) with partners, including budgets and staff cost on the basis of WFP cost and present the projects deemed relevant and achievable to the LPRC.
9. Hold accountability and/or prepare accurate and comprehensive analysis and reports on WFP operations and performance with regular and timely submission for Tshikapa Field Office, review to identify programme support requirements and inform operational planning and decisions.
10. Support the capacity building of WFP staff, partners and national government to prepare for and respond to food assistance needs e.g through project management support of learning initiatives.
11. Maintain regular meetings with partners to encourage fluid communication and address any operational challenges as quickly as possible.
12. Represent WFP in different clusters and forum on food assistance.
13. Find complementary strategic partnerships with other UN agencies.
14. Any other business as required.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced University degree in public health, social sciences, statistics, development economics, performance management, monitoring and evaluation or other related fields, or First University degree with additional years of relevant work experience and/or training/courses.

Experience:

• Minimum 3 years of solid and relevant work experience in humanitarian assistance programmes and policy engagement with external stakeholders in project development.
• A combination of working experience in the UN, government NGOs and private sector is an added value.
• Strong knowledge and experience of country strategic planning processes.
• Knowledge and experience in inter-agency coordination in humanitarian settings.
• Experience in different programme approaches including managing emergency response operations using different transfer modalities.
• Knowledge of WFP work would be considered an asset.

Competencies required:

• Proven communication skills and ability to communicate and adjust communication style to different audiences.
• Ability to plan and organize work programmes and work with minimum supervision.
• Ability to draft professional reports and guidance documents without the need for additional editing before publishing.
• Demonstrated strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively in a team under time pressure.
• Deeply passionate about humanitarian assistance and international development.
• A good understanding of how to mainstream gender equality and women’s empowerment as well as protection and accountability to affected persons into programme activities.
• Has experience leading a mid-size to large team to ensure the effective delivery of objectives.

Languages:

• Fluency (level C) in French and English language required.

OUR VALUES AT WFP:

• Integrity
• Collaboration
• Commitment
• Humanity
• Inclusion

APPLICATION DEADLINE

24/12/ 2023

Please note that the only documents you need to submit at this time are your CV and cover letter. Additional documents such as passports, letters of recommendation, university certificates, etc. may potentially be requested in the future.

For candidates who have difficulty accessing the WFP e-recruitment platform and require support in applying, please contact us at the following e-mail address: [email protected], quoting the vacancy number in the subject line.

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 from sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment and abuse of power. Consequently, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any contract will be offered to members of the United Nations Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), the FAO Finance Committee, the WFP External Auditor, the WFP Audit Committee, the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities for WFP, either during their service or for three years following termination.