Programme Policy Officer - Social Protection (SC8)

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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

Remuneration: Attractive remuneration package following UN policy including salary and medical insurance

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Monday****, 17 April 2023

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:

• Advanced University degree in Public policy, Public Administration, International Development, International Relations, Sociology or other related field to social protection or First University degree with additional years (5 or more) of related work experience and/or training/course

Experience:

• Minimum three 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
• 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:

• Fluency in both oral and written communication in English. Working level proficiency in both Tamil and Sinhala is 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.

We want to ensure the recruitment process is fully accessible. Please contact us at iresha.chandradasa@wfp.org to advise us of any accessibility needs you may have.

This email is only to be used for any accessibility requirement in terms of application and not for sending the application itself.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience.

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