Programme Policy Officer (Cooperating Partners) – NOB, WFP Regional Bureau in Cairo

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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, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

Qualified Female candidates and Individuals with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply.

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.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

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’s Regional Bureau for the Middle East and Northern Africa (RBC), based in Cairo, Egypt, provides strategic guidance, policy/technical support and direction to WFP operations and activities in 16 countries: Algeria, Armenia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, State of Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and Yemen. These country offices aim to assist roughly one-third of all of WFP’s beneficiaries (approx. 30 million) in some of the most critical humanitarian emergencies of our time. RBC is also active in the ‘Changing Lives’ side of WFP’s mandate, helping national governments and local communities improve nutrition, livelihoods, school feeding, social protection, climate and disaster risk reduction and other programmes that build resilience and support development. 

BACKGROUND OF ASSIGNMENT

As the largest humanitarian agency in the world, WFP is well-known for its ability to reach and assist crisis-affected populations including in hard-to-reach locations. WFP depends on a vast network of international and national non-governmental organizations – normally referred to as cooperating partners (CPs) – which play a critical role in the ‘downstream’ delivery of general food assistance, resilience-building activities, and other programmes. The Regional Bureau Cairo (RBC) is responsible for providing support and oversight to all WFP country offices (COs) in the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe (MENA-EE) region. As part of this brief, RBC is responsible for ensuring that CP management practices at the country level are fully compliant with corporate standards and guidance and that any potential risks associated with partner selection and onboarding are managed appropriately. RBC is also responsible for supporting COs to implement reassurance plans, prioritized preparedness and capacity development activities, and to advance and report against WFP’s commitments under the ‘localization’ stream of the Grand Bargain, all of which concern WFP’s operational partnerships with international and national partners. This position will take forward all of this while managing a regional team, as well as any duties as determined by Programme Unit.

JOB PURPOSE

Working under overall supervision of the WFP’s Regional Head Humanitarian and Transitions, the Programme Policy Officer (Cooperating Partners) will spearhead WFP’s CP management function across the entire MENA-EE region.

WHY WORK AT WFP

SAVING & CHANGING LIVES ❤
Make a difference, and the world will notice.
We are driven by our mission to fight world hunger and feed people’s dreams of a brighter future.

GLOBAL COMMUNITY
Build bridges that unite people across the world.
Being part of a global, diverse, and multicultural community like WFP, will continuously expose you to new ideas and perspectives.
How we deliver our mission with deep respect for personal and cultural differences and close collaboration between every member of our global team, will certainly enrich your experience and knowledge on so many levels. 

UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES
Unlock possibilities you never thought you’d find.
WFP goes anywhere it is needed and does whatever it takes to get the job done.

LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE ⭐
Reach beyond yourself and discover your true potential.
WFP offers the kind of life-changing experiences you’re unlikely to find in many other organizations.

Join us to make a difference
Watch this video to know more about us!!
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mzGbaRAhz8&feature=you

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

• Lead the rollout new corporate tools and processes related to CP management across the region, including ‘Partner Connect’ the WFP’s corporate guidance from 2018 covering, inter alia, call for proposals; selection process; partner induction and partner evaluations.
• Provide guidance to COs on Field Level Agreement (FLA) management, including budget negotiations, COMET data entry, distribution reports and invoice management.
• Provide guidance to COs on how to frame and manage contractual relationships with Governments as implementing partners on both strategic and immediate/emergency timeframes, liaising closely with HQ Legal and NGO units.
• Plan and implement CP Partnerships Unit’s contributions to RBC Regional and CO-level re-assurance planning and implementation exercises.
• Support COs in developing and implementing CP Partnerships emergency preparedness and capacity development activities.
• In collaboration with other RBC units, help define and support RBC’s oversight role in CP management.
• Support COs to develop critical documentation that supports an effective CP management function including Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), Terms of Reference for the Cooperating Partner Committee and checklists).
• Systematically monitor all audit and evaluation findings from across the region related to CP management and ensure that COs receive the necessary guidance to address them in full.
• Undertake capacity building of country offices in the area of CP management, including through mentoring and on-the-job training of CO staff delivered both remotely and on-site.
• Continuously liaise with HQ counterparts, with a view to ensuring that corporate standards and templates are continuously improved and more responsive to field realities.
• Proactively develop and propose new thinking regarding how WFP can accelerate and demonstrate its implementation of the ‘localization’ stream of the Grand Bargain and show the added value that this brings.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Advanced University degree in business management or other field relevant to international development assistance, or First University Degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.

Essential:

• Minimum 7 years of professional experience in the humanitarian/development system
• Experience of working outside of his/her country of permanent residence
• Demonstrable experience of interacting directly with, or working directly for, national/international NGOs
• Client-focused and strong networking skills
• Excellent written and oral/presentation skills
• Able to work independently under minimal supervision
• Excellent written and oral/presentation skills
• Willingness to travel frequently, including to ‘deep field’ locations (25%)

Desirable:

• Demonstrable familiarity with WFP’s main corporate standards, tools and processes related to CP and FLA management is desirable.
• Prior experience of working directly with WFP’s main food assistance approaches and modalities

Language: National Professional: Fluency (level C) in English language and the duty station’s language, if different. Arabic is highly desirable, and French would be considered a bonus

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

WFP offers a competitive compensation package including:

• Attractive salary in accordance with industry standards. Please visit United Nations Salary Scales for more details.
• Attractive pension plan
• Child allowance
• Medical coverage for staff and eligible dependents
• Variety of leave entitlements, including but not limited to 30 days annual leaves per year, maternity/paternity leave, and special leave arrangements.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

The Deadline for Applications is 26 May 2024 at 11:59 PM Cairo Time

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WFP is committed to an accessible, inclusive recruitment process. Please contact us at global.inclusion@wfp.org  to advise us of any disability-related reasonable accommodation or accessibility requests you may have. A member of the reasonable accommodation team will contact you to discuss your needs. This email is only to be used for any disability-related accessibility requirements, and not for sending the application itself. Due to the volume of applications, any applications or CVs sent through this email address will not be considered as a formal application and will not receive a reply from WFP. 

WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFP’s standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment.

WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.