Programme Policy Officer – School Feeding Transition
Grade: NO - B
Type of contract: fixed term appointment
Duration: one year (renewable)
Duty Station: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Vacancy Number: One
Date of Publication: 22 March 2023
Deadline of Application: 5 April 2023
This vacancy announcement is for Nationals from Cambodia Only
Terms and Conditions:
WFP offers a competitive benefits package including salary, pension, leave plus a medical insurance.
JOB PURPOSE Central to its Cambodia programme, WFP has been working with the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) to implement school feeding since 1999 through the provision of hot, nutritious meals in schools and cash/food scholarships to vulnerable primary and pre-primary school children. From 1999 to 2021, this social assistance programme has benefited over two million school children with much work already done to transition school feeding to a nationally managed and funded programme. The programme currently reaches over 300,000 children in Cambodia and has an increasing focus on supporting the scale up of the government’s school feeding programme.
WFP is seeking to recruit a dynamic and experienced National Programme Policy Officer – School Feeding Transition to support the process of development of the national School Meals Programme. A key focus of the role will be to ensure that systems, processes and guidelines are in place to enable national and sub-national stakeholders to guide, implement, manage and monitor school feeding in Cambodia
- Support the realization of Cambodia’s CSP to strengthen the national School Feeding Programme with a focus on the design, management system and implementation to ensure efficiency, consistency, and alignment with social assistance, education and health and nutrition objectives.
- Work with relevant institutions to finalize and operationalize the national school feeding transition Strategy around five policy pathways – policy framework, budget sustainability, institutional capacity, design and implementation and role of non-state stakeholders. As part of the operationalization of the strategy, continue to work with relevant stakeholders to identify capacity gaps and opportunities and lead capacity assessments and plans to address these.
- Coordinate collaboration with government partners, WFP and relevant stakeholders to establish and enhance national school feeding coordination and management structures, lessons learnt from national programme implementation, and the emerging roles and responsibilities of various actors in social assistance environment.
- Lead WFP’s research and evidence generation initiatives linked to capacity strengthening with a focus on school feeding. Additionally, lead/facilitate discussions within WFP and with the Government on action needed based on this evidence, and subsequently to national capacity strengthening priorities.
- Support regular risk analysis and programme adjustments required to strengthen school feeding design and delivery in the context of COVID-19 and other risks.
- Contribute to building and maintaining relationships with external partners including government, UN, NGOs and other development partners in support of programme strategy, implementation, enhanced coordination and resource mobilization.
- Support and promote representation in national, regional, and global coordination and partnership fora related to school-based programme themes, ensuring that Cambodia’s school feeding programmes, policies and frameworks are well elaborated and represented.
- Document the learning from transition and handover processes, facilitate internal and external discussions on lessons learnt on capacity strengthening and proactively lead the actions leading to programme adjustments based on this learning.
- Ensure gender, protection, accountability for affected population, and consideration for people with disability are considered throughout all areas of work under the post, as relevant.
- Other as required.
- EDUCATION
- Advanced University degree in International Affairs, Economics, Public Administration, Nutrition/Health, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Social Sciences or another field relevant to international development assistance, or First University Degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.
- WORK EXPERIENCE
- Has a minimum of five years of relevant work experience, preferably with technical roles, in one or more of the following areas: change management, adaptive capacity, organizational change, systems development, public policy/administration and programme management.
- Has taken leadership of implementing programmes in one or more of WFP’s programme areas (e.g. food security, nutrition, agriculture, education or similar) ideally with a focus on change management (program embedded or otherwise), institutional development and/or systems strengthening.
- Has engaged in strategic programme/policy processes to inform programme design and implementation.
- Has provided input into policy discussions and decisions across sectors.
- Has experience working with different types of stakeholders (government, UN, research bodies, external experts) at national and sub-national level.
- Has experience utilizing computers, including Microsoft Office package (e.g., Word, Excel) and other standard software packages and systems.
- KEY COMPETENCIES
- Programme Lifecycle & Food Assistance: Displays ability to identify the main hunger problem at the national or subnational level to design and implement context-specific programmes that integrate complex analysis and the full range of food assistance tools.
- Transfer Modalities (Food, Cash, Voucher): Demonstrates ability to analyze and consolidate quantitative and qualitative information from different sources (e.g., market studies) to inform transfer modality selection and programme development.
- Broad Knowledge of Specialized Areas (Nutrition): Demonstrates the ability to interpret basic data in the context of WFP specialized fields to contribute to technical programme design, implementation, and monitoring.
- Emergency Programming: Displays ability to translate understanding of programme principles in emergencies and protracted conflict situations into relevant, effective, and context specific approaches. Strategic Policy Engagement w/Government: Develops thorough recommendations using multiple inputs (e.g., government counsel, research, own experience) to strengthen national or subnational entities and government owned food and nutrition security programmes.
- LANGUAGE
- Proficiency in both oral and written communication skills in English and Khmer
- All WFP Employees are expected to demonstrate the competencies and standards of behavior aligned with our core values and defined in the WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK, namely:
- Leading by example with integrity,
- Driving results and delivering on commitments,
- Fostering inclusive and collaborative teamwork,
- Applying strategic thinking,
- Building and maintaining sustainable partnerships.
