DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
29 March 2026-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Rome)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).
TYPE OF CONTRACT: Consultancy Level I
UNIT/DIVISION: School Meals Coalition -
Data & Monitoring Initiative
DUTY STATION (City, Country): Rome, Italy
DURATION: 11 months (renewable)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
The School Meals Coalition (SMC), hosted by the World Food Programme (WFP), brings together governments, international organizations, and research institutions committed to ensuring that every child has access to a healthy meal in school.
The launch of the School Meals Coalition demonstrated strong political engagement to ensure that every child can receive a healthy, nutritious meal in school by 2030. More than 110 member countries and around 150 partners are working together to improve the quality, sustainability and scale of national school meals programmes.
The Coalition has put in place strategic initiatives to assist member countries in implementing and expanding national school meal programmes. Within the global School Meals Coalition ecosystem, the Data and Monitoring Initiative (DMI), hosted by the World Food Programme, aims to improve the availability, accessibility and use of data on national school meal programmes worldwide. The goal is to promote evidence-based decision making and actions for school-aged children. Better data will enable stakeholders guide policies, identify best practices, knowledge gaps for research, and track progress.
A key achievement of the DMI has been the launch of the first Global Database on School Meals, that ensures that data on school meals and their broader areas of impact is stored, shared, and made accessible to stakeholders worldwide.
The DMI is now preparing the launch of a new global data architecture that places governments at the centre of data collection, ownership, and reporting. At its core, a self-reporting mechanism hosted on the SMC Database will allow national governments to directly submit and update data related to their national school meal programmes.
To ensure the successful rollout and engagement of this new data architecture, WFP seeks to recruit a Liaison Officer who will act as a key focal point between DMI and participating governments. The Liaison Officer will support country engagement, facilitate communication and advocacy, and help build strong and lasting partnerships to sustain government participation in the self-reporting system.
ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:
The consultant will work under the overall guidance and coordination of the Deputy Head of Data and Monitoring Initiative. She/He will be expected to:
1. Serve as primary liaison between DMI and national government counterparts, SMC partners, other initiatives and WFP regional/country offices, positioning Government Self-Reporting System of School Meals Data, the School Meals Coalition Global Database, and other DMI products.
2. Establish global/regional outreach and country onboarding strategies to the self-reporting platform hosted on the Coalition Database, ensuring a smooth user experience and timely data submissions.
3. Support the preparation of communication, advocacy and visibility campaigns, training sessions, and webinars for government focal points, ensuring alignment with the broader SMC narrative.
4. Develop and maintain relationships with key government and partner representatives to encourage data reporting and long-term engagement, including compiling, curating and maintaining a list of contacts for external and internal emailing purposes.
5. Perform any other duties as required.
DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:
• Outreach and advocacy strategy for promoting government-led data reporting finalized and implemented.
• Support provided to governments to report data on their school meal programmes.
• Engagement webinars organized and documented with participating countries.
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
Education: University degree in International Relations, Communications, Development Studies, Political Science, or a related field.
Experience: Minimum 4 years of progressively responsible experience in government liaison roles partnerships, or communication, preferably within international development or UN agencies.
Knowledge & Skills:
Strong partnership management skills with ability to build trust-based relationships across diverse stakeholders.
Excellent written and oral communication skills; ability to draft high-quality content for multiple audiences.
Experience organizing events, workshops, and webinars across time zones and institutions.
Proactive and detail-oriented team player, with flexibility, self-motivation, and the ability to work independently while meeting tight deadlines.
Strong time management skills with an ability to plan ahead, anticipate requirements, problems and obstacles, and an ability to juggle competing priorities successfully, and to work to tight deadlines.
Collaborative spirit able to liaise with a wide range of people at all levels and across different cultures and to act with credibility and diplomacy.
Understanding of government data systems or school meals programmes is an advantage.
Languages:
Fluency (level C) in English and of a second official UN language: Arabic, French, Spanish.
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 recruiting system. We do not consider CVs or applications sent by email, LinkedIn, or any other channel.
We strongly recommend that your Workday profile is accurate and complete, and that all sections are filled in, including your employment history, academic qualifications, language skills, and UN grade (if applicable). Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.
If you experience technical issues while submitting your application, you may contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org. Please note that this email is only for technical issues with an application - unsolicited applications or documents sent to this inbox will not receive a reply.
At the application stage, the only required documents are your CV and Cover Letter. Additional documents (passport, certificates, recommendation letters, etc.) may be requested later in the process.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process.
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.