Programme Policy Officer – School Feeding Capacity Building

Job Description

Programme Policy Officer (School Feeding Programme Capacity Building) | World Food Programme

The Tone:
This is a fixed-term role at World Food Programme, located in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, dedicated to saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build pathways to peace, stability, and prosperity. This role is crucial for supporting Tajikistan’s transition towards strengthening national and subnational capacities in food security and nutrition, with a specific focus on making school feeding programs nationally owned, institutionally strong, and sustainably financed. It directly contributes to achieving Sustainable Development Goals 2 (Zero Hunger) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

The TL;DR
• Role: Full Time
• Type: Fixed-Term
• Location: In-person Dushanbe, Tajikistan

• Team: Programme (School Feeding Programme), reports to the School Feeding Programme Coordinator.
• Mission: This person will support the operationalization of the MINFIN Concept and the School Feeding transition agenda by coordinating capacity strengthening, providing technical support, managing partnerships, and monitoring and reporting.

What You’ll Actually Do
• Project Development: Contribute to the development of School Feeding projects, implementation plans, and operational processes, including initiatives for transition, sustainable financing, and institutional strengthening, ensuring alignment with WFP policies and national priorities.
• Operational Support: Provide project management and technical support for specific School Feeding initiatives, collaborating with government counterparts and partners to plan, implement, and monitor activities against agreed objectives and standards.
• Monitoring & Reporting: Implement data collection, monitoring, and reporting systems for School Feeding activities, maintaining quality standards, tracking progress, and identifying and escalating operational issues with recommendations for corrective actions.
• Partnership Management: Support the identification, development, and management of partnerships with government institutions, development partners, and other stakeholders, facilitating coordination meetings and technical discussions to enhance programme implementation and sustainability.
• Capacity Strengthening: Support the capacity building of government counterparts, cooperating partners, and schools through training, technical assistance, knowledge-sharing activities, and the development of relevant tools and materials for School Feeding and programme transition.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Advanced University Degree in International Development, Public Administration, Economics, Education, Agriculture, Nutrition, Social Sciences, Business Administration, Project Management, or a related field, or a First University Degree with additional relevant experience.
• Experience: At least one year of progressively responsible postgraduate professional experience in programme management, project implementation, capacity strengthening, partnership management, monitoring, and reporting, or at least three years of progressively responsible professional experience with a first university degree.
• Skills: Strong analytical, drafting, coordination, stakeholder engagement, and project management skills.
• Bonus: Fluency in both Tajik and Russian is an advantage.