Programme Policy Officer P4, Strategic Policy Adviser

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WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

Are you a Social Protection or Public Policy/Policy Analyst Professional interested in further developing your professional experience while contributing to ending global hunger? Would you like to join WFP, a highly reputable organisation bringing positive change to lives of people affected by hardships? Would you like to join a global organisation investing in its people?

If your answer is yes, then this is a great opportunity for you to become an integral member of a diverse and passionate team that works on varied and international projects that ultimately serve aim to eliminate hunger and work with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience.

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.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian agency, fighting hunger worldwide. WFP is well known for its ability to deliver food assistance rapidly to people in need. In recent years, WFP has begun to make a paradigm shift in response to evolving global and regional contexts that requires the UN agency’s technical expertise not only in the delivery of food assistance, but also the development of sustainable, hunger-smart and nutrition-sensitive solutions that will support progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG2 “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”. This shift in some contexts marks a change from WFP’s role as a “do-er” or implementer food assistance programmes to an “enabler” or technical assistance and service provider to governments.

The WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBB) provides strategic direction, technical support and oversight to WFP country offices in more than fifteen countries. Our twenty-member Programme team includes experts who cover these core themes: Food Security Research, Analysis, and Mapping; Social Protection; School-based Feeding; Health and Nutrition; Climate- and Disaster Risk Management; Emergency Preparedness and Response; and Gender, Protection and Disability Inclusion.

The RBB is seeking a Strategic Policy Advisor at the P4 level to help us make the paradigm shift from a direct implementer to technical assistance and service delivery provider to governments in the Asia-Pacific region while continuing to maintain our excellence in humanitarian settings. Nearly one-third of WFP country offices have made a complete shift to a policy and technical assistance and service delivery to governments in the areas of social protection; education/school feeding; health and nutrition; and climate- and disaster-risk management. Other country offices are also stepping up their policy and technical assistance to governments while continuing to provide food assistance to vulnerable individuals and families, including life-saving assistance to those most impacted by conflicts, disasters and other crises (including the COVID-19 pandemic). Building on successful examples of policy and technical engagements in different contexts and countries—including in Afghanistan, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and the Philippines and Cambodia—RBB is looking to more systematically demonstrate, measure and communicate its support government policy, service and systems-strengthening.

To support this shift, WFP generates evidence through data collection and analysis, provides policy and programming advice, offers tools and technical solutions, and builds multi-stakeholder partnerships to inform and promote changes in government programmes, policies and systems to increase their impact on food security and nutrition outcomes on the ground. It does this by leveraging WFP expertise, operational experience and convening role.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1. Provides technical leadership and management oversight on selected activities. 2. Provides technical support to build capacity of country-based staff and partners through the collaborative development of policy advocacy strategies, and innovative, evidence-driven communications and advocacy tools. Tools could include producing policy briefs and other written advocacy materials and creating evidence-based presentations on selected topics. Contributes to strengthening the capacities of staff to engage confidently and credibly in policy dialogues. 3. Conducts and contributes to analyses and translates analyses into policy/programme recommendations for governments in core thematic areas (social assistance, school-based health and nutrition programmes). Takes lead role in the development of advocacy products and co-designs products with stakeholders in the region. 4. Analyzes social policy investment priorities and policies critical to helping countries improve their food security and nutrition outcomes and advances the dialogue related to social protection and school-based health and nutrition. 5. Provides technical support to identify effective entry points to inform government planning and budgeting, policies and systems relevant to food security and nutrition. Provides technical advice on policy and technical advisory components of the WFP country strategic plans.

6. Drafts and/or provides technical and editorial input on materials on social protection, school-based health and nutrition, economic and social equality and other topics as they relate to food security and nutrition. Tasks include conducting research, gathering literature, analyzing data, drafting findings and implications, and coordinating with various RBB and country office staff involved in production and dissemination. 7. Provides technical and drafting support to prepare compelling business cases and proposals for WFP technical assistance and services and technical support on how to measure the effectiveness of WFP support to government policy and programme and systems-strengthening. 8. Establishes and contributes to regional-level partnerships, involving collaboration, coordination and communication with research institutes, other UN agencies, international financial institutes, and regional intergovernmental bodies to advance WFP vision and work at the country-level; manage work plans, timelines, and budget; monitor and document project outcomes and impacts. 9. Leads or co-facilitates training sessions on policy communication for in-country stakeholders. Designs training agendas and prepares materials to build participants’ capacity to elevate food security and nutrition issues on policy agendas. 10. Contribute to various aspects of RBB work, as required, including business development, participation in working groups; monitoring, evaluation and reporting activities; responding to requests for information and presentations; and representing WFP at professional conferences and meetings.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Education: Advanced University degree in Public Policy & Analysis, Public Administration, Public Financing, Economics, Social Science, or other relevant fields, or, a First University Degree with additional years of related work experience and trainings/courses.

Experience: A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in public policy, preferably including food security and nutrition policy and advocacy technical assistance. Experience working in developing and middle-income countries is required, preferably with some experience in the Asia-Pacific region.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Experience analysing government policies, regulations and systems.
• Experience using data and evidence to advocate for policy change, conduct policy analyses, and/or design advocacy strategies for policy audiences. Experience creating indexes a plus.
• Demonstrated technical expertise in two or more of the following content areas: social protection, health and nutrition, education,
• economic/social/gender equality and inclusion, food security, poverty reduction.
• Quantitative and qualitative analysis skills and demonstrated ability to translate analysis into policy and programme options, and identify which ones are the best to recommend.
• Ability to identify most effective entry points for policy advice based on an understanding of national planning and budgeting, regulations and structures.
• Demonstrated activity management experience including negotiating work plans and ensuring quality and timeliness of technical deliverables. Excellent organizational, writing, and oral presentation skills.
• Knowledge on the latest developments in the field of capacity development and effective knowledge transfer models, concepts and principles.
• Ability to develop and maintain relationships with a variety of stakeholders, conveying an informed and professional demeanour toward internal and external partners and stakeholders.
• Ability to work effectively in teams and with professionals at different levels (from national and international technical organizations governmental bodies, international financial and research institutes, and other development partners) and from different backgrounds, regardless of gender, culture, or identity.
• Demonstrated ability to lead or facilitate cross-functional collaboration.

Language: Fluency (level C) in English language. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or WFP’s working language, Portuguese.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Mobility is, and continues to be, a core contractual requirement in WFP. The selected candidate will be employed on a Fixed-Term contract with an initial duration of two years including a probationary period of one year.

WFP offers an attractive compensation and benefits package including basic salary, post adjustment, relocation entitlement, travel and shipment allowances, 30 days’ annual leave, home leave, an education grant for dependent children, pension plan and medical insurance. For more details, please visit icsc.un.org.

Qualified female applicants and qualified applicants from Low- and Middle-Income countries are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status

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.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

This position has been readvertised with a closing date of 12 April 2021, 11.59PM Rome time.

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Female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

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.