Business Support Assistant (Disaster Preparedness)

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.

The Government of Armenia and WFP stepped up cooperation in 1993.  The first years of this strong partnership marked different food relief projects gradually evolving into community development initiatives. In 2010, the Government of Armenia, WFP and their strategic partners joined hands for improved nutrition, education and social protection by relaunching School Feeding Programme. The common goal and vision is a nationally-owned, sustainable National School Feeding Programme for the benefit of Armenian people. Nowadays, it is a state-of-the-art Programme that is fully integrated in the life of children, their families and communities. WFP’s plans for the next five years, created as a joint effort with national and international partners, will continue tackling food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty as important national issues identified by the National Strategic Review (NSR) that embraces the future development priorities of Armenia.
Capitalizing on current and present outstanding achievements, WFP and partners will enhance focus on nutrition and creation of innovative and sustainable nutrition sensitive food value chains. Simultaneously, WFP will support communities, provinces, Ministries and the Government of Armenia to strengthen their capacities for improved national policies, programmes and systems.
 

Special Service Agreement (SSA-4)

 3 months.

WFP Armenia is planning to support activities, that will enhance national emergency response capacity, establish models for social protection and contribute to WFP's ability to deliver emergency support in a timely manner.
In view of this, we are seeking a qualified candidate to provide the necessary assistance in the framework of the upcoming emergency preparedness activities envisaged by WFP Armenia.
Under the overall guidance of the Country Director the Business Support Assistant will report directly to the Programme Policy Consultant (Disaster Preparedness).
 

- Engage with the relevant agencies to plan a Regional Simulation Exercise (SimEx);
- Support and plan workshops for the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) members related to setup of Mobile Storage Units (MSU), and other workshops;
- Support and plan workshops for the Government related to emergency capacity assessments;
- Support the Programme Policy Consultant (Disaster Preparedness) in formulating a capacity strengthening plan for the Government to enhance national response for emergencies (food security);
- Make translation of relevant documents (from Armenian into English and vice versa) and provide translation support to the management during the meetings;
- Support the Programme Policy Consultant (Disaster Preparedness) in formulating a road map for setting up a staging area in Gyumri airport;
- Provide support to the analysis of establishing food reserves, staging area or feeding centers for emergency response;
- Take part in efforts to formulate the WFP Country Office nuclear preparedness and business continuity plans;
- Prepare implementation updates, regular reports and draw lessons learnt that inform active and potential stakeholders about the emergency preparedness activities;
- Provide inputs to information and training materials related to the tasks above;
- Perform other related duties, if required.
 

Education: Completion of a secondary school education. University degree in International Relations, Social Science, Political Science, Human Rights, Communication, or other relevant field would be an asset. Professional qualifications in Disaster Preparedness and Response are strongly desired.

Experience: At least 1 year of experience in contributing to the development and implementation/management of effective Disaster Risk Reduction/Emergency preparedness plans and programmes, or in other similar development programmes and activities.
Previous experience in building capacity and partnerships with government authorities.

Knowledge & Skills: Strong analytical, written and oral communication skills, excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work in a team; ability to plan and organize work with minimum supervision; ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines; ability to organize trainings for the key stakeholders.

Languages: Fluency (level C) in English and Armenian languages; working knowledge (level B) of Russian language is an advantage.

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Helps teammates articulate WFP's Strategic Objectives.
•  Be a force for positive change: Suggests potential improvements to team's work processes to supervisor.
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Explains the impact of WFP activities in beneficiary communities to teammates.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Articulates how own unit's responsibilities will serve WFP's mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Trains junior teammates on new skills and capabilities.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Seeks opportunities to work with people from different backgrounds.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Serves as a peer coach for colleagues in same area of work.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Tracks progress toward goals and shares this information on a regular basis with supervisor.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Explores ways to consistently be more efficient and accurate in own areas of work and shares new methods of work with colleagues.
•  Focus on getting results: Focuses on getting results and tracks trends in completion rates for own tasks to identify opportunities for efficiency.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Takes responsibility for own tasks and notifies supervisor as soon as possible of potential delays in meeting deadlines or commitments.
•  Be Decisive: Independently decides what action to take when faced with critical choices in the workplace or in dangerous situations in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Suggests opportunities for partnering with other units to supervisor.
•  Build strong external partnerships: Identifies opportunities to work with colleagues and partners in the field towards common goals.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Develops an understanding of the value of WFP's teams and external partners in fulfilling team's goals and objectives.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Aligns own activities with supervisor's priorities to fulfill internal and external partner needs.
   

27 January 2020

All qualified candidates who meet the above requirements are encouraged to submit their online application accompanied by an updated Curriculum Vitae (in English) and UN Personal History Form (P11) available at the following link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/trla16intsn27rr/P11%20form.doc?dl=0
 

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.