Programme Policy Officer (School Meals)

JOB PURPOSE:

The School Meals Programme Policy Officer will provide technical leadership and strategic direction for the School Meals programme, with a particular focus on Home-Grown School Meals (HGSM), in close collaboration with National and Regional counterparts and in line with WFP’s policies and goals. For this purpose, WFP is seeking to hire committed, innovative, and dynamic individuals to join its Philippine Country Office (CO) in Manila with regular travel to the project locations.

The incumbent will be responsible for managing the school meals team based in Manila while providing strategic guidance and oversight to HGSF implementation in BARMM and Luzon ensuring that the programme is implemented effectively and efficiently. The incumbent will work under the supervision of the International Social Protection and School Meals Officer and with the overall guidance of the Head of Programme.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive strategy for the School-Based Meals Program, with an emphasis on Home Grown School Meals (HGSF).
• Actively engage in and contribute to relevant policy dialogues and strategy development to strengthen the SBFP in the Philippines.
• Lead research and analysis of policy and operational issues on the SBFP to inform the development of policies, programmes, and activities.
• Research and analyse a range of policy and operational issues to inform the development of policies, programmes, and activities and lead advocacy efforts in close collaboration with WFP management and HQ/RB.
• Build and maintain strategic and operational partnerships with government agencies, community-based organizations, private sector partners, research organizations, academia, and think tanks to explore and identify collaborative opportunities, advocacy initiatives, and approaches that enhance the success of the national SBFP.
• Enhance WFP’s leadership status in forums relating to School Meals, Food Security and Nutrition, and Social Protection through direct participation, developing briefing materials, information products, and other resources.
• Support the capacity building of WFP staff, partners, and national and regional governments on SBFP, with a particular focus on HGSF, building on WFP global and local experiences.
• Provide project management support for the effective and timely implementation of HGSF models currently implemented in Luzon and BARMM, ensuring its scale-up in other areas and a coordinated approach with wider programmes that complies with WFP standards and procedures.
• Coordinate with the Research, Assessment, and Monitoring team to ensure appropriate data gathering and monitoring of the pilot programmes, ensuring that rigorous quality standards are maintained and lessons learned are well documented.
• Manage the preparation and dissemination of timely analytical and critical reports, publications, and a variety of information products or proposals for internal or external use.
• Contribute to the preparation of accurate and timely reporting on programmes and activities that enable informed decision-making and consistency of information presented to stakeholders.
• Provide technical assistance to the Department of Education as it fulfills its commitments to the Global School Meals Coalition and ASEAN School Meals Working Group.
• Contribute to resource mobilization for the School Meals and Social Protection Programmes through donors’ meetings and proposal development as required.
• Manage school Meals programme budget and ensure that all expenditures comply with established guidelines and procedures.
• Lead, motivate, and develop a team of staff to enable high performance.
• Other as required.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education: Advanced University degree in International Affairs, Economics, Nutrition/Health, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Social Sciences or other field relevant to international development assistance

Experience:

• At least five years of work experience in strategic planning, policy formulation and analysis, government budget formulation policy, project management, managing teams, supervision, monitoring and evaluation systems as well as a high level of analytical, and research capability and excellent interpersonal, writing, and oral presentation skills.
• Experience in school meals programs or agriculture related programme is an asset
• Demonstrate experience in strategic policy engagement w/ Government Develops thorough recommendations using multiple inputs (e.g., government counsel, research, own experience) to strengthen national or subnational level.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Displays ability to identify issues around education, poverty, and nutrition at the national or subnational level to design and implement context-specific programmes that integrate complex analysis and the full range of HGSM tools.
• Demonstrates ability to analyse and consolidate quantitative and qualitative information from different sources (e.g., market studies) to inform transfer modality selection and programme development.
• Demonstrates the ability to interpret basic data in the context of WFP specialised fields to contribute to technical programme design, implementation and monitoring.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build and maintain partnerships with diverse stakeholders.
• Strong leadership and management skills, with the ability to manage and supervise staff.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Proficient in using computer applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to plan and organize work; resourcefulness, initiative, maturity of judgment, tact, and ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with other UN agencies, Government departments, Cooperating partners and communities of different national and cultural background.
• Knowledge of development context in the Philippines and work in the field is desirable;

Languages: Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Filipino.