Programme Policy Officer (Food Technology) – World Food Programme

Deadline for Applications 15 December 2021

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.

Vacancy Details

Type of Contract: Service Contract (SB4- L8)

Duration of assignment: 1 year (renewable, depending upon availability of funds)

Contract Start date : 3 January 2022

Reporting to: Project lead in the State Rural Livelihood Mission, Uttar Pradesh and

Programme Policy Officer (Nutrition) in the WFP Country Office in Delhi

Organizational Context
The World Food Programme (WFP), operating in India since 1963, aims to provide technical support to strengthening the government’s food safety-nets programmes in order to improve access to nutritious food for millions of vulnerable households throughout the country. Through its Country Strategic Plan (2019-2023), WFP India aims to support India in achieving their targets under Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 17. Strategic Outcome (SO) 2 of WFP’s current CSP (2019-2023) is aimed at reducing all forms of malnutrition in India,

To facilitate India’s progress on the SDGs and in sustainably reducing malnutrition, WFP will focus on “People at high risk of malnutrition in India, especially women, children and adolescent girls, have improved nutrition by 2025” as laid down in Strategic outcome 2 of its CSP. This primarily translates into WFP working with National and State governments to improve the nutritional status of the population through introduction of nutritionally viable solutions and best practices in existing systems and enhancing the nutritional effectiveness of the three food based safety nets namely the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), the Mid-day meal (MDM) scheme and the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme.  Social behaviour change communications (SBCC) accompanies all activities to help target audiences to know more about the benefits of good nutrition, appropriate child feeding practices and appropriate health and hygiene practices.

WFP Collaboration with the State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) and the Department of Women & Child Development (DWCD) in Uttar Pradesh
Aligned to this overarching vision around improved nutrition, WFP has been working in Uttar Pradesh across several Departments and with various stakeholders including the State Rural Livelihood Mission and the Department of Women & Child Development to ensure the availability and consumption of nutritious, quality assured and safe Supplementary nutrition through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme. Under this project, a total of 204 Supplementary nutrition production units will be set up across the State to cater to ICDS requirements in 43 districts; these units will be run by women led microenterprises. Each unit will produce a variety of different food products for different ICDS beneficiary groups such as children between 6 months to 6 years of age, adolescent girls and pregnant/ lactating women. This model will then be expanded across the State in a phased manner to cover all the districts.

WFP will work closely with both SRLM and DWCD for the roll-out of the supplementary nutrition production through a combination of technical assistance and direct support to set up the supplementary nutrition production units.
WFP will provide technical assistance at the State level and also to the various units being set up across the State, in tandem with the officials of SRLM. WFP technical assistance will be focussed primarily on the processes around the production of the supplementary nutrition. Post set-up, WFP will provide technical assistance for monitoring the implementation and production across the units; identifying gaps/ areas for improvement and helping to fill the gaps through proven solutions.

WFP has already set up block level production units in Bighapur, Unnao and Malwa, Fatehpur districts-these fully automated production plants function as Centres of Excellence are used for training workers from other districts for the scale up of the production units in the remaining districts in the State.

To support the roll out of this alternative model for production of supplementary nutrition, WFP will position staff at various levels, including the placement of a Programme Policy Officer (Food Technology) at the State level within UPSRLM.

Key Accountabilities (not all-inclusive)
The Programme Policy Officer (Food Technology), under the direct guidance of the Programme Policy Officer (Nutrition) based at the WFP CO, the Project lead at UPSRLM and the overall guidance of the Head of the Nutrition and School Feeding will be responsible for the following:

Technical assistance:
• Develop the terms of reference for the procurement of laboratory services as well as the various raw materials including micronutrient premixes needed to produce the Supplementary nutrition products for the units across the States.
• Design standard operating procedures to produce the Supplementary nutrition products as well as protocols for the quality assurance and control of the raw materials and products at the production units and throughout the supply chain.
• Formulate alternate product compositions that the women led micro enterprises can produce (in addition to the ICDS Supplementary nutrition products) with a view to generating more profits and making the Supplementary nutrition production units into a successful business venture.
• Propose methods to constantly improve the quality and acceptability of the Supplementary nutrition products based on feedback from the field
• Prepare evidenced based recommendations to enable rapid response to situations with food safety concerns.
•  Assess equipment delivered to UPSRLM and its alignment to the overall terms of reference against which they have been procured.
• Support UPSRLM in identification of sites for the set-up of the THR production units.
• Assist in capacity building of the WSHG members tasked with running the units.

Support to on-ground implementation and monitoring of the project:
• Conduct capacity building of the women led microenterprises as well as the SRLM mission staff at all levels on production process, food safety standards, nutrition, food fortification etc.
• Regularly visit the Supplementary production units across the State to monitor the implementation of the larger project, identify gaps in implementation at the Unit level and suggest mid-course correction to the unit staff. The incumbent is also expected to gauge the response and acceptability of the community to the Supplementary nutrition products and take corrective action as required.
• Liaise with project stakeholders for timely implementation and speedy resolution of issues identified in the projects.

Documentation and knowledge management:
• Design knowledge products and training modules for building capacity of the women and SRLM staff engaged in the production of the Supplementary Nutrition, Hygiene and quality control.
• Compile and identify best practices in the implementation of the project in the different production units for wider dissemination
• Assist in the development of information, education and communication material and strategies relevant to the larger project.
• In the event of food safety incidents, support investigation exercises to enable lessons learned to be documented and shared, to reduce re-occurrence of the incident.

Coordination:
• Coordinate with government counterparts at both State and district level across DWCD and SRLM as need be to facilitate implementation of the project as well as further provision of technical assistance.
• Ensure necessary coordination between WFP CO, SO and field staff and other relevant units of the organization for quality implementation of the project.
Staff management:
• Provide guidance to field staff responsible for implementing the projects in con   sultation with the supervisor and assist them with analysis, queries etc.
• Directly supervise WFP staff posted as Regional Coordinator responsible for the Fatehpur Supplementary nutrition production units.
Perform other related duties as required.

4Ps Core Organisational Capabiblities

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Understands WFP’s Strategic Objectives and the link to own work objectives.
• Be a force for positive change: Flexibly adapts individual contributions to accommodate changes in direction from supervisors and internal/external changes (such as evolving needs of beneficiaries, new requirements of partners).
• Make the mission inspiring to our team: Recognizes and shares with team Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Sets own goals in alignment with WFP’s overall operations, and is able to communicate this link to others.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Assesses own strengths and weaknesses to increase self-awareness, and includes these in conversations on own developmental needs.
• Create an inclusive culture: Participates in open dialogue, and values the diverse opinion of others, regardless of background, culture, experience, or country assignment.
• Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Proactively seeks feedback and coaching to build confidence, and develop and improve individual skills.
• Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Participates in accomplishing team activities and goals in the face of challenging circumstances.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Shows willingness to explore and experiment with new ideas and approaches in own work.
• Focus on getting results: Consistently delivers results within individual scope of work on time, on budget and without errors.
• Make commitments and make good on commitments: Commits to upholding individual accountabilities and responsibilities in the face of ever-changing country or functional priorities.
• Be Decisive: Makes rational decisions about individual activities when faced with uncertain circumstances, including in times of ambiguity regarding information or manager direction.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Seeks to understand and adapt to internal or cross-unit teams’ priorities and preferred working styles.
• Build strong external partnerships: Demonstrates ability to understand and appropriately respond to and/or escalate needs of external partners.
• Be politically agile & adaptable: Portrays an informed and professional demeanor toward internal and external partners and stakeholders.
• Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Provides operational support on analyses and assessments that quantifies and demonstrates WFP’s unique value as a partner.

Standard minimum Qualifications

Education: Advanced University degree in Food Technology or First University Degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.

Experience: 5 years of progressively responsible work experience preferably in the development sector. Previous experience of working in partnership with the government/UN agency/INGO or on projects targeted at addressing malnutrition at the community level is desirable.

• Has gained experience in implementing technical programs (i.e. fortification, etc.).
• Has implemented programmes and provided input into designing operations.
• Has provided input into policy discussions and decisions.

Knowledge & Skills: 

•  Excellent interpersonal skills required, including strong professionally communication ability;
•  Advocacy and networking skills with a broad range of stakeholders including government, private sector, civil society, academia, NGO and international cooperation
•  Knowledge of research methods with familiarity in quantitative and qualitative methods;
•  Advanced computer skills with proficiency in Windows, Microsoft office;
•  Knowledge of UN system would be an asset
•  Knowledge of WFP programmes is an advantage
•  Ability to work collaboratively with a diverse team of nutrition and food security experts across fourteen countries
• Tact and diplomacy

Languages: Fluency in spoken and written English and Hindi; ability to speak in other Indian languages is a plus.

Critical success factors 

•  Ability to engage effectively with a wide range of actors from government, private sector and civil society.
•  Very strong communications skills, both in writing and speaking
• Solid planning and problem-solving skills and action oriented
• Ability to work under tight deadlines and simultaneously manage multiple tasks in an autonomous manner;
• Maturity, initiative, courtesy, tact and ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with people of different national and cultural backgrounds
• Ability to handle any other additional tasks as requested by the supervisor.
• Ability to undertake travel within the country.

Terms and Conditions 
Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted. A written test will be used as a form of screening. In the event your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide in advance a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/ certificate(s) required for this position.

Written Test : 20 December 2021

Interview : 27 December 2021

This is a national position therefore candidates who are non-Indian nationals will not be considered.

Mode of Engagement: The salary for this position is INR. 14,69,279/- per annum (depending upon the last drawn remuneration of the candidate), plus medical benefits as per WFP’s plan. All tax liability for payments from this contract are to be borne by the subscriber. Qualified candidates will be retained on roster for at least two years and may be considered for future similar vacant posts.

Female applicants and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
WFP is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all qualified candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organisation. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the selection & recruitment process, and for work-related needs upon joining the Programme. WFP has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, abuse of authority or discrimination. All selected candidates will, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Applications for the positions are to be submitted online on the E-recruitment links as mentioned : Click Here

Note: Candidates are requested to Create an account in the system before applying. Candidates curriculum and applications will be registered and allows them to update their profile and apply for a job through wfp careers website.

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.

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, physical or mental disability.