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Programme and Policy Officer (Resilient Livelihoods) – Consultant Level II

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Working under the supervision of the Deputy Head of Food Systems, the Programme and Policy Officer (Resilient Livelihoods) will:

1. Lead and supervise the livelihoods team
   • Manage and set priorities for a team of technical specialists and operational personnel, building capacities as needed
   • Supervise special projects within the team, ensuring deliverables are met, and expenditures are tracked as needed
2. Thought leadership on resilient livelihoods and food systems
   • Provide strategic direction, building on established resilience and food system frameworks, support country offices (COs) with their resilient livelihoods strategies and how these contribute to their overall food systems strategy development and programme implementation
   • Lead discussions on developing innovative approaches for WFP programming within resilient livelihoods portfolio and its inclusion in guidance for COs
   • Provide technical insight and coordination on WFP’s regional natural resource management, soil and water conservation, landscape and ecosystem restoration policies
   • Develop and lead regional studies, assessments and research on topics related to his/her portfolio.

3. Provide technical backstopping to Country Offices on resilience building activities by:

• Support COs on the design, implementation, and oversight of resilient livelihoods programmes at country level, with a specific focus on asset creation and livelihoods, natural resource management, soil and water conservation, landscape and ecosystem restoration, and on their synergies with other programmes and activities (e.g. anticipatory action, climate services, access to financial services, school feeding, nutrition, and social protection, etc)
• Lead the team providing CO support on strengthening value chains, improving access to markets and market-based solutions, post-harvest management and youth engagement
• Ensure gender perspectives are effectively reflected in asset creation and livelihoods programming, and that they are designed to ensure the meaningful participation of women and men and the empowerment of marginalized groups;
• Advise on mainstreaming relevant cross-cutting issues within asset creation and livelihoods programming
• Support and provide guidance on his/her areas of expertise to COs as needed during the development of their Country Strategic Plans (CSPs) and project proposals; this entails working closely with RBN colleagues to ensure a coordinated approach and maximise synergies with climate risk management, DRR and climate change adaptation, emergency preparedness interventions

4. Knowledge management and capacity building

Support capacity building activities for RBN and COs’ staff, including:

• Support the development and facilitation of trainings tailored to the eastern Africa region and specific country contexts, including relevant background materials, to enhance the capacity of WFP staff and partners to design and deliver effective asset creation and livelihoods, improving access to markets and markets-based solutions, post-harvest losses reduction, and value chain development programmes. 
• Work closely with colleagues from other programming areas to co-develop and incorporate relevant guidance on integrated resilience/ food systems programming in relevant trainings/documents to strengthen coherence
• Contribute to the development of knowledge and evidence-based products, including briefs, key messaging, talking points and case-studies

5. Enhance overall coordination on asset creation and livelihoods and market access programmes and programmatic integration within programme teams as well as with procurement and logistics units

• Support better coordination with other food systems programmes at RBN and CO level, also working closely with other technical units in RBN (social protection, emergency preparedness, RAM, school feeding) to foster synergies for integrated approach to resilience building and DRR
• Liaise and strengthen coordination with relevant units in HQ working to promote greater coherence and coordination and coordinate provision of inputs and technical support to country offices on asset creation and livelihoods and smallholder markets support
• Participate and represent WFP in regional inter-agency meetings and other relevant fora

6. Partnerships and fundraising

• Support the development of proposals, including reviewing and providing inputs into climate finance proposals, with elements of asset creation and livelihoods
• Support country offices engagement with relevant partners and stakeholders to scale up integrated resilience programmes, with a focus on strengthening government and community ownership and effectiveness of food security and nutrition programmes at regional, national and sub-national levels – including through extended field work
• Strengthen and develop operational partnerships with other organizations (governments, UN, NGO’s, academia and research institutions) to foster collaborative approaches and initiatives that improve resilience and livelihoods related assistance packages
• Support the development of MoUs, LTAs or expert rosters as needed to strengthen Country Offices access to relevant expertise;
• Monitor and support operational research and evidence generation on issues relevant to asset creation and livelihoods to support resource mobilisation, and to strengthen programme/proposals formulation
• Manage and contribute to the preparation and dissemination of timely analytical reports, publications, and a variety of information products for internal and/or external use

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in geography, environmental Science and management , development Studies, agronomy, agriculture, forestry, Climate Studies or related disciplines or  a First University Degree with additional years of related work experience.

Language: Fluent in English including(writing and speaking ) is required

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Minimum 6-10 years of post-graduate, progressively responsible professional experience working on environmental engineering and/or development programming, rural development, agriculture or other related fields;
• Country-level experience leading programme implementation and operationalizing programmatic policies on food security, natural resource management and sustainable development, rural livelihoods and poverty reduction, asset creation, access to markets, value chains, climate change adaptation and disaster risk management with communities;
• Demonstrable experience and understanding of sustainable development issues is required. Experience in resilience building through rural livelihoods, graduation pathways, access to finance, climate adaptation and urban food systems at the community level, and in collaboration with local and national government in east Africa will be considered an asset.

Knowledge & Skills

Proven experience in managing diverse teams and partnerships, supervising staff, agenda setting, managing multiple projects, priorities, and timelines

• Specialized technical understanding of rural and urban livelihoods, sustainable development issues, natural resource management, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation programming. Experience with community based participatory approaches will be considered an asset.
• Proven ability to write briefs, analytical and guidance documents to a high standard, and to present complex technical information analyses to technical and non-technical in simple and easily understandable way.
• Experience with developing and facilitating trainings to a wide range of stakeholders.
• Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook) and other standard WFP software packages and systems.
• Desired general knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures
• Desired working experience in the east Africa region

Partnerships Officer, Consultancy Level II

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

• This job will be based in Nairobi in the Kenya Country Office. Job holders work with high degree of independence using technical knowledge and experience to analyze data, prepare reports, provide advice and solutions to problems, and identify opportunities for improvements.
• In Country Offices, these jobs report to the Communications Officer, to ensure that the Country Office partnership activities serve WFP needs in the country of assignment, taking into consideration the overall regional partnership plan and WFP’s corporate goals.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

• WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, with a mission to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  WFP Kenya is one of the 15 largest operations in the organization, with a yearly budget of approximately USD 200 million and a complex portfolio of activities spanning relief operations for refugees/vulnerable Kenyan populations; resilience building through asset creation and food systems strengthening; capacity strengthening activities (school meals, emergency preparedness and response), and logistics services including management of a major regional port and the UNHAS service.
• The Country office is seeking an appropriately qualified consultant for a period of 11 months, to provide support in the areas of Partnerships (Donor Relations).

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)
The assignment will involve some or all of the following responsibilities:  

• Coordinate the implementation of agreed segments of the donor relations workplan, specifically private sector and selected government donor engagement, to enable WFP to identify, develop and strengthen quality partnerships in support of WFP strategic objectives.
• Contribute substantively to the development, implementation and periodic revision of the Partnership Action Plan, working with functional units and RB staff to develop coordinated outreach plans. Support alignment of partner engagement across the organization.
• Proactively support a wide range of aspects of the donor relations/partnerships portfolio, including:
• profiling, data/trends analysis and outreach planning, to maximise resources for Kenya country office and regional/interagency initiatives, and to leverage policy and technical support for WFP’s work.
• Gather and share donor intelligence, including forecasting, using key information systems (eg WINGS, Salesforce, WFPgo, RBN Dashboards and Kenya CO resource management systems) to track activity and assess results.
• Extend support on partnership/contribution management, in line with corporate norms, processes and legal agreements, including quality proposal and (on occasion) report writing, engaging with other WFP entities (eg. global offices and Friends groups) and external stakeholders.
• Facilitate partnership growth, by exploring opportunities to expand existing partnerships and scope of new partners, guided by assessments, analysis and due diligence;
• Ensure partner visibility and that partner conditions are met.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (cont.)

• Facilitate corporate dialogue with partners through preparation of quality briefing materials and meeting reports;
• Proactively highlight strategic opportunities and issues to senior management and propose options for the best course of action to nurture trust and interest in the work of WFP, ensuring follow up.
• Support the preparation of joint events (UN pledging conferences, regional drought response and interagency initiatives) that can advance WFP interests and objectives.
• As required, support WFP’s effective positioning with national governments, regional and international institutions, with the aim of influencing engagement and the policy agenda.
• In the context of the UN System and selected multilateral for a, support the development of partnerships with member states, civil society and intergovernmental organizations to advocate for attainment of the SDGs and Zero Hunger.
• Take responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives in all areas of work to ensure equal participation of women and men.
• Other related duties as required.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

• A written summary covering
• Summary of proposals submitted and status of prospective donors in pipeline
• Events and donor missions supported, and lessons learned/suggestions for future collaborations
• any other key achievements during the period of appointment.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education:

• Advanced University degree in Political Science, International Development, Development Economics, International Relations, Law, Marketing, Communications, Social Sciences or other relevant field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses. 

Experience:

• Six years or more of postgraduate professional experience in a relevant field of work, with a background and interest in international humanitarian development. Prior experience working within, or in connection with, a UN system organization or in the humanitarian sector is desirable. Prior experience working in, or supporting projects based in, developing countries will be highly regarded.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS (cont.)
Knowledge & Skills:

• Has a good understanding of government and corporate strategy and priorities and has gained experience in developing multi-stakeholder partnership.
• Has developed long term partner relationships and expanded engagements across geographies and sectors
• Has gained significant experience in exploring new opportunities and developing proposals to design and develop solutions with prospective partners and expand existing engagements and partner relationships.
• Has designed and managed resource mobilization processes, negotiated contract terms and provided resourcing advice to senior management.
• Has gained experience in gathering, documenting, and analyzing partner intelligence (both data and qualitative information such as partners’ focus areas and organizational operations) to develop a Unique Value Proposition and engagement strategy for partners.
• Has experience of using technology and digital tools for managing partner information and to share insights to add value to partnerships corporately.
• Has demonstrated sound teamwork, collaboration and motivation abilities and contributed to a gender-balanced, inclusive, and positive working environment.

Languages:

• Written and oral proficiency in English is essential. 
• Intermediate (or better) knowledge of another WFP official language (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish or WFP’s working language) is highly desirable.

Method of Application

Use the link(s) below to apply on company website.

1. Programme and Policy Officer (Resilient Livelihoods) – Consultant Level II 
2. Partnerships Officer, Consultancy Level II