Programme Associate SC6 (Environmental & Social Safeguards)

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

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:

In July 2023, the World Food Programme (WFP) Zambia Country Office commenced a new five-year Country Strategic Plan (CSP), informed by, and aligned with national and United Nations priorities and global commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It embraces the Government’s long-term Vision 2030; aligns with 16 key strategic areas of the 8th National Development Plan (NDP8); and contributes to the joint Zambia-United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF).

WFP Zambia’s integrated and pragmatic CSP shifts away from unsustainable localized and micro-level interventions, to embrace more effective advocacy and engagement with national policies, systems, and programmes to achieve national impact on SDG2. Given the Government’s commitment to budget support for nutrition, social protection, and agriculture, despite the constraints in the country’s fiscal position, WFP’s overarching strategy seeks to enable the government to meet its national priorities with better systems, expertise, and resources for implementation. This means a decisive shift of WFP’s country positioning towards the provision of innovative, sustainable, upstream technical assistance for nationally owned solutions.

Advancing the global WFP Strategic Plan (2022-2025), the CSP addresses both SDG2 and SDG17, and WFP’s Strategic Results 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. WFP will implement seven activities to achieve five Strategic Outcomes (SO). These SOs include: responding to crises and shocks, including support to refugees (SO1); addressing the root causes of malnutrition (SO2); building the resilience, enabling environment and market access for smallholder farmers, especially women and youth (SO3); supporting government institutions to provide social protection systems (including home grown school meals) and disaster preparedness and response and anticipatory actions (SO4); and improving access to supply chain services for humanitarian and development actors (SO5).

Building on this strategic direction, WFP Zambia is equally committed to ensuring that its programmes and operations are environmentally and socially sustainable. In pursuit of this goal, WFP adopted a new Environmental Policy in February 2017, together with the Environmental and Social Sustainability Framework (ESSF). The Policy commits the organization to avoiding unintended harm to the environment, its beneficiaries, or any other affected populations as a result of our operations and programmes, while maximizing environmental benefits. The ESSF is comprised of three core tools: a set of environmental and social standards, risk screening of activity design and mitigation/management plans (safeguards), and an environmental management system (EMS) consistent with the international standard ISO 14001. Collectively, these elements form WFP’s Environmental and Social Sustainability Framework.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The Environmental Management Associate will lead the integration of environmental and social sustainability across WFP Zambia’s operations and programmes. The role is responsible for implementing the Environmental Management System (EMS) and supporting the application of Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS), ensuring compliance with WFP and donor standards. By identifying risks, developing cost-effective improvement actions, and coordinating with staff and partners, the Associate will help reduce environmental impacts, strengthen safeguards in programme design and delivery, and promote a continuous cycle of sustainability improvement within WFP Zambia.

REPORTING

Reporting to the KfW Project Manager, the incumbent shall provide operational leadership for the roll-out and mainstreaming of WFP’s Environmental and Social Sustainability Framework (ESSF) across country strategies and programmes. The job holder will oversee day-to-day implementation of environmental and social safeguards, ensure compliance with WFP and donor standards, and foster strong collaboration with government institutions, UN agencies, development partners, NGOs, and community-based organizations. Through this role, the incumbent will help strengthen systems, build capacity, and promote sustainable practices that minimize environmental and social risks while maximizing positive impacts of WFP-supported interventions

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES 

Technical support to CO activities:

• Ensure compliance with WFP and donor environmental and social safeguard standards across programme and operational activities.
• Support identification of environmental and social risks for CO-based agreements and projects in close coordination with relevant units (i.e programme, security, CP management, procurement, management services etc).
• Based on outcomes of screenings, support the development and implementation of environmental and social management instruments such as Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs), donor-specified Environmental and Social Management Frameworks (ESMF), labour management and stakeholder engagement plans, as required to promote safe, sustainable, and socially responsible programming. 
• Revise and/or implement Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) of high-risk projects when required.

Capacity Building and Training:

• Support WFP staff and cooperating partners in applying environmental and social safeguards tools and instruments, including risk screening.
• Promoting awareness of WFP’s potential environmental and social safeguards and the WFP sustainability framework as a systematic management tool.
• Deliver in-person and online training sessions to build capacity on compliance with safeguard requirements, ensuring these trainings are integrated into broader programmatic learning initiatives.

Incident Management and Response:

• Support the logging, documentation, and escalation of Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) incidents to relevant stakeholders within the Country Office and Field Offices.
• Support in the drafting and collation of incident reports in compliance with WFP corporate standards and donor requirements, maintaining confidentiality and data integrity
• Coordinate follow-up actions to address identified risks, including environmental site audits where applicable.
• Ensure incidents are tracked systematically and escalated appropriately for resolution

Monitoring:

• Support field staff including CPs in tracking environmental and social risks during programme implementation and oversee compliance with WFP safeguards
• Monitor and record ESS implementation of WFP interventions including those implemented through CPs
• Drafting safeguard components and review of CP’s ESS implementation reports for purposes of developing progress reports and donor submissions.
• Ensure medium and high-risk activities are captured in the corporate risk register.

5. Other Duties

• Undertake any additional tasks as required in support of WFP programme delivery and strategic objectives.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Education: Advanced University Degree in one of the following areas: Environmental Studies, Environmental Management, Social Science, or a related field.
• Experience: At least three years of post-graduate experience in areas related to: environmental and social sustainability, environmental and social safeguards/protection.
• Language: Oral and written working knowledge of English.
• Experience completing and implementing Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) including risk identification, Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA), and/or corporate sustainability for national and/or international environmental and social safeguards frameworks and regulations.
• Experience in developing and delivering training.

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:  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

• All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruitment system. We do not accept CVs or spontaneous applications by email.

• If you experience challenges while submitting your online application, please contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org for technical support only.

• Please note that applications sent to this email address cannot be considered.

• 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.

• 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

• 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.