TERMS OF REFERENCE

 

Title of Post:                   Vulnerability Analysis Mapping (VAM) Officer NOB

Type of Contract:          Fixed Term (FT)

Unit/ Division:                Programme and Policy

Duty Station                   Banjul, The Gambia

Duration:                        One year

Why work at WFP?

 

SAVING & CHANGING LIVES ❤

 

Make a difference, the world will notice.

We are driven by our mission to fight world hunger and feed people’s dreams of a brighter future!

 

GLOBAL COMMUNITY 🌍

 

Build bridges that unite people across the world. Being part of a global, diverse and

multicultural community like WFP, will continuously expose you to new ideas and

perspectives.

 

UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES 💡

 

Unlock possibilities you never thought you’d find.

WFP goes anywhere it is needed and does whatever it takes to get the job done.

 

Join us to make a difference!

For more details about WFP contractual modality and salary, please follow this link: https://icsc.un.org/

 

A. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

WFP Gambia’s Country Strategic Plan (CSP) 2019-2021 aims to support the Government in reaching the National Development Plan (2017-2021)’s goals through investments in sectors relevant to Sustainable Development Goal 2. This CSP positions WFP as an enabler for the Government and combines direct implementation and capacity support in the enhancement of the national transition process. WFP support constitutes direct operational support, knowledge transfer and technical assistance and it contribute to WFP’s Strategic Results 1, 2, 3 and 5 in line with the National Development Plan, the National Social Protection Policy and the United Nations development assistance framework for 2017–2021.

 

The CSP focuses on contingency plans for response to shocks (Strategic outcome 1); building the resilience of vulnerable populations through nutrition-sensitive and gender-responsive social safety nets for children in primary and early childhood education, pregnant and lactating women and girls, children under the age of 5 and livelihood support to smallholder farmers (Strategic outcomes 2, 3 and 4) and capacity strengthening to facilitate the alignment of national policies through an integrated approach to food and nutrition security that includes the school meals programme, nutrition interventions, social protection, disaster risk reduction and early-warning systems (Strategic outcome 5). Critical new focus areas will be support for development of a social protection system focused on mainstreaming the national school meals programme as a national safety net, food fortification and south-south and triangular cooperation. The country office (CO) aims to streamline all planning and implementation processes to ensure alignment with corporate standards and procedures.

 

It is in this context that the VAM Officer will support the analysis, design, implementation and monitoring of WFP programmes and strategies including capacity strengthening initiatives across a variety of programmatic initiatives under WFP Gambia CSP including food security and livelihoods, shock-responsive social protection, vulnerability analysis and mapping, risk financing and climate change adaptation. The incumbent will have a supervisory responsibility providing technical support and leadership to the Monitoring Assistant. The VAM Officer shall report to the Monitoring and Evaluation (VAM & M&E) Officer.

 

B. ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES (not all inclusive):

• Provide technical assistance in support of governments’ emergency preparedness and response efforts including on assessments and analysis, programme design, definition of modalities of assistance, deployment and testing of innovative approaches, training and knowledge management;
• Contribute to the development of government’s food security and nutrition strategies, policies, programmes, providing technical analysis, research support, interpretation and recommendations and facilitate timely and productive use of related outputs to ensure needs are met effectively in a manner that complies with WFP standards and processes;
• Support governments and other counterparts in identifying strategies and implementing programmes in response to COVID-19 including through national social protection programmes and other types of food security and livelihoods interventions;
• Contribute to the development of systems and tools for the monitoring and assessment of basic assistance needs in line with innovative methodologies and best practice;
• Manage and/or conduct vulnerability, food security, nutrition, markets and resilience analysis and prepare timely reports on assessment needs in line with wider VAM policies, processes and guidance to enable effective decision-making on the development of country strategy, policies and programmes;
• Support the monitoring and evaluation of WFP activities, providing technical analysis, interpretation and information as required to support the assessment of activity impact;
• Represent WFP in external discussions with partners contributing to technical discussions, exchange of knowledge and experience, and seek for appropriate interventions (based on an evidence base), and areas for potential collaboration;
• Build capacity of partners and national government to conduct analysis on food security, nutrition, markets, resilience, and related topics to effectively inform policies and programmes;
• Provide project management support, ensuring alignment with WFP programme policies, standards and procedures;
• Provide support in ensuring alignment of WFP’s programme and initiatives with national strategies and priorities, and promote coherence of approaches, in coordination and collaboration with UN agencies and other key stakeholders;
• Provide supervision, coaching and guidance to VAM and M&E team and individual team members as needed;
• Contribute to the preparation of SITREPs, briefs, donor reports, annual country reports (ACR and any other relevant corporate reporting requirements;
• Lead the VAM corporate reporting requirements including market prices updates on the VAM portal;
• Actively participate in various committee established in the country office as a designated member;
• Other as required.

 

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Coaches team in the most effective ways to communicate WFP’s Strategic Objectives to WFP team and partners in the field.
• Be a force for positive change: Implements new methods or tools to improve team’s work processes and productivity.
• Make the mission inspiring to our team: Maps team’s activities and tasks to specific successes in beneficiary communities to showcase positive impact.
• Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Explains to teammates how each unit contributes to the overall WFP mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Identifies skill development opportunities such as training modules or on-the-job experiences for self, colleagues and direct reports.
• Create an inclusive culture: Facilitates team building activities to build rapport in own unit.
• Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Facilitates the pairing of junior colleagues with coaches within own team.
• Create an “I will”/” We will” spirit: Proactively anticipates potential challenges and develops mitigation plans to ensure that team meets goals and targets.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Identifies opportunities to be creative in own work and to help team be more innovative and accurate in their respective tasks and areas of work.
• Focus on getting results: Monitors team’s deliverables and provides feedback to ensure outcomes are delivered consistently and accurately.
• Make commitments and make good on commitments: Provides accurate guidance to team on expected responsibilities and tasks, whilst also upholding own commitment to the team.
• Be Decisive: Sets an example and provides guidance to junior team members on when to escalate issues when faced with challenging issues in the workplace or in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Facilitates partnerships with other WFP units to accomplish missions in the field.
• Build strong external partnerships: Sets an example and provides guidance to team on how to build relationships with external partners.
• Be politically agile & adaptable: Articulates to colleagues or direct reports the value of contributing to other WFP teams and agency partnerships in fulfilling WFP’s goals and objectives.
• Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Organizes, monitors, and prioritizes own and team’s efforts to ensure that they will fulfil the needs of internal and external partners.

 

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

Capability Name	Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level
Programme Lifecycle & Food Assistance	Demonstrates ability to identify key variables and contextual factors that affect food assistance problems and programmes throughout the lifecycle to inform quality programme design or re-design. Displays ability to identify the main hunger problem at the national or subnational level to design and implement context-specific programmes that integrate complex analysis and the full range of food assistance tools.
Transfer Modalities (Food, Cash, Vouchers)	Demonstrates ability to analyse and consolidate quantitative and qualitative information from different sources (e.g., market studies) to inform transfer modality selection and programme development.
Broad Knowledge of Specialized Areas	Understands basic technical concepts and data and their relevance to food Assistance programmes. Demonstrates the ability to interpret basic data in the context of WFP specialised fields to contribute to technical programme design, implementation and monitoring.
Emergency Programming	Displays capacity to provide inputs into the development, implementation and realignment of activities that bridge emergency response with long term resilience programmes. Displays ability to translate understanding of programme principles in emergencies and protracted conflict situations into relevant, effective, and context specific approaches.
Strategic Policy Engagement w/Government	Understands and applies basic principles of engagement with government counterparts at the national or local level. Develops thorough recommendations using multiple inputs (e.g., government counsel, research, own experience) to strengthen national or subnational entities and government owned food and nutrition security programmes.

 

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

Qualifications and Experience Required

Education:

• Advanced University degree in Economics, Development Economics, Statistics, Data Science, Social Science, Performance Management or related field, or First Degree with at least 5 years of related work experience and/or training courses

Experience:

• Minimum of 2 years of postgraduate, progressively responsible, job-related experience in development assistance projects and/or public sector management;
• Gained valuable experience in collecting geospatial and socioeconomic food and nutrition security data, conducting quantitative and qualitative analyses, and reporting findings to senior leaders.
• Experience in government partnership implementation and in technical assistance areas will be considered as a strong asset.
• Has led surveys, multiple assessments in countries, including the design, data collection and analysis.
• General knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures governing administration.
• Experience in responding to emergencies is an added advantage as is prior experience working for WFP.
• Experience managing staff and improving performance.

 

Technical Skills and Knowledge:

• Knowledge of research methods and monitoring and evaluation standards and analytical ability in food security and vulnerability analysis, including data collection and analysis
• Ability to interpret and analyse a wide variety of needs, partners’ requirements etc.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain effective working relations with internal and external counterparts, partners and stakeholders with persons of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Ability to participate and promote open dialogue with the team, valuing the diverse opinion of others to achieve common goals.
• Result oriented attitude.
• Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple deadlines.
• Resourcefulness, initiative, maturity of judgment, excellent communication skills both orally and in writing;
• Self-starter and able to work with minimum supervision;
• Good analytical skills and experience in report writing;
• Sound negotiation skills and ability to accept responsibility;
• Familiarity with the use of spreadsheet software (MS Excel), statistical packages (STATA, SPSS, R, etc.), and GIS software (qGIS, ArcGIS, etc.) for data analysis a plus and understanding of data collection and analysis methods;
• Supervisory skills required.

 

Language:

• Working knowledge (proficiency level C) of English

QUALIFIED FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.

Only Gambian nationals are eligible to apply for this position.

Applications are to be submitted and received online and in English language only.

WFP will apply a rigorous and transparent selection process including thorough assessment of technical skills to ensure the best candidates are selected for the job. Please ensure that your application contains accurate and complete information on academic qualifications, employment record and language skills.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.