Research and Analytics Consultant

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, color, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status, physical or mental disability.

Job Title: Research and Analytics Officer

Type of Contract: Regular Consultant

Division: School-based Programmes

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

Duration: 11 months

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading organization fighting hunger worldwide, working with communities to improve nutrition, build resilience and address the growing challenges posed by climate change and rising inequality.

For more than 50 years, WFP has been the leading organization in supporting countries with their school feeding programmes, which are widely prevalent throughout the world. Almost every country in the world has a national school feeding programme, making it the most widespread safety net. The interventions reach an estimated 368 million children and adolescents globally. Of these, WFP supports about 16 million children annually and also provides technical assistance to governments ensuring the sustainability and effectiveness of government investments.

To strengthen its global support for school feeding, WFP has established a new School-Based Programmes Service (SBP) within the Programme and Policy Development Department at its Headquarters in Rome. The School-Based Programmes Service will support WFP’s engagement in school feeding across four workstreams identified in WFP’s new School Feeding Strategy 2020-2030:

1. Generating and sharing knowledge and best practices globally

2. Increasing the investment in school feeding

3. Acting in partnership to improve and advocate for school health and nutrition

4. Strengthening programmatic approaches in key areas

Purpose of the assignment

This consultancy is related to workstream 1 of the Strategy, described above: “generating and sharing knowledge and best practices globally”. The Knowledge Management consultant will help generate and share credible, relevant, and salient knowledge, while managing relevant platforms as a critical pillar in the execution of the School Feeding strategy 2020-2030. This role will play a crucial role in filling the knowledge gaps currently present in School Health and Nutrition, capturing the said knowledge, and ensuring its impact on future programmes. S/He will report to the Head of the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Unit

As the Research and Analytics Officer in the School Based Programmes team you will gain experience in the humanitarian and development sector by working and contributing to a multidisciplinary team. You will support improving evidence for school-based programmes and support the roll out of the school feeding strategy.

Through your "hands on" and "make it happen" attitude and by sharing your own thoughts and ideas with the team, you will contribute significantly to advancing school feeding programmes worldwide and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential and thrive.

ACCOUNTABITLITIES / RESPONSIBILITIES:

You will work under the direct supervision of the Head of Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Unit in the School Based Programmes Division.

• Lead the mapping of existing data and establishing the criteria, standards, methodology and processes for collection, validating and reporting of school health and nutrition data globally.
• Lead the design of the processes to collect and feed the global database with school feeding and school health and nutrition data globally.
• In collaboration with the Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition and the Monitoring and Accountability Taskforce, identify focal persons from governments, partner agencies such as, African Union, AUDA-NEPAD, OECD, GCNF, UNESCO’s Institute of Statistics, WFP country offices, etc. who will be responsible for facilitating the data collection, survey completion and validation processes.
• Coordinate a community in partnership with stakeholders such as Dubai Cares, the Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition, and regional groups like the African Union and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA/NEPAD).
• Develop a training module for global facilitators of data collection.
• Using data collected through this global knowledge facility, support the development of new analytics and reporting on school feeding programmes globally, including the scale, coverage, need, investment level, and policy frameworks.
• Offer helpdesk support to the field, including one-on-one support to WFP regional bureaus and country offices as needed.
• Serve as key contributor to the planning, drafting and coordination of the development of WFPs flagship State of School Feeding Worldwide publication series.
• In coordination with head of unit/supervisor, draft talking points and briefing notes to support senior management.
• Support preparation for and documentation of the WFP Executive Board meetings.
• Liaise with other SBP units to cover key school feeding data management needs.
• Support development of materials for capacity building: Workshops, including Thought Leadership events, learning and training sessions, and online training packages.
• Support research function in the MERL unit (support in data collection, analysis and presentations covering both quantitative and qualitative aspects).
• Any other business as required.

DELIVERABLES QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

(Please refer to previous section.)

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education: Master’s degree in international affairs, social or behavioral sciences, economics, business administration, business analytics, or other relevant fields.

Experience: Minimum 3 years of relevant professional experience

Knowledge and Skills:

• Proven communication skills (written and oral); excellent writer and able to draft high-quality documents in English quickly.
• Ability to work independently, with minimal supervision and has initiative to propose or initiate activities to the benefit of the team and of WFP.
• Knowledge of WFP's 2020-2030 School Feeding Strategy and WFP school feeding programmes is required.
• Proven analytical skills, particularly in data analysis.
• Experience working with large data sets and summarizing data for use.
• Proficiency with Excel, Word and PowerPoint
• Exposure to WFP systems and excellent information technology skills (Microsoft Office Package, SharePoint, Teams)
• Strong attention to detail
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in multicultural settings.

Languages:

Fluency (level C) in English language. Knowledge of Spanish, French or another UN language a strong asset.

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: 11 August 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.