Programme Policy Officer World Food Programme(WFP) Tanzania
Job Type: Full-Time
Closing Date: 30th October 2023
Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania


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.

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:  

Tanzania Country Office is at advanced stage of developing its next Country Strategic Plan (CSP) 2022-2027. Based on a comprehensive consultation process and an analysis of key drivers of food security and nutrition in the country, the important themes of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), resilience, and climate change adaptation have emerged as priorities for the WFP programme portfolio.  Climate change multiplies existing threats to food security and malnutrition. It will make natural disasters more frequent and intense, land and water more difficult to access, and increases in agricultural productivity even harder to achieve. It will disproportionally impact the most vulnerable people, the majority of whom live in fragile areas prone to climate hazards, ultimately putting their livelihoods at risk.  

Climate change has both impacted, and is impacted by, existing land use in Tanzania. Agricultural production is primarily rain fed and remains highly susceptible to weather variability. Over the last four decades, Tanzania has been hit by a series of severe droughts and flood events. At the same time, unsustainable land management practices are leading to a reduction of the adaptive capacity of small-scale producers. WFP interventions will focus on strengthening disaster management capacities of the government systems and enhancing climate change adaptation through provision of climate services to small holder producers and rehabilitating/restoring degraded lands through community asset creation. To achieve this, WFP aims to strengthen the staffing capacity of the Country Office by hiring a programme policy officer to support integration of climate resilience in the new CSP.  

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

 

The Programme Policy Officer will play a key role in establishing strategic orientation, designing project activities, and supporting implementation in the area of climate resilience for food and nutrition security. The consultant will lead efforts to develop and launch food security and climate risk management, including cash/food for assets activities for improved access to water, restoration of degraded lands, and reforestation. Additional areas of technical responsibilities include support for renewable energy and climate services at the community level in targeted geographic areas. Support for resource mobilization and strategic engagement with technical counterparts in government line ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and UN agencies will be an important area of responsibility. 

The consultant will report to the Head of Programme and work in close coordination with Country and Sub-Office colleagues. Technical coordination and collaboration will be undertaken with climate and resilience experts in the Regional Bureau and Headquarters.

 

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

 

Education:

Master’s degree in one or more of the following disciplines: Economics, environmental studies, agriculture and food security, development studies or related area. 

Language:

Working knowledge of English (proficiency/level C) required and intermediate knowledge(intermediate/level B) of another UN official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) preferred.

 

 

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Specific tasks will include:  

  1. Develop a country strategy for integrated climate resilience in coordination with relevant CO teams and in coordination with technical leads at RB and HQ level. 
  2. Identify opportunities to provide technical assistance to national government and related national institutions on climate change, DRR and resilience.  o Operationalize the concepts of Shock Responsive Social Protection, Anticipatory Action and the Food-WaterEnergy Nexus in the context of CSP activities. 
  3. Work closely with VAM and Emergency colleagues to identify internal capacity building and/or support needs. 
  4. Provide strategic support and guidance to develop partnerships with donors and various stakeholders in the area of climate resilience and liaise with partners to identify opportunities for joint initiatives/fundraising opportunities.
  5. Support CO management in forging strategic partnerships with government, UN agencies and bilateral donors. 
  6. Support regional fundraising efforts, through initiating and reviewing existing guidelines for funding proposals and supporting national and/or local context assessments needed for planning the expansion of project activities. 
  7. Provide regular project implementation guidance and support to CO and Sub-Office teams; draft progress reports, corporate and donor reports as required, including support on project budget management.
  8. Support COs on feasibility studies on integrated resilience programming approaches under a humanitarian development-peace nexus framework.
  9.  Support with documenting knowledge, best practices and lessons learned for the formulation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and guidance material.
  10. Facilitate, as needed, and provide technical support to learning events at country, regional, and global level, including organising and facilitating trainings, workshops, and other related events.
  11. Any other related duties relevant to the role, as required.

 

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

People

Performance

Partnership

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

 

Capability Name

Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level

Programme Lifecycle & Food Assistance

 

Displays ability to identify the main hunger problem at the national or subnational level to design and implement context-specific programmes that integrate complex analysis and the full range of food assistance tools.

Transfer Modalities (Food, Cash, Voucher)

 

Demonstrates the ability to design, implement, monitor and provide oversight over effective and efficient programmes deploying different transfer modalities.

Broad Knowledge of Specialized areas (i.e. Nutrition, VAM, etc.)

 

Demonstrates the ability to interpret basic data in the context of WFP specialised fields to contribute to technical programme design, implementation and monitoring.

Emergency Programming

 

Displays ability to translate understanding of programme principles in emergencies and protracted conflict situations into relevant, effective, and context specific approaches

Strategic Policy Engagement w/ Government

 

Develops thorough recommendations using multiple inputs (e.g., government counsel, research, own experience) to strengthen national or subnational entities and government-owned food and nutrition security programmes..

 

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS

Experience:  Minimum of 8 years post graduate, progressively responsible, job related experience in food security analysis, policy and/or, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, risk financing or related areas. Demonstrated experience in managing projects and teams in a WFP country office on climate and resilience building programmes would be ideal; ability to engage with senior technical staff from government and UN partners; and proven capacity for designing, mobilizing resources and implementing integrated climate resilience programmes at sub-national level required.  

Knowledge  & Skills:  Proficiency in MS Windows, MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook). Strong qualitative and quantitative skillsets are essential. Collaborative team player, action management, innovation, partnership, and client orientation are critical characteristics for the profile.    

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT: 

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

All applications should be submitted through the e-recruitment portal.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

The deadline for applications is 15 November 2021.

Female applicants, people with disability, 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.