Programme Policy Officer – Social Protection and Government Support NOB - Jordan

TYPE OF CONTRACT: Fixed Term / NOB

UNIT/DIVISION: Programme

DUTY STATION (City, Country): Amman, Jordan

DURATION: 12 months (renewable)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

WFP is looking to sustain and expand its support to national social protection systems in Jordan, including provision of technical assistance and advisory services to enhance government structures and support national efforts to assist vulnerable populations in Jordan. With the support of relevant actors, the Government of Jordan is working on the operationalization of the National Social Protection Strategy which calls for strengthened effectiveness, efficiency and shock responsiveness of social protection programmes, such as the social assistance scheme led by National Aid Fund (NAF) and the National School Feeding Programme (NSFP) managed by the Ministry of Education (MoE).

Over the past 6 years, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been a strategic partner to the Government of Jordan on social protection, particularly on shock-responsive social protection (SRSP) and social assistance. In this area, WFP has been providing technical expertise to the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), NAF and MoE and facilitating support that is grounded in a global corporate methodology designed specifically to help governments build robust and shock-responsive social protection systems.

Over the past many years, WFP has worked with NAF to enhance its social assistance in a number of areas, including the rollout of the Unified Cash Transfer (UCT) programme, establishing information management and CFM systems, institutionalization of evidence generation and digitization of targeting and spatial data analysis under the GIS unit.

WFP’s work with MoSD focuses primarily on advancing the Shock Responsive Social Protection pillar (Sumod) under the National Social Protection Strategy. This includes working as a policy convener, conducting simulation exercises and developing protocols and SOPs for the social protection system, south-south knowledge exchanges between governments on SRSP, and mapping of management information system gaps and opportunities.

WFP has been working closely with the MoE to enhance the national school feeding program in terms of delivery, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability. WFP is currently providing direct financial assistance to the program through an improved feeding model, the healthy meals model. In addition, the MoE and WFP have jointly defined the priority areas for strategic and technical collaboration to ensure the government has the capacity to implement and expand school feeding in the most effective and sustainable manner.

While Jordan has a relatively high expenditure on social sectors and strong foundational plans, the social protection system faces gaps in coverage, financial sustainability, and institutional fragmentation. It also lacks a comprehensive design and implementation plan for shock responsiveness.

WFP is looking for a Senior National Programme Policy Officer to manage WFP’s social protection and government support portfolio. He/she will lead the capacity strengthening initiatives for the government actors, as well as oversight of the school feeding activity. He/she will report to the Deputy Head of Programme and supervise staff that implements WFP’s social protection and school feeding activities. The Officer will work closely with Programme Support teams as well as other WFP activities such as humanitarian response to refugees, emergency preparedness and response, disaster risk reduction and sustainable livelihoods.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Support the Government of Jordan to operationalize the SRSP (Sumood) pillar under the National Social Protection Strategy, including:

a. In collaboration with relevant actors, develop and maintain a transformative road map for the operationalization of the Sumood pillar and support the government in its implementation and defining the building blocks at the system level.

b. Define and engage closely with the primary actors working under the Sumood pillar.

c. Co-lead and take part in the relevant national and sub-national dialogue on Sumood pillar as well as in technical discussions related to its operationalization.

d. Facilitate technical knowledge and experience sharing on enhancing shock-responsiveness and inclusiveness of the national social protection system.

e. Support the government in developing all reference documents for the Sumood pillar, including, but not limited to;

• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs),

• response and activation protocols

• targeting model and outreach

• information management

• definition of shocks and associated risks

• responsibility matrix and communication protocols

• Community Feedback Mechanisms

f. Advise the government and generate evidence on relevant social assistance/protection programmes in Jordan that could offer relevant carriers for assistance during shocks.

g. Undertake a capacity needs mapping for the MoSD and other actors as a foundation for capacity strengthening support for the rollout of the Sumood pillar.

h. Support the national social protection systems through investment in key systems such as MoSD’s management information system and the National Social Protection Strategy’s M&E systems.

2. Guide WFP’s social protection strategy and activities in Jordan, including:

a. Provide strategic guidance on WFP’s role in the social protection landscape in Jordan, identifying opportunities for WFP and building social protection activities including engagement with relevant actors.

b. Formulate WFP’s social protection vision in Jordan, adapting the WFP global social protection strategy and best practices to the Jordanian context and its national priorities.

c. Develop and enhance strategic partnerships with relevant actors in the field of social protection and represent WFP in policy dialogue and coordination forums on social protection with key stakeholders (e.g., Ministries, UN agencies, IFI’s, social protection partners).

d. Explore opportunities to link informal workers such as small-holder farmers or school feeding kitchen workers to social security/insurance schemes, in close collaboration with WFP activities related to school feeding, emergency preparedness and response, self-reliance building and climate action.

e. Foster South-South and Triangular Cooperation for social protection knowledge sharing and best practice promotion, ultimately positioning WFP as a partner of choice for social protection.

f. Contribute to the joint advocacy and coordination work to be done with Government, UNHCR and relevant donors for a more inclusive national social protection system.

g. Support other on-going initiatives relevant to social protection together with key partners, such as the World Bank and UN agencies including UNICEF, ILO and UNDP.

h. Nurture strong internal collaboration with other WFP Jordan units and activities, as well as with WFP’s regional office in Cairo and relevant technical units in WFP’s Global Headquarters.

i. Ensure synergy and coherence between the different aspects of WFP’s social protection portfolio.

j. Identify new funding opportunities for all aspects of the social protection portfolio and develop funding proposals.

3. Lead on WFP’s collaboration with the National Aid Fund, including:

a. Develop a handover/transition plan of WFP’s assistance to NAF with a clear timeframe and deliverables.

b. Provide technical and strategic advice to NAF on its Unified Cash Transfer Program, graduation workstream and financial literacy and self-reliance education packages as needed and requested.

4. Oversee the implementation of capacity strengthening of the MoE, including:

a. In close collaboration with the school feeding team, provide overall guidance to the technical assistance and provision of advisory services to MoE in line with the operationalization of the national school feeding strategy action plan and in support of the planned handover of the National School Feeding Programme to the MoE by 2030.

b. Support the school feeding team in the development and implementation of a capacity strengthening package for the MoE, drawing and lessons learned from capacity building and handover work with NAF and ensuring

c. Work with the School Feeding activity manager to support the MoE to develop a local financing model for school feeding.

5. Team management:

a. Manage the workplan of social protection and school feeding teams to ensure expected deliverables are met in a timely manner.

b. Lead, motivate and empower a substantive team to ensure high performance with quality outputs.

c. Support team members through coaching/mentoring and guidance to support performance and ensure appropriate development.

d. Conduct targeted trainings for staff related to social protection as required.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education: Advanced University degree in Social Sciences, International Relations, Economics, Public Administration, Public Policy or other field relevant to international development assistance or First University Degree with additional years of experience.

Experience: Seven years of total post graduate experience including 3 years of professional experience in national social protection systems, including responsibility for liaising with different line ministries at national and decentralized levels.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Work experience with UN, donor or IFI desired.

• Demonstrated diplomatic skills and capacity to nudge government action.

Languages: Fluency in both spoken and written English and Arabic.