Senior Programme Associate (Research)

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok.

WHY JOIN WFP? 

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.

• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.

• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.

• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

WFP encourages female candidates and people with disabilities to apply

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis. We are committed to promoting diversity and the principle of equal employment opportunity for all our employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of religion or belief, ethnic or social background, gender, gender identity and disability.

VACANCY DETAILS

Job Title: Senior Programme Associate (Research)

Grade: Level 7

Type of Contract: Service Contract

Duration: 12 Months (with possible renewable)

Reporting To: Monitoring & Evaluation Officer (Head of Unit)

Duty Station: New Delhi

Date of Publication: 22 April 2025

Deadline of Application: 6 May 2025

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This vacancy is open to Indian National only
This vacancy is open to internal and external candidates.

Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted
A Written test will be used for Screening Candidates
Only recommended candidates will be retained on roaster for a period of two years and may be considered for similar positions from roaster

The Base Salary for this position is INR 1,40,365/- per month + 8.33% of Base Salary towards Social Security, also employee will be covered with medical benefits as per WFP 's Plan. All Tax liability for payments from this contract are to be borne by the subscriber.   

JOB PURPOSE:

Under the direct supervision of the Head, RAM and Evaluation Unit, the position will be responsible to support the team in undertaking research and evaluation on the impact of rice fortification across multiple States in India. S/He will independently handle wide range of specialized and/or standardized research and evaluation-related processes and activities to support the effective delivery of planned activities

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (Not all inclusive) 

• Contribute to conceptualizing, developing, and implementing the planned evaluation and research on the impact of rice fortification in multiple States, including preparation of concept notes, research protocols, applications for Health Ministry’s Screening Committee (HMSC) and ethical Institutional Review Board (IRB), development of terms of reference, drafting and finalization of data collection tools, and design of data entry systems in compliance with WFP’s guidelines, support the training of enumerators, quality assurance, data cleaning, analysis, and reporting.
• Provide guidance and technical oversight to external agencies/ vendors/ service providers/ research partners who are hired to undertake the research and evaluation studies on rice fortification.
• Provide coordination, research, and analyses support to the research on impact of rice fortification through review of relevant secondary literature, analysis of secondary data including data/information flowing to/from various government portals on a periodic basis as well as national survey datasets including NSSO, NFHS, CNNS and Census and prepare briefs, updates based on new research and findings for reference.
• Undertake advanced quantitative analysis of the data collected through the research on impact of rice fortification, and contribute to development of technical reports, presentations, and other relevant products for internal and external stakeholders.
• Provide effective coordination with various stakeholders including governments/ departments, donors, research partners, WFP colleagues, etc.
• Support in reporting and sharing the knowledge products with various stakeholders within WFP and externally with donors, research partners, government stakeholders, etc.
• Support in report writing and presenting the research, analysis, and monitoring outputs into variety of evidence products such as policy briefs, peer-reviewed research papers, working papers, thematic papers, books etc.
• Other duties as required.

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

• Demonstrates excellent knowledge about food security and nutrition issues, especially on large-scale staple fortification, and is familiar with government policies and data sets on food security nutrition.
• Demonstrates ability to analyse, visualize and interpret data to contribute to technical programme design, implementation, and monitoring.
• Demonstrated ability to develop concept notes, design and conduct surveys, preliminary scoping on upcoming research areas, to produce research material and organize technical consultations.
• Capacity to communicate effectively orally and in written formats to a variety of audiences.
• A natural discussion partner for both younger and more established academics.
• Works effectively and collaboratively in support of building a team-based culture of work.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

Completion of secondary school education. Second level university degree in Economics/ Demography/ Population Studies/ Social Science/ Public Health, or similar field relevant is desirable

EXPERIENCE

• Minimum seven years of work experience in the field of food security, nutrition, poverty, health, staple fortification, and related areas, including undertaking various research and evaluation related activities, research studies and analytical work using modern analytical software such as Stata, R, Python or SPSS. Experience in writing concept notes, proposals, reports and other knowledge products for research projects. Experience in providing inputs into designing studies and programmes and has provided inputs for policy discussions

KNOWLEDGE & TOOLS

High level of proficiency with MS office package. Knowledge of GIS tools such as QGIS, ArcGIS and data visualization tools such as Power BI/Tableau will be useful.

LANGUAGE

Excellent oral and written communication skills in English. Working knowledge of Hindi is preferred.

HOW TO APPLY

To be considered, interested candidates are invited to apply via (https://www.wfp.org/careers/job-openings). Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency, fighting hunger worldwide. In India, World Food Programme (WFP) has been working since 1963, contributing to food and nutrition security of the people in general and vulnerable population and communities such as women and children, in particular. WFP’s work in India is fully focused on country capacity strengthening to support access to food and reducing malnutrition towards Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG) 2 on zero hunger, while also focusing on SDG 17 to support partnerships for the goals.

WFP conducts innovative pilots to augment the food safety net programmes of India and generate credible evidence through monitoring and evaluation to help government take evidence-based scale-up decisions. WFP also conducts the food and nutrition security analysis and other research to fill the critical evidence gaps in the domain of food security and nutrition in India.

RAM and Evaluation Unit in India is a cross-cutting unit working with all Strategic Outcomes and has specific responsibilities related to supporting the planning and review process, the monitoring and evaluation activities, supporting knowledge management, undertaking and institutionalization of food security analyses, and conducting need-based research to support advocacy. The Unit is also responsible for supporting the planning and review process for the Outcome Group-2 under the UNSDCF 2023-27 for India.

WFP India Country Office is looking for a dynamic Senior Programme Associate (Research) to support the country strategic programme. The job holder will work under the close support and guidance of the professional staff and seek regular feedback on work performed

WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFP’s standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact:  global.inclusion@wfp.org

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).

• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.

• Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language

• Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter

• Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time

• Please contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org in case you face any challenges with submitting your application

• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.