Programme Policy Officer – Capacity Strengthening (Food Systems),SC9 at World Food Programme: (Deadline 3 April 2025)

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

3 April 2025-23:59-GMT+02:00 Central Africa Time (Kigali)

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 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.

WHY JOIN WFP?

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

BACKGROUND:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the United Nations frontline agency for fighting hunger. WFP reaches more than 80 million people every day – delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with smallholder farmers, communities, and governments to improve nutrition and build resilience.

WFP Rwanda supports the Government of Rwanda with its ambitious food systems transformation goals to ensure equitable access to sustainable livelihoods and healthy diets for all, as described in the PSTA5. The Food Systems Team works with government and private-sector partners to foster sustainable systems change from food production to food consumption.

The existing food systems portfolio puts an emphasis on:

Job creation for young people in food value chains, especially young women in rural communities. Strengthening pro-smallholder value chains in partnership with public and private off-takers, credit and input providers, and farmers cooperatives. Home-grown school feeding, especially on the provision of local, nutritious foods for healthy meals at schools, in support of the National School Feeding Programme. Rural women’s empowerment, though a joint programme with FAO, IFAD, and UN Women. Supporting the food systems innovation ecosystem, including innovative microfinance for rural communities, and supporting small ventures with local solutions that promote food security. Promoting conservation agriculture practices amongst farmers cooperatives.

The Food System Team aims to increasingly transition towards building national capacities (public and private) to formulate, manage and implement projects for food systems transformation.

PURPOSE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Ahead of the launch of the new WFP Rwanda Country Strategic Plan 2025 – 2029, WFP Rwanda is seeking an SC9 to support the increasing need for coordination of capacity strengthening activities with government to ensure that WFP delivers well-planned, integrated support to the Government.

The position is based in Kigali. The incumbent will be reporting to the Head of Food Systems.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Food Systems, the incumbent will:

• Liaise with partners, especially with Government counterparts in MINAGRI, MIGEPROF, MINICOM, RAB, RCA and the Ministry of Environment, to ensure effective collaboration, monitoring of activities and highlight potential risks to programme delivery.
• Contribute to the development of projects, plans and processes for capacity strengthening of various actors (especially public sector actors) within the food system, aligned to corporate policies and guidance. This includes providing inputs into plans, training materials and follow up actions.
• Provide project management to defined food systems project activities, especially those focused on supporting national policies and programmes. This includes activities related to the National School Feeding Programme, national food reserves, food safety and quality and aligning with the Ministry of Agriculture’s extension system.
• Contribute to the development of monitoring tools with the M&E team and in the facilitation of key programmes surveys/data collection activities geared towards supporting national systems and capacity strengthening, as well as studies and assessments on food systems that could be useful to WFP, the Government of Rwanda, and partners.
• Support the identification and management of partnerships in capacity strengthening and technical assistance, as aligned to Government objectives.
• Serve as a point of referral and provide guidance to other staff as required, including for proposal development, project design and reporting.
• Support strategic initiatives such as the integration of nutrition and climate-resilience in the food systems portfolio, as aligned to Government objectives.

Other duties as required. Including support to learning, partnerships, and internal processes.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced University degree in economics, international relations, international development, or other degrees related to rural development, or First University Degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses

Experience:

At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in a role involving capacity strengthening, food systems and/or rural development.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Has leadership skills and deep technical knowledge needed for the successful delivery of capacity strengthening activities.
• Knowledge of current thinking and developments in the field of food systems, smallholder livelihoods support and rural development.
• Has provided experience into national policy discussions related to food systems.
• Has worked cross-functionally and can navigate uncertainty with curiosity, poise, and a solution-oriented mentality.
• Excellent communication/presentation skills, with the ability to write strategy documents, to develop business plans and to write and deliver presentations.
• Able to interact with a broad range of stakeholders and external audience with maturity and tact.
• Collaborative spirit, able to partner with a wide range of people at all levels and across different cultures and to act with credibility and diplomacy.
• Self-motivated and able to work with a high degree of autonomy, proactively seeking support and guidance when needed.
• Sets a high-level of ownership over projects to achieve impact for WFP constituents.
• Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the UN World Food Programme

Languages:

Fluency in oral and written English mandatory. Intermediate knowledge of French would be an advantage.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact:  [email protected]

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).
• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.
• Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language
• Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter
• Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time
• Please contact us at [email protected] in case you face any challenges with submitting your application
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.

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