Programme Policy Officer- Project Manager MGD, CST-I

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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.

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 World Food Programme (WFP) is the world´s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters, and the impact of climate change to change their lives. Funded entirely by voluntary contribution, WFP assists more than 140 million people in over 120 countries and territories to bring life-saving food to people displaced by conflict and destitute by disasters and help individuals and communities find life-changing solutions to the multiple challenges they face in building better futures.
School-based programmes have been a key focus for WFP Laos Country Office since it established an office in 2002 and Strategic Outcome 1 (school feeding) remains the largest outcome area under the Country Strategic Plan (2022-2026). 
Since 2010 WFP has been providing financial and technical assistance to the Government to establish, develop and strengthen a National School Lunch Programme (NSLP), ensuring that pre-primary and primary school students in the Government’s priority districts receive school meals. While the WFP Country Office (WFP-CO) continues to manage direct implementation of the programme in 700+ schools, WFP’s capacity strengthening / technical assistance work towards the Government and communities continues to grow. 
WFP Laos has been receiving funding from United States Development Agency (USDA) McGovern Dole (MGD) grant to support school lunch programme (SLP) since 2014. The Country Office is currently managing MGD Fiscal Year 20 award (October 2020 – September 2025) supporting 702 schools with in-kind food and technical assistance. Further, Laos has been selected by USDA as an eligible country to apply for MGD FY 24 funding and CO has submitted proposal and expecting funding to continue ongoing support for SLP.

JOB PURPOSE

The Consultant will serve as Project Manager and will be responsible for the overall implementation of McGovern Dole funded projects aiming at providing continuous food assistance to selected schools, promote nutrition and literacy through school meal, and strengthening national capacity to establish sustainable school lunch programme.

He/ she will also support the implementation of action plan developed after System Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) assessment to strengthen the national capacity, aiming successful transition of SLP to the government.

The Programme Policy Officer will operate under the supervision of the School Feeding Coordinator and in close collaboration with WFP management, WFP field offices involved in the project implementation as well as with the Government stakeholders at different level.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

•    Manage all aspects of the ongoing MGD FY20 funded project and future projects expected to be funded by USDA grants.
•    Maintain effective relationships with the USDA McGovern-Dole team, WFP’s Washington Office, and all relevant WFP Headquarter units involved in McGovern-Dole projects.
•    Work with SO 1 manager to manage all MGD funded project with developing quarterly and annual project plans, monitor ongoing project performance against budget, ensuring adherence to guidance and policies, and providing financial analysis and advice to optimise resources.
•    Provide technical and coordination support to the school feeding Team in Vientiane and Field Offices with regards to implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of MGD funded projects. 
•    Closely work with SO 1 team to develop project implementation guidelines and SOP s for managing activities under MG projects.  
•    Create and review project budget plans with SO 1 Manager. 
•    Develop complete set of guidance and training package on USDA McGovern-Dole project management to train WFP CO staff.
•    Work with Government Engagement Officer in SO 1 team to get government support for implementing SLP transition strategy.
•    Closely work with Research, Analysis and Mapping (RAM) team to oversee the monitoring system including school visit strategy, MDR submission, and field visits plans to report on MGD programme implementation.
•    Implementation of project performance and impact evaluations, in line with the donor-approved evaluation plan and terms of reference.
•    Liaise with internal and external counterparts to ensure effective collaboration, monitor ongoing projects progress and highlight potential risks to project delivery.
•    Work closely with the other teams operating under the program unit, as well as Monitoring & Evaluation, to track and analyze project data that enable informed decision making. 
•    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.
•    Ensure accurate and timely reporting to USDA Provide regular inputs to WFP and donors, such as lessons learnt, stories for the website, success stories etc.   
•    Look for operational partnerships opportunities to ensure a quality project implementation.
•    Work in close collaboration with the operations team and will be responsible for drafting terms of reference for evaluations and assessments related to the activities implement under MGD projects.
•    Advice and support the development of functional training in areas of expertise to enhance the capacity of WFP staff and partners to design and deliver effective SO1 programmes.
•    Guide and supervise more junior staff.  Giving them motivation and technical support to enable high performance.
•    Contribute to resource mobilisation efforts in support to SLP implementation.
•    Support the roll out of the SABER action plan related activities under MGD project and support national capacity strengthening. 
•    Perform other tasks as required.
 

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education:  Advanced University degree in International Affairs, Economics, Nutrition/Health, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Social Sciences or other field relevant to international development assistance, or First University Degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.

An experience in managing school lunch programme will be considered a plus.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Understands WFP’s Strategic Objectives and the link to own work objectives.
• Be a force for positive change: Flexibly adapts individual contributions to accommodate changes in direction from supervisors and internal/external changes (such as evolving needs of beneficiaries, new requirements of partners).
• Make the mission inspiring to our team: Recognizes and shares with team members the ways in which individual contributions relate to WFP’s mission.
• Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Sets own goals in alignment with WFP’s overall operations, and is able to communicate this link to others.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Assesses own strengths and weaknesses to increase self-awareness, and includes these in conversations on own developmental needs.
• Create an inclusive culture: Participates in open dialogue, and values the diverse opinion of others, regardless of background, culture, experience, or country assignment.
• Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Proactively seeks feedback and coaching to build confidence, and develop and improve individual skills.
• Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Participates in accomplishing team activities and goals in the face of challenging circumstances.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Shows willingness to explore and experiment with new ideas and approaches in own work.
• Focus on getting results: Consistently delivers results within individual scope of work on time, on budget and without errors.
• Make commitments and make good on commitments: Commits to upholding individual accountabilities and responsibilities in the face of ever-changing country or functional priorities.
• Be Decisive: Makes rational decisions about individual activities when faced with uncertain circumstances, including in times of ambiguity regarding information or manager direction.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Seeks to understand and adapt to internal or cross-unit teams’ priorities and preferred working styles.
• Build strong external partnerships: Demonstrates ability to understand and appropriately respond to and/or escalate needs of external partners.
• Be politically agile & adaptable: Portrays an informed and professional demeanor toward internal and external partners and stakeholders.
• Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Provides operational support on analyses and assessments that quantifies and demonstrates WFP’s unique value as a partner.

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS

•    Understanding of WFP’s operations in the developing world or those of similar humanitarian organizations.
•    Understanding of USDA grants and project management processes is highly desirable.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

•    At least 04 years of progressively responsible professional experience is required, and the following experience are desired:  
•    Has contributed to strategy planning and led the development and implementation of work plans.
•    Has developed productive relationships with representatives of donors and host governments.
•    Has deepened technical knowledge through exposure to technical teams.
•    Has taken leadership in implementing programmes.
•    Has provided input into policy discussions and decisions.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Contract type: International Consultant – regularly 

Level: CST-I

Duty station: Vientiane 

Duration: 11 months – renewal 

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Opening date: 24 May 2024 

Closing date: 06 June 2024

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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.