Programme Policy Officer, NOC FT

JOB TITLE: Programme Policy Officer

TYPE OF CONTRACT: Fixed Term, NOC

UNIT/DIVISION: Programme Unit

DUTY STATION (City, Country): Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

DURATION: 12 Months Extendable

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The World Food Programme 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.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do, and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok.

WFP as an employer of choice.

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.

• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.

• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.

• WFP offers an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PROGRAMME AND POLICY OFFICER POSITION AT WFP TANZANIA

This position is based in Dar es Salaam and reports directly to the Head of Programme, who oversees overall performance and strategic alignment for the implementation of Strategic Outcomes (SOs) which are SO1 (Refugees & DRR), SO2 (Nutrition and School Feeding) and SO3 (Agriculture and climate resilience interventions) and other crosscutting elements (such as gender, protection, energy etc.) of the Country Strategic Plan (CSP) for 2022-2028 period. This position is the Strategic Outcome 1 Manager who will lead SO1 on ‘crisis affected populations in Tanzania to meet their essential food and nutrition needs in anticipation of, during and the aftermath of shocks and build resilience to shocks and stressors by 2027’. This role oversees the refugee operation, as well as activities to work with the government to prepare and respond to disasters in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar. This post requires solid team management experience and would provide backstopping on management activities for the Programme unit, as well as working closely on overall government engagement.

As well as having a direct supervisory role, this position further entails close working relationships with field-based offices notably in Kasulu, Zanzibar, Dodoma, Mtwara and Arusha as a strategy to provide on-the-ground support on capacity building initiatives, and policy advice to national government on DRM activities including on adaptive social protection, DRR, climate resilience and anticipatory action, as required and in consultation with the respective technical leads.

The incumbent would need a strong understanding and demonstrated experience of coordination with Government and UN Agencies as well as with donors and NGO partners. Key stakeholders include Disaster Management Department, Disaster Management Commission, PMO-LYED, TMA, TASAF and other key donor, agency and government coordination groups.

BACKGROUND

Tanzania has experienced sustained economic growth in recent years, achieving Lower Middle Income Country status in 2020. Despite a positive development trajectory, the increasing frequency of extreme weather events threatens to undermine progress in poverty reduction and exacerbate existing inequalities, including between men and women and people with disabilities.

WFP's objective is to support Tanzania’s shift from reactive emergency relief towards a more proactive, risk-informed, and sustainable disaster risk management programming to protect at-risk vulnerable and food insecure communities. This includes increased investments in national capacities on emergency preparedness and response; strengthening forecast-based mechanisms so we can act before a hazard becomes a disaster through Anticipatory Action; designing adaptive social protection approaches for shock-response and climate adaptation, and enhancing national food security analysis and data availability so every intervention is backed by real-time data.

The incumbent to this position is expected to play a crucial role of leading, designing and implementing inter-connected activities that ensures the inclusive approach to manage disasters in the country.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES / RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead Strategic Outcome 1 and Activity 1 and provide oversight and support for Activity 2.

• As SO1 Manager, lead Activity 1, providing support to refugees and other vulnerable populations affected by shocks and stressors; and provide strategic vision and oversight to Activity 2, to strengthen complementarities between climate change adaptation, disaster risk management, anticipatory action and social protection systems at the national and sub-national levels.

• Lead WFP’s emergency response activities as required, in close coordination with Activity 2 and other technical leads.

• Together with the technical leads, lead SO1 resource mobilization through regular donor engagement and development of funding proposals and ensure timely and high-quality reporting for both financial and technical aspects.

• Participate effectively in the UNSDCF processes including development of Joint Work-Plan (JWP) under relevant Outcome Groups.

• Participate and provide technical input to key stakeholder working groups including the relevant DPGs and UN Emergency Coordination Group (ECG).

• Participate in review of various relevant internal and external documents, including assessments, studies, appraisals and funding proposals among others

• Lead and / or support on programme budgets and key documents

• Act as a key government engagement advisor for Programme, in coordination with SOs and the Government Partnerships Officer based in Dodoma.

• Provide support on programme management activities as required.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Master’s degree in social sciences including Agriculture, Economics, DR Management (DRM), Social Protection, environmental sciences and Community Development, or at least 8-10 years of relevant experience if the candidate does not have a master’s degree.

Experience:

Over 5 years of post-graduate with professional experience in Programme management. Must have experience in disaster preparedness and response, such as planning and managing DRM, Social Protection, Anticipatory Action, Refugees and / or related technical programmes. Solid experience in management, both for teams and projects is a requirement, as is demonstrated experience in engagement with government UN and NGO partners.

Knowledge & Skills:

IT literacy with strong analytical, written and oral communication skills, excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work in a team; ability to plan and organize work with minimum supervision; ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines; Working relations with government entities is highly desirable. General knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures.

Languages:

Fluent in English and Kiswahili languages.