Consultant Food Security Sector Deputy Coordinator - Programme Advisor at World Food Programme (WFP)

Requisition #: 86410
Location: Maiduguri, Borno

Introduction
The Food Security Sector (FSS) co-ordination in Nigeria is led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MOARD) at federal level and the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MANR) at state level, co-lead by FAO, WFP and co-facilitated by Action Against Hunger.

The FSS provides an action-oriented forum for bringing together national and international humanitarian partners to improve the timeliness and impact of appropriate humanitarian food security assistance to food insecure population and communities in North-Eastern Nigeria.

Specifically, the FSS helps to ensure coherent, coordinated and integrated humanitarian responses, driven by the assessed food security needs of the affected population. This is achieved through the following specific activities:

• Regular sector and technical working group meetings held once at Abuja (federal level co-ordination) and twice a month at state level (state-level co-ordination);
• Evidenced-based assessments achieved through the Cadre harmonise and joint food security assessments;
• Information management and dissemination-co-ordinating the who, what, where and when (4Ws) translated  in to maps and gaps analysis, which are shared with partners on regular basis;
• Inter-sectorial co-ordination – co-ordinating with OCHA and other sectors such as Nutrition, Health and WASH

Function purpose
The Food Security Sector and coordination in Nigeria is operational at Federal (Abuja) and State level in Maiduguri, in the North-Eastern part of the country, where the humanitarian needs and operations are highest, as well as the presence of food security sector partners. Humanitarian Hubs and co-ordination mechanisms have been established and fully functional. This has been strengthened through the deployment of additional human resources capacity including the Office of the Deputy Humanitarian Co-ordinator.
According to the increasing scale and complexity of food security response operations in North-Eastern Nigeria, the position of Programme Advisor is conceived to strengthen the exiting capacity of the Food Security Sector, providing support to the Sector Coordinator and sector partners in matters of strategic direction and operational coordination, in particular joint assessments, priority setting, gap analysis, monitoring and reporting.

Under the direct supervision of the Food Security Sector Coordinator and the administrative supervision of the Country Director, WFP, the Liaison Officer will perform the following duties and responsibilities:

• Support the FSS Co-ordinator to ensure strategic direction and operational coordination of partners that are involved in food assistance activities, including Government, especially in setting priorities for intervention, operational response planning, overall food assistance response monitoring, gap analysis and reporting;
• Support the FSS Coordinator in promoting and coordinating joint needs assessments, leading strategic joint analysis of the available information and maintaining a database of all partners’ assessments that can be relevant to food security programming.
• Advise the FSS Coordinator on standards for food assistance interventions (either in-kind or CBT) and promote harmonization of targeting criteria, food baskets/amounts of CBT and distribution modalities;
• Undertake advocacy and resource mobilization for the Food Security Sector;
• In the absence of the Sector Coordinator, represent the Food Security Sector in all relevant Maiduguri-based meetings and fora;
• Maintain close contact with partners and support reporting including the humanitarian periodic monitoring report, sit-Reps, FSS Bulletins and Dash Boards;
• Support the Sector Coordinator in planning and organising the Maiduguri Level Food Security Sector Working Group  (FSWG) Meeting;
• Undertake any other duties as requested by the Sector Coordinator.

Qualification and Competencies
Minimum Requirements:

• Postgraduate Master’s degree in social sciences or in a discipline relevant to the mandate of the Organization;
• 5 years of experience in humanitarian response including in the food security sector;
• Working knowledge of English and another UN official language

Position Specific Competencies:

• Ability to establish strategic partnerships
• Ability to work and plan at strategic as well as operational levels;
• Understanding of the international humanitarian response architecture, including co-ordination mechanisms, humanitarian reform and action, and funding mechanisms (e.g. Strategic Response Plan process, Central Emergency Response Fund and Flash Appeals);
• Ability to work with a diverse group of stakeholders  including government and build consensus;
• Coping with pressure: ability to work productively under and to maintain visibly high levels of morale in difficult circumstances;
• Ability to communicate clearly and to adapt to communication style according to audience.

Skills:
Excellent organizational skills;

• Good written communication skills, including in emergency settings;
• Demonstrated ability to analyse problems, make appropriate recommendations, effective decisions, including in emergency settings;
• Strong foundation in programme formulation, planning, implementation, management and evaluation.

Language:

• Fluency in oral and written English. Knowledge of a second UN language is desirable.

Additional Information:

• Candidates will be interviewed by a panel including staff from both lead agencies (FAO and WFP).
• Successful candidates might be recruited under a FAO or a WFP contract.