DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
7 September 2026-23:59-GMT+03:00 Arabian Standard Time (Aden)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.
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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).
GENERAL INFORMATION
JOB TITLE: Programme Policy officer (School Feeding)
TYPE OF CONTRACT/LEVEL: Consultancy Contract CSTII
SUPERVISOR: Programme Officer
UNIT/DIVISION: Programme
DUTY STATION (City, Country): Aden, Yemen
DURATION: 11 Months
BACKGROUND:
The Government of Yemen and WFP are actively working to sustain and transition the national school feeding portfolio into a highly strategic mechanism that supports child nutrition, local agrifood value chains, educational equity, and long-term community resilience. WFP Yemen’s operations are undergoing a critical strategic shift aligned with the new Interim Country Strategic Plan (ICSP 2027–2029). This shift focuses on scaling up shock-responsive Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) models and Healthy Kitchens, while deliberately moving away from emergency hand-outs toward national systems-building.
Central to this strategy is the structured, phased operational and fiscal transition and eventual handover of the program to the Ministry of Education (MoE) and other national counterparts. In an environment marked by deep resource constraints and currency bifurcation, this portfolio redefines the institutional roles of both WFP and the state. This is achieved by embedding robust capacity-strengthening frameworks, linking local smallholder producer cooperatives directly to school meals demand, and utilizing innovative financing instruments such as the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Multiplier Grant and global platforms like the School Meals Coalition to secure a self-sustaining national program.
JOB PURPOSE
To provide senior-level technical leadership, high-level policy advice, and strategic oversight for the design, scale-up, and institutional transition of WFP Yemen’s school feeding portfolio. The Senior Consultant will lead the implementation of the new ICSP HGSF expansion, manage the technical committee structures tasked with the phased handover of field operations and incentive structures to the Ministry of Education payroll, and drive comprehensive national institutional capacity-strengthening initiatives to ensure programmatic continuity and sovereign ownership.
ACCOUNTABILITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
A. Technical Leadership, HGSF Scaling, and Institutional Transition
Strategic ICSP Alignment: Provide overarching technical leadership for WFP Yemen's school feeding portfolio, managing the strategic pivot from emergency in-kind distributions to nutrition-sensitive, shock-responsive Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) and Healthy Kitchen delivery models.
National Handover Framework: Architect and guide the execution of the operational and fiscal transition roadmap to systematically transfer field implementation, data management, and operational incentive costs from WFP direct funding onto the national MoE civil service payroll and budget lines.
Agrifood Value-Chain Integration: Provide expert guidance on establishing community-based local procurement networks and institutional market linkages. This involves connecting smallholder farmer cooperatives, particularly female-led producer groups, directly to school feeding kitchens to tackle local economic vulnerabilities.
Standards & Quality Control: Formulate and enforce strict standard operating procedures (SOPs), food safety and quality management protocols, nutrition-sensitive menu guidelines, and localized supply chain tracking tools for the expanded Healthy Kitchen platforms.
Inter-Ministerial Coordination: Manage and facilitate high-level coordination committees across the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Public Health and Population (MoPHP), Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MOSAL), and local governorate authorities to secure institutional alignment on transition milestones.
Social Behavior Change: Oversee the design and deployment of integrated, nutrition-sensitive Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) toolkits targeting students, local school boards, parents, and catering staff to maximize community ownership.
B. Evidence Generation, Macro-Fiscal Policy, and Innovative Financing
Investment Case Development: Lead the production of high-level policy briefs, multi-sectoral investment cases, and analytical evidence products to demonstrate the socio-economic return on investment of school meals to senior government stakeholders, international financial institutions (IFIs), and bilateral donors.
Value-for-Money Analysis: Design and oversee comprehensive Value for Money (VfM) tracking, fiscal cost-effectiveness studies, and rapid diagnostic assessments to optimize institutional delivery systems during the transition phase.
Resource Mobilization: Identify, design, and pursue complementary and innovative financing streams to support long-term programmatic sustainability, specifically leveraging co-financing models, the GPE Multiplier Grant, and global thematic funds.
SABER Policy Modernization: Drive the finalization, high-level endorsement, and operationalization of the Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) school feeding tool, utilizing its diagnostic findings to support national legislative and regulatory policy development.
C. Global Coalitions, South-South Cooperation, and Knowledge Governance
School Meals Coalition Integration: Act as WFP’s primary technical adviser to the Ministry of Education to support Yemen’s high-level commitments within the global School Meals Coalition, ensuring national targets are met and showcased globally.
South-South Knowledge Exchanges: Design, fundraise for, and execute targeted South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) initiatives and study visits. These will link Yemeni ministry officials with regional and international institutional counterparts experienced in executing successful sovereign HGSF transition and payroll absorption roadmaps.
Contextualized Learning Management: Systematically translate global best practices, technical innovations, and inter-agency evaluation lessons into highly contextualized operational manuals tailored to Yemen’s unique dual-governance and economic setup.
D. Institutional Capacity Strengthening and Workforce Mentorship
Systems Capacity Assessment: Design and implement a comprehensive capacity diagnostics tool to identify technical, financial, and digital data-tracking gaps within the MoE infrastructure and WFP national staff cohorts.
Workforce Development Strategy: Roll out a structured institutional capacity-strengthening curriculum, incorporating targeted masterclasses, operational simulation workshops, and strategic planning clinics to prepare state counterparts for programmatic handover.
Direct Technical Mentorship: Deliver daily on-the-job technical coaching, strategic mentoring, and programmatic oversight to national Programme Policy Officers, fostering elite knowledge transfer and solidifying a sustainable pool of local technical expertise.
DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:
ICSP HGSF Scaling Plan Approved: Operational plan, local sourcing guidelines, and Healthy Kitchen voucher workflows finalized and integrated into Country Office supply chain structures.
MoE Fiscal Handover Roadmap Formulated: A time-bound, phased transition protocol mapping out the baseline administrative and incentive cost absorption onto national budget frameworks.
National Capacity Strengthening Curriculum Executed: Documented technical modules and completed training cycles for MoE personnel and WFP national officers delivered and evaluated.
SABER Assessment & Policy Brief Pack Concluded: Finalized system diagnostic reports and donor investment cases packaged for high-level resource mobilization.
Nutrition-Sensitive SBCC Toolkit Developed: Contextualized Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) operational tools and packages targeting students, caregivers, teachers, and communities.
South-South Knowledge Exchange Framework Completed: Formulated strategy and identification notes mapping out target technical institutions, study visits, and workshops for peer-learning modules.
Yemen School Meals Coalition Commitment Package Packaged: Strategic and technical reporting materials ensuring all global coalition parameters and commitments are fully met and documented for the Ministry.
STANDARD MINIMUM ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:
Education:
Advanced University Degree (master's or equivalent) in Social Protection, Public Policy, Education, Nutrition, Food Systems, International Development, Public Health, Economics, or a related human development field.
Experiences:
Minimum of Seven (7) years of progressive international experience leading large-scale school feeding or social protection safety nets, with a proven track record in designing HGSF value chains and navigating fragile, conflict-affected contexts.
Institutional Expertise: Demonstrated capability working directly with central government ministries (Education and Finance) to manage structural systems-strengthening transitions, operational handovers, and national policy architectures.
Analytical & Fiscal Track Record: Extensive background leading multi-sectoral evidence generation, authoring investment cases, executing Value for Money (VfM) metrics, and orchestrating resource mobilization campaigns for institutional development.
Workforce Capacity Development: Proven skill in running formal capacity-building architectures, technical coaching frameworks, and professional mentoring tracks for national counterpart networks.
Technical Competencies: Elite mastery of nutrition-sensitive safety net designs, community-based procurement, and corporate accountability frameworks. Strong political acumen to navigate complex dual-banking systems and fragmented regulatory governance, with top-tier analytical drafting capabilities.
Language:
Fluency (level C) in English language, knowledge of Arabic is an asset.
WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK
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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
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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.