Programme Associate (SC)

Job Title:                                          Programme Associate

Grade:                                              equivalent to GS6

Type of contract:                            Service contract                                                          

Duration:                                          One year (Extendable)  

Duty Station:                                  Thimphu,Bhutan
Vacancy Number:                           290201

Date of Publication:                       12 January 2023

Deadline of Application:              25 January 2023 at 23:59 Bhutan time

This vacancy announcement is for Nationals from CO (specified): Bhutan only.

Terms and Conditions:
WFP offers a competitive benefits package including salary, pension, leave plus a medical insurance (relevant links).  
*Remote work if applicable or/FWA until return to office or travel is possible due to covid-19 restrictions.         

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The World Food Programme (WFP) has been working with the Royal Government of Bhutan for more than 40 years. This partnership has focused on providing school meals to thousands of children across the country in order to boost school attendance and reduce levels of malnutrition. In January 2019, WFP handed over its school meals programme to the Government, which will continue to provide nutritious meals to children each day.

WFP is now supporting the Government’s graduation from least developed country status to lower middle-income status by providing technical assistance and capacity development in nutrition, climate resilient food systems & agriculture, and disaster preparedness and response.

In Bhutan, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed structural issues in its food systems as well long-term and transformative solutions to issues affecting the systems. Bhutan is highly dependent on food imports, mainly from India, and faces food insecurity. With only 2.6 percent of its total land arable, agricultural production costs in Bhutan are high. The country is also highly vulnerable to natural hazards and the climate crisis. Investments made in research, innovation, and technology in the sector could be strengthened.

WFP focuses on a food system and resilience approach in its strategic partnerships with the RGoB, supporting Bhutan in enhancing food security and nutrition, and a transformative food system that is sustainable and economically viable. WFP has a strategic system approach to developing climate resilient food systems and supports the RGoB across the food system and agriculture value chain – from production in the field to final consumption. WFP support is provided through various programmes and activities that aim to increase demand for locally available nutrient dense foods while supporting smallholder famers and the RGoB in strengthening production capacity, post-harvest management, marketing, knowledge management, cost efficiency, and coordination and policy.

WFP aims to support Bhutan’s national pathway for food system development in key strategic areas such as: 

• Supporting rural women smallholder farmers’ economic empowerment by building capacity and providing better access to market opportunities;
• Supporting youth cooperatives and private sector enterprises in promoting business incubation opportunities, value addition to farm produce and market facilitation;
• Enhancing the availability of digital market information services and contract marketing services to smallholder farmers and traders; and,
• Strengthening market efficiency through enhanced supply chain linkages and services like infrastructure, transport, and market information.

The purpose of the assignment is to strengthen the WFP food system and resilience unit to enhance internal capacity. This would result in improving its programmatic and capacity strengthening services, targeted at government partners, other relevant stakeholders and beneficiaries.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES (not all-inclusive, nor exhaustive):

• Provide technical support and assist in the development and implementation of various activities and processes within food systems and resilience, supporting alignment with wider WFP programme policies and guidelines.
• Provide specialized project management support to the technical assistance component of the “Building Resilient Commercial Smallholder Agriculture” (BRECSA) project and/or other food system and resilience programmes to ensure that the various activities are performed within the established targets following WFP’s policies and procedures.
• Within the specific area of food systems and resilience, support preparation of a range of reports and data analysis, e.g., technical assistance needs, resource utilization, programme status, performance and highlight trends/issues ensuring programme deliverables adhere to corporate standards and quality control.
• Ensure and/or perform accurate, timely recording of data within the specific technical area of food systems and resilience and consistency of information presented to stakeholders.
• Liaise with internal counterparts to support effective collaboration, implementation, and monitoring of ongoing BRECSA and other project activities.
• Coordinate and communicate with RGoB counterparts, local partners, agencies, CSOs and government institutions to carry out programme analyses and to ensure efficient delivery of WFP technical assistance.
• Support the capacity strengthening of WFP staff, implementing partners and national government within the specific technical area of food systems and resilience.
• Act as a point of contact for resolution of a range of operational queries and problems within food systems and resilience.
• Collaborate with support staff to contribute to delivering objectives to agreed standards and deadlines.
• In the event of a crisis, follow standard emergency preparedness practices to ensure WFP can quickly respond and deploy needed support to affected areas.
• Other as required

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

1. a) Support the BRECSA TA team in the following project activities:

• CLEAR analysis and setting up agriculture resilience plans
• Business planning and investment planning workshops
• Cooperative business planning and management training/ workshops
• Identification of high-value commodities for value chain development

1. b) Support in the start-up operations of the BRECSA project
2. c) Provide a full range of business support services to the food system and resilience unit to contribute to the effective functioning of business operations
3. d) Contribute to the preparation of project/ country reports and/or consolidate comprehensive reports, documentation, correspondence, briefing notes, etc.
4. e) Contribute to the implementation and monitoring of the food system and resilience unit’s annual work plans and relevant country strategic framework activities.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:	Completion of secondary school education. A post-secondary certificate in a relevant area such as agriculture, nutrition, food security, project management, or related field.
Experience:	·        Six or more years of progressively responsible work experience in a related functional area.
Knowledge & Skills:	·        Good knowledge and skills in implementing and managing technical programmes, supporting and providing capacity-strengthening services. ·        Experience working in collaboration with a diverse array of development stakeholders, including government, UN, development partners, civil society, etc. ·        Experience working with technical teams, e.g., agriculture, nutrition, food security, school feeding would be an asset. ·        Skills in capacity strengthening of farmer groups and cooperatives in agriculture marketing and rural business development would be an asset. ·        Experience in procurement and budgeting processes would be an asset. ·        Good communication skills in order to provide specialized business support services to a wide range of individuals. ·        Ability to analyze and interpret financial data and monitor budgets. ·        Ability to build relationships with a variety of individuals across functions. ·        Experience in coordinating the work of others and self and training and supporting others. ·        Ability to maintain confidentiality.