Senior Programme Associate (Cash-Based Transfers) G7

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

In emergencies, WFP gets food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. After an emergency, WFP uses food to help communities rebuild their shattered lives. On average, WFP reaches more than 80 million people with food assistance in 75 countries each year. The organization has the global footprint, deep field presence and local knowledge and relationships necessary to provide access to nutritious food and contribute to the lasting solutions, especially in many of the world’s most remote and fragile areas.

WFP has been presented in Myanmar since 1994 and is now focusing on helping the Government reach its national Zero Hunger Challenge by 2025. WFP’s work in the country is guided by three priorities: emergency preparedness and response; nutrition; and provision of social safety nets.The Myanmar CSP 2018-2022 approved by the WFP Executive Board in November 2017 and it aims to contribute to three Strategic Outcomes that are aligned to four Strategic Results of SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for Development). A total of eight Activities are planned to be implemented to achieve the contributions to the three Strategic Outcomes. Under the Integrated Road Map (IRM) WFP has committed to a new way of working, linking not only all activities to the defined Strategic Outcomes, but also linking the resources used for implementing the activities to the results achieved.

The three strategic outcomes are:

SO1: Crisis-affected people in food insecure areas meet their food and nutrition needs all year round. Lifesaving food andddd/or cash will be provided to women, men, girls and boys affected by natural disasters, armed conflict and inter-communal violence.

SO 2: “Vulnerable people in states and regions with high food insecurity and/or malnutrition have access to food all year round.” WFP will provide food/cash assistance to vulnerable populations, while providing technical assistance to support the government in strengthening its social protection programmes, food systems and emergency preparedness capacity.

SO 3: “Children under 5 in Myanmar have improved nutrition in line with national targets by 2022.” WFP will contribute to increasing the availability and access to safe and nutritious food for vulnerable and affected populations in crisis and non-crisis situations to enhance their nutrition and resilience. WFP will also support the government in implementing national nutrition.

This post is located at WFP Office in Nay Pyi Taw.

At this level, job holders are responsible for technical work including the planning, implementation and co-ordination of activities that require thorough understanding of programme/project context, issues and ability to apply a range of guidelines/practices. They independently handle a wide range of specialized programme or policy support activities and may be involved in analytical work. Work performed typically has a substantial impact affecting other parts of the programme. Job holders demonstrate initiative in the identification and resolution of a wide range of issues/problems, and effectively handle unforeseen situations. They may act as technical focal points in the area of vulnerability assessment and analysis. Job holders set objectives, resolve wide-ranging issues and unforeseen problems, supervise and coach a team of support staff within an area of responsibility.

To provide effective coordination and specialized support to a full range of policy and programme activities that effectively meet food assistance needs.

Under the direct supervision of Programme Policy Officer (Cash-Based Transfers), and overall supervision of Deputy Country Director (Programme), the incumbent will take accountabiliites of following duties and responsibilities.

• Review cash related Field Level Agreements (FLAs) and take all necessary actions before, during and after the implementation of the activities;
• Assist programme policy officer in analyzing cash transfer cost in WFP Corporate System (WINGS) and provide required technical assistances to activity managers;
• Assist programme policy officer in developing capacities of WFP and Cooperating Partners’ (CP) staff for cash feasibility analysis, design and implementation, monitoring and reporting of cash activities;
• Assist programme policy officer in conducting researches and analyse a range of policy and operational issues to inform the development of policies, programmes and activities;
• Make field visits to field office and provide required technical assistances to CPs and WFP staff;
• Support the capacity building of WFP staff, partners and national government to prepare for and respond to food assistance needs through cash assistances;
• Act as a secretary of internal Cash Working Group meetings and provide required assistances to the chair and co-chair, i.e. meeting arrangement and note taking;
• Take alternate role of SCOPE - WFP's beneficiary information and transfer management platform - coordination across the functional units and respective field offices;
• Perform other related duties as required

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Coaches team in the most effective ways to communicate WFP’s Strategic Objectives to WFP team and partners in the field.
•  Be a force for positive change: Implements new methods or tools to improve team’s work processes and productivity.
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Maps team’s activities and tasks to specific successes in beneficiary communities to showcase positive impact.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Explains to teammates how each unit contributes to the overall WFP mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Identifies skill development opportunities such as training modules or on-the-job experiences for self, colleagues and direct reports.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Facilitates team building activities to build rapport in own unit.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Facilitates the pairing of junior colleagues with coaches within own team.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Proactively anticipates potential challenges and develops mitigation plans to ensure that team meets goals and targets.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Identifies opportunities to be creative in own work and to help team be more innovative and accurate in their respective tasks and areas of work.
•  Focus on getting results: Monitors team’s deliverables and provides feedback to ensure outcomes are delivered consistently and accurately.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Provides accurate guidance to team on expected responsibilities and tasks, whilst also upholding own commitment to the team.
•  Be Decisive: Sets an example and provides guidance to junior team members on when to escalate issues when faced with challenging issues in the workplace or in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Facilitates partnerships with other WFP units to accomplish missions in the field.
•  Build strong external partnerships: Sets an example and provides guidance to team on how to build relationships with external partners.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Articulates to colleagues or direct reports the value of contributing to other WFP teams and agency partnerships in fulfilling WFP’s goals and objectives.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Organizes, monitors, and prioritizes own and team’s efforts to ensure that they will fulfil the needs of internal and external partners.

Education:

Completion of secondary school education with a university degree in one of the following disciplines: Social Science, Development Studies, Public Adminstration, Financial Management or other related functional areas.

Language:

Fluency in both oral and written communication in English and Myanmar.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Knowledge of humanitarian assistance and development practice. General knowledge of UN system, policies, rules, regulations and procedures governing administration. Knowledge of the political, economic and social situation in Myanmar.
• Knowledge of food security analysis and the data collection, treatment, and manipulation techniques typically associated with it;
• Knowledge of advanced statistics methods and statistical analysis with ability to use statistical software packages (SPSS, SAS, STATA, etc.);
• Knowledge of MS Office (Word, Excel, Access, Outlook);
  

Preferable to have at least five years of working experience in humanitaria organizations with having additional experience of Cash Transfers Programming in humanitatian and development context. Additional knowledge and experiences in the following areas is an advantage.

• Has experience or basic knowledge of humanitarian policy and emergency preparedness
• Has participated in implementing technical programs;
• Has implemented programmes with increased level of responsibility; Has provided input to policy discussions.

This post is opened for Myanmar Nationals Only.

Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. Only short-listed candidates will be notified.

Female applicants and qualified applicants are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

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.