School Meals Coalition Advocacy & Communication Officer

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Job Title: School Meals Coalition (SMC) Advocacy & Communications Officer

Type of Contract: Consultancy

Division: School Based Programmes (SBP)

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

Duration: 11 months

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

In 2021, WFP efforts to helping countries to establish and maintain nationally owned programmes as well as implementing school feeding programmes with clear hand over strategies, were taken to the next level with the launch of the School Meals Coalition at the Food Systems Summit.

The Coalition, which is a country-led initiative, brings together more than 70 countries and 70 partners who have agreed to support them. The Member State Taskforce that leads its establishment and development has identified WFP as the coordinating body (secretariat) of the School Meals Coalition. As the Secretariat of the Coalition, WFP is expected to provide the thought leadership for this area of work globally, position the initiative at the highest levels including in G7 and G20 discussions, and support and coordinate the entire membership of the Coalition, with the ultimate objective of helping individual countries move forward with their own national school meals programmes.

WFP is building in Headquarters, the new Advocacy Unit for School Meals Programmes. As part of this initiative, WFP is opening several positions for advocacy and communication officers that will be responsible for different but always interconnected streams of work: 1) WFP School Meals Programmes; 2) School Meals Coalition advocacy initiative; and 3) the “Catalysing Good Food Through School Feeding Programmes and Institutional Procurement” project.

Through this vacancy announcement, WFP is seeking to hire a qualified and experienced individual to be the School Meals Coalition (SMC) Advocacy & Communications Officer for school meals programmes (2). Reporting to the Senior Partnerships and Advocacy Officer, she/he will support the communication and visibility of school feeding with public and private external partners to attract policy support, commitment and mobilize resources.

ACCOUNTABITLITIES / RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the supervision of the Senior Partnerships and Advocacy Officer, the SMC Advocacy & Communication Officer will be responsible for the following key duties:

1. Be the primary person responsible for ensuring that the members and partners of the School Meals Coalition are informed and updated on the latest information on events, news, opportunities, etc by proactively seeking ways to gather, centralize and disseminate information.
2. Develop and maintain up to date a contact/membership database
3. Support the organization of webinars and events, including the development of concept notes, agendas, slide decks and notes for the record.
4. Serve as the main focal point to the communications and event management company that will support the organization of high level big global events – ensuring they have the recent information and receive timely comments and feedback in the development process.
5. Draft a monthly newsletter with regular updates on the school feeding coalition by proactively scanning the Coalition environment for news, announcements, research or publications that might be useful for members.
6. Manage the social media channels of the Coalition to raise awareness, build the Coalition’s brand and to push its advocacy agenda. Specific responsibilities around social media will include:
   • Development of a strategic social media plan as part of a wider communications plan;
   • Lead the development and direct the implementation of a wide range of content forms, including video, text, still imagery, animation, live action and other content forms that best utilize the technology available on any given social media/digital platform.
   • Write, edit, and produce social media content in English for the School Meals Coalition’s Twitter account, and possibly, in future, other social media accounts.
   • Work collaboratively with internal WFP and School Meals Coalition stakeholders to develop and execute creative social media ideas, plans and strategies.
   • Provide inspirational and creative and thought leadership on ways to reach and gain attention of target audiences.
7. Draft press releases, OpEds, articles, etc and support the preparation of Coalition members for interviews and press opportunities.
8. Compile, curate and maintain a list of contacts for external and internal emailing purposes.
9. Support the development of donor and partner specific visibility content including talking points, briefs and factsheets to support fund-raising and awareness activities.
10. Propose any other way in which the secretariat can ensure that information is being disseminated in the most dynamic, interesting and user-friendly way to as many partners as possible.
11. Any other duties in support of the Senior Partnerships and Advocacy Officer.

DELIVERABLES QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Newsletter to update internal and external partners regularly
• Social Media feeds for the SMC to be disseminated by the Communication Company and WFP
• A toolkit with general material to be used for events by the Secretariat (set of slides, talking points, one-pagers, etc.)
• A partnership tracker to follow up on initiatives with each stakeholder
• Contribute to the overall advocacy and communication efforts of the newly Advocacy Unit established in WFP, including the “Catalysing Good Food Through School Feeding Programmes and Institutional Procurement” project and the SBP advocacy and communication activities

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced University degree in Journalism, International Relations, Public Relations, Communications or other relevant field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses

Experience:

A minimum of six years of relevant experience in specialised communications practices and applies this to all activities. Has gained experience in utilising specialist communications techniques to enhance functional outputs. In addition, a minimum of five years work experience in producing, editing and disseminating multimedia content for social media audiences on Twitter and other social media platforms is required.

Knowledge and Skills:

Relationship/partner management, communications, demonstrated ability to produce high-quality written outputs including newsletters and social media messages, and analytical skills. Ability to develop and maintain networks with a variety of stakeholders. Some knowledge of school feeding programs would be an asset.

Languages:

Fluency (level C) in English language (mother tongue is a plus). 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

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: 26 August 2022

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.