DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS27 March 2025-23:59-GMT+03:00 East Africa Time (Addis Ababa)
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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).
CONTRACTUAL INFORMATION
JOB TITLE: Consultant Programme Policy (Social Protection) CST-II
GRADE/TYPE OF CONTRACT: Consultancy Level II
UNIT/DIVISION: Programme and Policy, Addis Ababa
DUTY STATION (City, Country): Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
DURATION: 11 Months
COUNTRY CONTEXT
Ethiopia has developed one of the largest safety net programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, yet challenges remain in achieving widespread coverage, ensuring sustainability, and integrating it with other development sectors. Despite these challenges, there is renewed momentum, and the sector is expected to experience significant developments, which include the review of the national social protection policy, the design of the next phase of the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), the development of a Social Registry, and the introduction of a National ID that could form the unique identifier underpinning many social programmes and beneficiary databases. Overall, the government is working to reform and strengthen the sector reducing dependency on humanitarian assistance and strengthening resilience. WFP is fully aligned with this agenda and continues to prioritise social protection as a key strategy for achieving food security and Zero Hunger in Ethiopia.
WFP Engagement in Social Protection
WFP Ethiopia is committed to enhancing its engagement and support to the social protection sector, including through complementary actions in WFPโs own programming, working across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. WFP also contributes to strengthening national social protection systems by providing technical assistance, advisory services and implementing elements of the national social protection programmes on behalf of the Government as needed. WFPโs technical role is crucial in assisting the government with designing and implementing high-quality, scalable, and context-specific social protection systems that effectively meet the needs of vulnerable populations.
WFP Ethiopia is currently finalising its new Country Strategic Plan 2025-2030. The plan will focus on strengthening social protection by improving food access for food insecure and vulnerable populations, promoting self-reliance and enhancing human capital. WFP intends to achieve this by promoting nutrition-sensitive interventions, building climate-resilient and sustainable food systems, and supporting the integration of shock-responsive social protection and disaster risk management to ensure effective service delivery for food-insecure communities. The overall intention is to ensure that WFP effectively supports government in realising its social protection and broader development goals,
JOB PURPOSE
In support of this, WFP is seeking a Social Protection Programme Policy Officer, who will provide technical expertise and advisory services to the country office of WFP engagement is Social Protection. The Social Protection Programme Policy Officer will be responsible for supporting, design, implementation and improvement of social protection strategies, policies, and programs in Ethiopia to align with the evolving needs and national priorities. This includes providing recommendations for enhancing technical systems such as cash transfers, food assistance, and social safety nets. The role will focus on providing high-level technical advice, ensuring that social protection strategies are in line with national priorities, best practices, and WFPโs corporate standards. This position will also support Ethiopiaโs broader efforts in integrating social protection systems across sectors, particularly in the context of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
The role will also support WFP Ethiopia's Country Strategic Plan (CSP) for 2025-2030, which emphasizes strengthening social protection systems across the country.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
Reporting to the Program Lead for Social Protection, this position will be responsible for carrying out the following roles and responsibilities:
1. TECHNICAL ADVISORY SUPPORT
Provide expert technical advice for the development, design, implementation and improvement of national social protection policies, strategies and programs, such as the PSNP, ensuring integration with other development goals such as education, nutrition.
Advise on best practices and innovations for improving social protection delivery systems, including digitized beneficiary targeting and registration systems, grievance redress mechanisms, and payment solutions.
Offer technical support for scaling up initiatives such as nutrition-sensitive programming, shock-responsive social protection and their integration across the relevant sectors.
2. SUPPORT FOR COORDINATION, POLICY AND PARTNERSHIP ENGAGEMENT
Act as the technical focal point for social protection, supporting coordination and technical collaboration between internal WFP cross functional teams and external partners (government ministries, UN agencies, development partners, etc.) to ensure coherent approaches and synergies for social protection integration.
Represent WFP in the relevant technical working groups, policy dialogues, and coordination forums related to social protection and ensuring WFPโs technical contribution in the sector.
3. CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNICAL STRENGTHENING
Provide capacity-building support to government staff, national stakeholders, and WFP teams on implementing social protection strategies and operational models ensuring high technical quality and efficiency.
Support the strengthening of the technical capabilities of WFP, government, and partner organizations in managing the full social protection programme delivery chain, from needs analysis to targeting, registration, enrolment, payments and beneficiary management (including grievance redress mechanisms) and monitoring.
Facilitate peer learning opportunities and knowledge exchange on social protection principles, approaches, processes and systems across different levels of government and other stakeholders.
4. SUPPORT TO PROGRAM DESIGN AND EVIDENCE GENERATION
Support the development of concept notes and reports to inform the design of new social protection programs or strategies.
Contribute to research and evidence generation through evaluations, studies, and learning activities to improve program effectiveness and inform future social protection programming decisions.
5. SUPPORT FOR PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
Advise on program management tools for social protection activities, including workplans, budgets, and procurement plans, ensuring alignment with WFP standards and donor requirements.
Provide technical oversight support on program implementation, including monitoring, reporting, and troubleshooting operational challenges such as beneficiary management and payment systems.
Support field-level operations to ensure that social protection systems are functioning as designed in targeted areas and contribute to corporate reports, donor reports, and other required documentation.
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
Education:
Advanced University degree in Public Policy, Public Administration, International Development, Social Sciences, International Relations, Economics, or other fields relevant to social protection
Experience:
Ten (10) or more years of post graduate relevant professional experience related to national development programmes, policies, strategies or plans and institutional structures, in relation to social protection and/or revolving around food security and/or nutrition and/or emergency responses.
DESIREABLE EXPERIENCES
Has taken leadership in implementing humanitarian or developmental projects.
Experience leading and working across policy and program cycle management, with particular attention to various interventions tied to social protection, notably cash transfer, school feeding, nutrition sensitivity, livelihood asset creation/public works, insurance programs, technical and vocational education and training support etc.
Experience in collaborating with national government actors on international financial institution-financed social protection programs, development partners, will be a plus.
Experience working in Ethiopia or similar contexts (fragile, conflict-affected, or developing countries) is highly desirable.
Has contributed to policy discussions and technical issues pertinent to the social protection
Has experience leading a team.
Knowledge and Skills:
In-depth knowledge of social protection technical approaches, systems, policies, and delivery mechanisms.
Expertise in technical areas of cash transfers, social safety nets, and the integration of social protection with sectors like food security, nutrition, and livelihoods.
Familiarity with national social protection frameworks, such as the PSNP, and the policy landscape in Ethiopia.
Proven analytical, problem-solving, negotiation and decision-making skills with a strong result orientation, and ability to think critically and carry out independent and innovative evidence-driven interventions.
Strong technical writing skills, including the ability to produce high-quality reports, concept notes, and policy briefs.
Knowledge of research and evaluation methodologies related to social protection and ability to generate evidence-based insights.
High level of energy and initiative, and ability to deal with rapidly shifting priorities and work demands in complex and volatile environments.
Aptitude for supervising, guiding and empowering staff.
Languages:
Fluency in English (Level C) is required.
Special recommendation:
Before you apply, please confirm that both (i) your on-line profile and CV are accurate and up to date, (ii) your CV should include your all your relevant employment history, awarded academic qualifications, and language skills. Please indicate full dates for your employment history in the format dd/mm/yyyy to enable us to accurately calculate your relevant years of experience.
It is the responsibility of the candidate to ensure that they had attached both a CV and Cover Letter. If you find any challenges, please immediately write to the Organisation Alignment team at ETHIOPIA.ORGALIGNMENT@WFP.ORG
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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: global.inclusion@wfp.org
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 global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org 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.