World Food Program wants Programme Policy Officer (Climate Action) P3

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Jordan is a middle-income country with 11.2 million people, including 3.4 million non-citizens (refugees and migrant workers). The country hosts the second-highest share of refugees per capita in the world, putting unprecedented pressure on its budgetary and natural resources, infrastructure and labour market. Over the past decade, Jordan’s stagnating economy has failed to create jobs to meet the requirements of its rapidly growing, and largely urban, population. Furthermore, Jordan is a semi-arid country with limited water resources, most of which are not replenishable, making it the third most water-scarce country in the world. Rapid population growth is pushing water demand well beyond supply. Water scarcity renders Jordan environmentally sensitive to climate change.

In this context Jordan faces three main drivers of food insecurity: a protracted refugee crisis, with 1.3 million Syrian refugees and 90,000 refugees of other origin, many of whom cannot meet their food needs independently; a difficult socioeconomic situation, exacerbated by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the global food price increases triggered by the Ukraine crisis, with high unemployment and increasing poverty affecting people’s economic access to food; and increasingly frequent climate-related shocks that, combined with chronic water scarcity, undermine sustainable national development.

Jordan country strategic plan (CSP) for 2023–2027 represents WFP’s contribution to addressing food insecurity in Jordan, aligning with the priorities of the Government, as well as the United Nations sustainable development cooperation framework for 2023–2027.

Under Jordan CSP Outcome 3, WFP will provide integrated support to enable climate change adaptation and more resilient livelihoods of vulnerable smallholder farmers and pastoralist communities, through climate-smart technologies, efficient water usage and enhanced climate risk management. WFP will also provide support to relevant national institutions, including the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, to strengthen the sustainable management of natural resources through land reclamation, water conservation, rangeland rehabilitation and forestry.

JOB PURPOSE

WFP is looking for a Programme Policy Officer responsible for managing this Climate Action portfolio (corresponding to the following components of the CSP: Activity 5 / Climate action, Activity 7 / EPR-DRR and cross-cutting integration of public-private partnerships for food security innovation). She/he will report to the Head of Programme. Conceptualizing and designing integrated packages of activities and establishing and nurturing partnerships will be primary responsibilities, along with helping raise and secure multi-year funding.To design and manage programmes of moderate size or complexity that effectively meet food assistance needs, or contribute to policy formulation and/or provide technical advice or oversight on programme strategy and implementation.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1.   Assess the strengths and weaknesses of on-going/recent WFP livelihood support activities/projects linked to natural resources management and climate action and lead the evidence-generation/lessons-learnt/evaluation exercise.

2.   Define WFP value proposition in terms of climate action around the food security-water-climate nexus and articulate it in a position paper. Focus on i) sustainable management of scarce natural resources which are public goods, ii) climate adaptation of rural and urban livelihoods and iii) integration of innovation, economic viability and environmental sustainability.

3.   Position WFP vis a vis the Green Climate Fund’s National Designated Authority.

4.   Review current partnerships and identify opportunities of new ones. Establish and nurture partnerships with relevant institutional stakeholders (Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Water, Chamber of Commerce, Specialized research centers, Universities…), international stakeholders (World Bank, bilateral development agencies …) and civil society organizations and local private sector.

5.   Strengthen the connection between WFP’s climate action/ disaster risk reduction positioning/interventions and other organizations’ projects and initiatives to optimize convergence, concentration, coverage and capacities and ultimately maximize the impact of our interventions.

6.   Conceptualize and design integrated packages of activities in close collaboration with relevant partners.

7.   Lead on the development of project concept notes and funding proposals for climate action interventions (including preliminary assessments) in order to secure multi-year funding.

8.   In order to achieve the above, act as the strategic leader and technical advisor to the team responsible for the operationalization, implementation of the climate action/disaster risk reduction projects. Involve and solicit the team members for the value proposition definition and project proposal development as per needs. Manage and mentor the team responsible for the implementation of the resilience-livelihood-climate change adaptation projects.

9.   Provide technical expertise, coordinate, supervise and ultimately assure the quality of the work of CSP Activity 5 and Activity 7 staff and cooperating partners.

10.   Lead on the evidence generation agenda, in close collaboration with the VAM-M&E unit, in order to measure the medium to long-term benefits of any future intervention, with a focus on sustainable impact, socio-economically and environmentally speaking.

11.   Strengthen the connection between WFP’s climate action-resilience-livelihood support interventions with other WFP activities and institutional capacity building initiatives, including disaster risk reduction (DRR) and emergency preparedness and response (EPR), innovation for food security, social protection, school feeding, emergency response, and vulnerability assessment and mapping (VAM).

12.   Actively work on integrating youth, gender and social inclusion strategies to promote gender equality and social and youth inclusion for sustainable livelihoods programming

13.   Actively contribute to national inter-agency processes and working groups related to climate action, livelihoods and disaster risk reduction to ensure collaboration and alignment among agencies

14.   Prepare evidence-based and story-telling reports and communication materials, conduct briefings on initiatives and projects, and organize after-action reviews and document lessons learnt and best practices in Climate action-Disaster risk reduction programming.

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.

Experience:

• Successful experience in fund raising from climate finance (Global Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund…).
• Experience in building partnership at institutional level (Government and bilateral or international development agencies and research institutes) in relation to climate action, resilience, sustainable livelihood activities.
• Experience in managing climate change adaptation projects at scale, including projects in urban areas.
• Experience in supervising staff.

Language:   Fluency in spoken and written English. Knowledge of Arabic is an advantage

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and in writing.
• Excellent strategic thinking, conceptualization and analytical skills.
• Ability to think outside the box and come up with innovative approaches.
• General knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures governing administration.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives : Utilizes understanding of WFP’s Strategic Objectives to communicate linkages to team objectives and work.
• Be a force for positive change : Proactively identifies and develops new methods or improvements for self and immediate team to address work challenges within own work area.
• Make the mission inspiring to our team : Identifies opportunities to further align individual contributions with WFP’s mission of making an impact on local communities.
• Make our mission visible in everyday actions : Helps colleagues to see the link between their individual tasks and the contributions of their unit’s goals to the broader context of WFP’s mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills : Is able to identify, support and encourage focused on-the-job learning opportunities to address gaps between current skillsets and needed future skillsets for WFP.
• Create an inclusive culture : Recognizes the contributions of teammates, and encourages contributions from culturally different team mates to recognise the value of diversity above and beyond just including it in programming for beneficiaries.
• Be a coach & provide constructive feedback : Provides and solicits ongoing constructive feedback on strengths and development opportunities to help develop individual skills, whilst also helping others identify areas for improvement.
• Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit : Sets clear targets for self and others to focus team efforts in ambiguous situations (e.g., unprecedented issues and/or scenarios)

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions : Thinks beyond team’s conventional approaches to formulate creative methods for delivering food aid and assistance to beneficiaries.
• Focus on getting results : Maintains focus on achieving individual results in the face of obstacles such as volatile or fragile environments and/or organizational roadblocks.
• Make commitments and make good on commitments : Takes personal accountability for upholding and delivering upon team’s commitments and provides assurance to stakeholders.
• Be Decisive : Demonstrates ability to adjust to team’s plans and priorities to optimize outcomes in light of evolving directives, while also responding quickly in high-pressure environments, such as in emergency settings.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units : Demonstrates an understanding of when and how to tactfully engage other units in conversations on impact, timing, or planning
• Build strong external partnerships : Networks regularly with key external partners using formal and informal opportunities to understand each partner’s unique value proposition, and to build and strengthen relationships
• Be politically agile & adaptable : Demonstrates ability to adapt engagement approach in the context of evolving partner circumstances and expectations
• Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships : Demonstrates ability to articulate to internal and external audiences the value that individual contributions and immediate teams bring to partnerships.