Job Vacancy at World Food Programme (WFP) – Programme Associate (School Feeding)

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.

WFP Sierra Leone is working with the Government and partners to strengthen the resilience of the most vulnerable population and to chart a more prosperous and sustainable future for the next generation.

WFP has been implementing the School Feeding Programme for many decades. In 2021, the GSL developed a School Feeding Policy and recommended to start a Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) approach as a priority investment to connect smallholder farmers with schools, eradicate poverty and lay the foundation for sustained growth and attain the goals of the 2019 - 2023 Medium-Term National Development Plan.

In the current academic year, WFP will be providing hot meals for approximately 237,000 primary school students attending 918 schools across 5 districts in collaboration with the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE). WFP is also piloting the HGSF programme in two districts (Pujehun and Kambia) to provide fresh foods to schools that are locally sourced from local Farmers Based Organizations.

This job is based at WFP's Kenema sub office and the job holder will report to the Head of Sub Office on day-to- day operational matters. The Country Office School Feeding Unit will provide overall technical guidance. She/he will work closely with regional and district offices of the National School Feeding Secretariat.

To provide effective technical and operational support to the school feeding programme that meets the objectives of WFP food assistance needs for the respective districts. She/he will be responsible for any school meal related issue implemented under the sub office.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

•  Provide project management support to the school feeding programme to ensure that the various activities are performed within the established targets, policies and strategy, implementation guide and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
•  Periodically collect and analyze data related to school feeding and HGSF programme and highlight issues ensuring deliverables adhere to corporate standards and quality control

•  Provide support to HGSF implementing partners to strengthen multisectoral collaboration and coordination at regional, district, chiefdom, community, and school levels

•  Coordinate and support local partners, FBOs, Agricultural Business Centres (ABCs), NGOs and government institutions to perform HGSF-related activities in a timely and effective manner.
•  Identify school feeding and HGSF capacity gaps in the operational area, facilitate training sessions and jointly deliver trainings with the CO school feeding team to build the capacity of implementing sectors at district, school, and community level
•  Act as a point of contact for resolution of a range of operational queries and problems related to regular school feeding and HGSF support within the geographic area of responsibility
•  Conduct periodic field visits to monitor the implementation of school feeding and HGSF activities, analyze the situation and identify challenges and proactively respond on spot and bring the issues and recommendations to WFP Sub Office, school feeding unit and the District Education office for timely corrective actions.
•  Facilitate and proactively lead internal school feeding programme monitoring in collaboration with government counterparts, and support donor visit.
•  Ensure community participation in all school feeding activities to assure local ownership
•  Regularly monitor, update and track data related to school feeding programme issues, commodity pipelines, follow the timely delivery of commodities and distributions to ensure effective implementation of the programme.
•  Provide intensive support to districts and schools in preparing plans, project implementation, facilitating food procurement process and ensure the delivery of food commodities and provision of Non-Food Items on time
•  Coach and support School Management Committees (SMCs), head teachers and community members to ensure the cash transferred to HGSF is being utilized for the intended purpose as per the agreed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and SOPs.
•  Prepare and compile detailed monthly and quarterly school feeding reports describing project activities, disaggregated by age and gender, and ensure timely submission to WFP SO and CO school feeding unit.
•  Work in close collaboration with WFP's Asset Creation and other local actors to enhance the capacity of smallholder farmers to produce and supply nutritious and quality fresh foods to HGSF
•  Perform additional duties, as required by the supervisor.

Education: Completion of secondary school education. A post-secondary certificate in the related functional area. Preferably a university degree in nutrition, agriculture economics, rural development, education and social sciences, or another related field

Experience Five years of progressively responsible work experience in school feeding or education related programme operations, nutrition, emergency response, etc., including at least three years at regional or district level. Experience working on programme monitoring, capacity building and technical assistance to the government and prior coordination role will have an added advantage.

Language:

Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English. Fluency in local languages and knowledge of the operational area are highly desirable.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

•  Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Coaches team in the most effective ways to communicate WFP's Strategic Objectives to WFP team and partners in the field.
•  Be a force for positive change: Implements new methods or tools to improve team's work processes and productivity. czrxDNN Dmlrvu

•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Maps team's activities and tasks to specific successes in beneficiary communities to showcase positive impact.

•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Explains to teammates how each unit contributes to the overall WFP mission.

People

•  Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Identifies skill development opportunities such as training modules or on-the-job experiences for self, colleagues and direct reports.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Facilitates team building activities to build rapport in own unit.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Facilitates the pairing of junior colleagues with coaches within own team.
•  Create an "I will"/"We will" spirit: Proactively anticipates potential challenges and develops mitigation plans to ensure that team meets goals and targets.

•  Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Identifies opportunities to be creative in own work and to help team be more innovative and accurate in their respective tasks and areas of work.
•  Focus on getting results: Monitors team's deliverables and provides feedback to ensure outcomes are delivered consistently and accurately.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Provides accurate guidance to team on expected responsibilities and tasks, whilst also upholding own commitment to the team.
•  Be Decisive: Sets an example and provides guidance to junior team members on when to escalate issues when faced with challenging issues in the workplace or in the field.

Partnership

•  Connect and share across WFP units: Facilitates partnerships with other WFP units to accomplish missions in the field.
•  Build strong external partnerships: Sets an example and provides guidance to team on how to build relationships with external partners.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Articulates to colleagues or direct reports the value of contributing to other WFP teams and agency partnerships in fulfilling WFP's goals and objectives.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Organizes, monitors, and prioritizes own and team's efforts to ensure that they will fulfil the needs of internal and external partners.

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

Capability Name

Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level

Programme Lifecycle & Food Assistance

Demonstrates ability to identify key variables and contextual factors that affect food assistance problems and programmes throughout the lifecycle to inform quality programme design or re-design.

Transfer Modalities (Food, Cash, Vouchers)

Demonstrates ability to implement, under guidance, food assistance programmes deploying the full range of transfer modalities with an understanding of basic principles guiding modality selection and implementation.

Broad Knowledge of Specialized Areas

Understands basic technical concepts and data and their relevance to food assistance programmes.

Emergency Programming

Displays capacity to provide inputs into the development, implementation and realignment of high quality emergency programmes.

Strategic Policy Engagement w/Government

Understands and applies basic principles of engagement with government counterparts at the national or local level.

•  Has worked with technical teams (i.e., school feeding, education, nutrition, agriculture, and social protection with similar role).
•  Experience implementing complex projects.
•  Has observed or assisted with policy discussions
•  Has ability to analyze and interpret information and provide solutions.
•  Experience implementing school feeding activities an added advantage

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Position open to Sierra Leone Nationals only

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

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

30 November 2021

Female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply

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.

How to Apply

Qualified and interested individuals should click on the button below to apply.