School Based Programmes (SBP) Communications Officer

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Job Title: School Based Programmes (SBP) Communications Officer

Type of Contract: Consultancy

Division: School Based Programmes (SBP)

Duty Station (City, Country): Rome HQ, Italy

Duration: 6 months

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

In 2021, WFP efforts to helping countries to establish and maintain nationally owned programmes as well as implementing school feeding programmes with clear hand over strategies, were taken to the next level with the launch of the School Meals Coalition at the Food Systems Summit.

For more than 60 years, WFP has been the leading organization in supporting countries with their school feeding programmes, which are widely prevalent throughout the world.

In 2020, WFP has launched a 10-year strategy for school feeding. WFP will advocate for the universal adoption of school feeding programmes as a safety net that helps increase children’s access to education and learning opportunities and strengthens their health and nutrition status. WFP will focus increasingly on helping countries to establish and maintain nationally owned programmes. In countries still requiring WFP’s operational support, it will implement school feeding programmes with clear hand over strategies.

WFP is building in Headquarters, the new Advocacy Unit for School Meals Programmes. As part of this initiative, WFP is opening several positions for advocacy officers that will be responsible for different but always interconnected streams of work: 1) WFP School Meals Programmes; 2) School Meals Coalition advocacy initiative; and 3) the “Catalysing Good Food Through School Feeding Programmes and Institutional Procurement” project.

Through this vacancy announcement, WFP is seeking to hire a qualified and experienced individual to be the SBP Communications Officer for school meals programmes (1). Reporting to the Partnerships and Advocacy Officer, she/he will support the development and implementation of a communication plan for positioning school meals and school health and nutrition interventions in the global agenda. The consultant will strengthen the communication and visibility of WFP - as the knowledge Hub for school feeding - with public and private external partners to attract policy support, commitment and mobilize resources.

The Communication Officer for school meals programmes will gain experience in the humanitarian and development sector by working and contributing to a multidisciplinary team. Through a "hands on" and "make it happen" attitude will contribute significantly to rallying partners to advance school feeding programmes worldwide and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential and thrive.

ACCOUNTABITLITIES / RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the supervision of the Partnerships and Advocacy Officer, will be responsible for the following key duties:

1. Develop a communications and visibility plan, aligned to WFP’s School Feeding Advocacy Strategy and Plan, leveraging key global events and opportunities.
2. Serve as focal point and work closely with WFP Communications, Advocacy and Marketing (CAM) Division at HQ, RB and CO level to identify visibility opportunities, campaigns, stories, events that can be promoted, leveraged and supported from global level.
3. Work collaboratively with external partners to develop and execute joint creative social media ideas, plans and strategies.
4. Collate, draft and edit advocacy and communications materials such as infographics, press releases, OpEds, articles, stories and support the preparation of colleagues for interviews and press opportunities.
5. Serve as focal point to the Communications Group of the global School Meals Coalition, supporting and building on efforts of the Coalition’s initiatives and partners.
6. Develop dissemination and promotion plans/campaigns for key publications released by WFP and the School Meals Coalition Initiatives, particularly the State of School Feeding publication.
7. Manage the content of WFP’s school feeding website in close collaboration with CAM, collate information and stories from country offices and regional bureaus and ensure all content on the website is updated regularly.
8. Lead the development and direct the implementation of a wide range of content forms for social media/digital platforms in cooperation with CAM focal points, including video, text, still imagery, animation, live action and other content forms.
9. Participate in meeting and engage with other functional units, RBs and COs, developing content and language that speak to individual audiences.
10. Any other duties in support of the Partnership and Advocacy Officer or of other teams in the division.

DELIVERABLES QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• School Feeding communications plan developed
• Promotion plan for State of School Feeding developed and implemented
• Updated content for WFP’s School Feeding website.
• A partnership tracker to follow up on initiatives with each stakeholder
• Contribute to the overall communication efforts of the newly Advocacy Unit established in WFP, including School Meals coalition and the “Catalysing Good Food Through School Feeding Programmes and Institutional Procurement” project

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced University degree in Journalism, International Relations, Public Relations, Communications or other relevant field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.

Experience:

A minimum of six years of relevant experience in specialised communications practices and applies this to all activities. Has gained experience in utilising specialist communications techniques to enhance functional outputs. In addition, a minimum of five years work experience in producing, editing and disseminating multimedia content for social media audiences on Twitter and other social media platforms is required.

Knowledge and Skills:

Relationship/partner management, communications, demonstrated ability to produce high-quality written outputs including newsletters and social media messages, and analytical skills. Ability to develop and maintain networks with a variety of stakeholders. Some knowledge of school feeding programs would be an asset.

Languages:

Fluency (level C) in English language (mother tongue is a plus). Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or WFP’s working language, Portuguese.

Terms and Conditions

WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.

Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WFP.

http://www.wfp.org Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.

Deadline for applications: 26 August 2022

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.