WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian and development 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 (WFP) 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. With more than 18,000 colleagues worldwide, WFP works to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry.

Why you should join WFP?

• WFP assists more than 86 million people in around 83 countries. We also work with governments on national solutions to address hunger and improve nutrition. Your work will have a positive impact on the lives of the people most affected by food insecurity and with the least capacity to respond to shocks through own resources and coping mechanisms
• The way WFP serves hungry and vulnerable people – including groups that are especially at risk from being excluded from opportunities for self-reliance, is truly important for strengthening their safety and dignity
• You will join a diverse team of professionals and will have a chance to exchange your experience and expertise with your colleagues
• WFP invests in the training and development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, mentorship and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities
• Our team is growing internationally and the timing to join us cannot be better!
• We offer attractive compensation package (please refer to Terms and Conditions section)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

Social protection is an increasingly popular strategy for governments to reduce extreme poverty, hunger and inequality. Governments across the region are expanding and scaling-up their social assistance programmes to address the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. If sustained, these critical investments will be a game changer for a faster recovery to lift millions of people out of poverty while also contributing to the elimination of hunger and improved nutrition.

WFP Regional Bureau Asia & Pacific Region

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 Social Protection 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 technical assistance and service delivery to governments in social protection. Across the region, WFP country offices in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the Fiji are stepping up their support to help governments expand coverage and the amount of assistance to the most vulnerable, including the newly poor and food insecure as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. This includes providing recommendations to adjust existing programmes and design new schemes; helping identify and enroll additional people in need of assistance; assisting with beneficiary information management and cash transfers to intended recipients; building government capacities to monitor and assess the impacts of COVID-19 on household incomes and food security as well as the performance of programmes; and augmenting or complementing government programmes to reach more people or provide cash top-ups. Building on these successful examples, RBB is looking to demonstrate, communicate and measure more systematically its offer to governments in social protection in a way that is hunger-focused, nutrition-sensitive, and shock-responsive.

Additionally, WFP aims to continue its leadership in cash-based transfers in both humanitarian and development contexts through its programmes, technical support and as chair of cash working groups at regional- and country levels.

Job purpose

The Strategic Social Protection Advisor will work in a team-oriented environment with both technical and management (team leader) responsibilities. S/he will lead the RBB portfolio on social protection and CBT. This will include contributing to strategic positioning, leading on technical support and guidance to country offices in the areas of social protection and cash-based transfers as well as developing advocacy materials and preparing analysis. This position requires strong technical knowledge and communication skills, attention to detail, the ability to balance working independently and on a team, and a keen desire to learn and develop new competencies. The successful candidate will be a key technical contributor to WFP efforts to affirm food security and nutrition in national and regional social protection agendas and to demonstrate, measure and communicate WFP contributions in this space.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

1. Provides technical leadership and management oversight on selected activities.
2. Leads strategy, policy and coordination support. Examines and articulates how WFP can support strengthening governments’ social protection systems in region to become more responsive to shocks, help to eliminate hunger, and improve nutrition – and articulate the strategic direction for RBB.
3. Leads the design and implementation of operational research, multi-country social protection and cash-based transfer (CBT) analyses, and other evidence generation initiatives.
4. Prepares or oversees the preparation and dissemination of timely analytical and critical reports, publications, and a variety of information products and proposals on social protection and CBT for internal or external use.
5. Coordinates social protection initiatives within the region and identify opportunities for exchange of knowledge and learnings.
6. Enhances WFP leadership status in different forums on social protection and CBT and related issues through direct participation, briefings, information products and other materials.
7. Leads and advocates for resource mobilization and strategic engagement on social protection and CBT interventions with donors, the United Nations system, international financing institutions, non-governmental organizations, private sector entities and other bodies at the regional level; and support partnerships with host governments and United Nations country teams.
8. Develops and maintains strategic partnerships to identify opportunities for collaborative approaches and innovations to improve social assistance packages, including cash transfer values and delivery modalities (e.g. digital payments) and support advocacy work.
9. Advocates and supports country offices in the prioritization of resources to foster efficient and effective use of WFP resources in meeting social protection needs, whether with cash, vouchers, in-kind food, or other forms of assistance, in the region.
10. Provides advice and support to COs to formulate and implement quality social protection and CBT components of country strategic plans, ensure that programmes are consistent with WFP policies and other relevant guidance. Advice and support WFP contributions to inform national and UN plans and WFP support to the design and operationalization of government social assistance and CBT programmes through technical assistance, service delivery and complementary activities.
11. Facilitates the generation and uptake of evidence and sharing of social protection and CBT knowledge, technical tools and resources among country offices.
12. Fosters the integration of social protection and CBT work in other workstreams (i.e., nutrition, school-based feeding, emergency preparedness and response) and vice a versa, facilitate the incorporation of these topics as well as gender, disability inclusion, accountability to affected populations, personal data protection and privacy and data assurance in social protection and CBT programming.
13. Advises and supports the development of functional training in social protection and CBT to enhance the capacity of WFP staff and partner to design and deliver effective food assistance programmes and the identification and recruitment of social protection staff in the region.
14. Leads, motivates and develops a substantive team to enable high performance.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced University degree in Public Policy, Public Administration, International Development, International Relations, Sociology, or other fields relevant to social protection, or, a First University Degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.

Experience:

A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in social protection and related areas, preferably contributing to food security and/or nutrition objectives.

Experience working in developing and middle-income countries is required, preferably with some experience in the Asia-Pacific region.

Experience using data and evidence to advocate and advise governments on social protection programme, policy and system changes and the design advocacy strategies for policy audiences. Experience in setting cash transfers values or advising on targeting, cash amounts and delivery mechanisms is preferred.

Experience leading a team.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Demonstrated technical expertise and knowledge of current trends and developments in social protection and one or more of the following content areas: social assistance, social insurance, public policy, health and nutrition, economic/social/gender equality and inclusion, and poverty reduction.

  • Quantitative and qualitative analysis skills and demonstrated ability to translate analysis into social protection policy and programme options. Excellent ability to weigh pros and cons of different options and identify which is best to recommend based on government and stakeholder needs.
  • Ability to identify most effective entry points for social protection policy advice based on an understanding of national planning and budgeting, regulations and structures.
  • Learning agility, and appetite for exploring and experimenting with new ideas and approaches.
  • Demonstrated activity management experience including negotiating work plans and ensuring quality and timeliness of technical deliverables.
  • Excellent organizational, writing, and oral presentation skills.
  • Aptitude for supervising, coaching and empowering staff.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead or facilitate cross-functional collaboration.
  • 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.
  • Familiarity with the WFP mandate, country strategic planning process, programming tools and policies
  • Availability to travel up to 35 percent time (with enabling conditions) and to support emergency responses.

  Languages:

  Fluency (level C) in English language is required. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language (Chinese, Arabic, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or WFP working language, Portuguese) is an asset.

  CLOSING DATE: 08 November 2020

VA Number: 126986

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 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 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.