Programme Assistant (Partnerships and GFA) SC5

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

All applications should be received no later than 13 October, 2020.

CONTRACT TYPE AND DURATION

This position is open to Syrian or Syrian/Palestinian nationals, or holders of a work permit and residency in Syria.

Contract Type: Service Contract (SC5)
Duration: 12 months
Duty Station: 1 post in South Area Field Office in Damascus, 1 post in Qamishly Field Office
Number of required employees: 2

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.
In Syria, WFP provides food assistance to more than 4.6 million people each month. This includes families who require emergency assistance when affected by conflict and displacement and also those who need help to improve their nutrition and food security. WFP supports children across Syria with healthy meals and snacks at school, mothers with nutritious diets, and families and communities with sustainable livelihood projects.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The Programme Assistant (Partnerships and GFA) will work in the South Area Office and Qamishly Field Offices and in collaboration with the other units of WFP.
The job holders typically report to a Programme Policy Officer or the designate. At this level, job holders are responsible for the completion of a range of specialized and/or standardized processes and activities requiring some interpretation of standard guidelines and practices. Job holders are able to recommend a course of action to staff at various levels and may allocate tasks to other support staff. They work under minimum supervision, perform basic analyses and compile reports to support information consistency and smooth implementation of programmes/projects.

Supervision received: The job holders typically report to a Programme Policy Officer or the designate.

JOB PURPOSE

To perform specialized and/or standardized policy and programme-related processes and activities to support the effective delivery of assistance packages.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Accountabilities: Within delegated authority, the Programme Assistant will be responsible for the following duties: (These duties are generic and thus are not all-inclusive nor are all duties carried out by all positions)

1. Perform specialized and/or standardised processes and activities within the specific technical area of work supporting alignment with wider programme policies and guidelines.
2. Provide project management and/or general office support following established targets and WFP’s policies and procedures.
3. Within the specific area of responsibility, compile data and support analysis and preparation of reports (e.g. food assistance needs, resource utilization, programme status, performance) in order to support operational decision-making.
4. Perform accurate, timely recording of data within the specific technical area of work (e.g. food security and vulnerability assessments) following corporate standards and guidelines.
5. Work and exchange information with internal counterparts to support effective collaboration, implementation and monitoring of ongoing project activities.
6. Support communication and activities with local partners, agencies, NGOs and government institutions.
7. Act as a point of contact for resolution of general operational queries requesting assistance where necessary.
8. Follow standard emergency preparedness practices to ensure WFP is able to quickly respond and deploy needed resources to affected areas at the onset of the crisis.

Specific tasks include:

1. Follow up with cooperating partners (CPs) on monthly distribution reports, to ensure timely and accurate submissions by CPs.
2. Prepare and finalize CPDRs in COMET, including follow-up with partners and WFP CO Supply Chain Unit on waybills and reconciliation.
3. Create Food Release Notes (FRN) for GFA in COMET based on inputs and guidance form GFA team leader.
4. Data entry for GFA loading plans and distribution reports into the Syria Monitoring Database (SMD).
5. Develop and maintain distribution report templates tailored for each partner (which includes FDPs as per FLA). These templates would have a clear breakdown between “cycle” and “month” for those months when dispatch was delayed and distribution spilled into next month.
6. Develop new/or improve existing GFA tracking sheets to track reach against targets/needs. Again these would need to be aligned with FLAs/FDPs and show proper zoning.
7. Field Level Agreements (FLAs), amendments, Note for the Records (NFRs) and related documents as required.
8. Enter Field Level Agreements (FLA) information in WINGS/ CO Monitoring & Evaluation Tool (COMET) as required.
9. Undertake quarterly/annual reconciliation of Cooperation Partner (CP) payments and provide technical feedback to the Field Offices / Cooperation Partner (FOs/CPs.)
   10.Oversight at the Country Office/Field Office level to review Cooperation Partners (CPs) invoices ensuring the correct exchange rate is used and follow up on any commodity losses reported in the distribution report.
   11.Create Service Entry Sheet (SES) entries in WFP’s SAP system when required.
   12.Maintain the payment tracking sheet, prepare weekly status report, and flag any issues that require action.
   13.Provide guidance, training, and oversight to Cooperation Partners (CPs) related to payment process.
   14.Translate documents related to NGO Partnership and payments.
   15.Undertake operational oversight visits to Cooperation Partners (CPs). Contribute to update the checklist.
   16.Prepare visit report including follow up action points, and provide feedback to Cooperation Partners (CPs), Field Offices, and Country Office as required.
   17.Follow up on Field Level Agreement (FLA) and FLA amendment cases and provide support as required.
   18.Perform any other duties as assigned.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Completion of secondary school education. A post-secondary certificate in the related functional area is desirable.

Experience: Four years of relevant working experience

Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in Arabic and in English.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• One year experience in humanitatrian programmes support and implementation and assisting policy especially in humanitarian/food security/emergency sectors.
• Has facilitated communication with technical teams (Partnerships and GFA).
• Has contributed to implementation of programmes.
• Has observed or assisted with policy discussions.
• Knowledge and experience of data entry and analysis. Good skills with Excel, SPSS and desired experience of WFP systems related to COMET, CPDRs, SMD etc.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Helps teammates articulate WFP’s Strategic Objectives.
• Be a force for positive change: Suggests potential improvements to team’s work processes to supervisor.
• Make the mission inspiring to our team: Explains the impact of WFP activities in beneficiary communities to teammates.
• Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Articulates how own unit’s responsibilities will serve WFP’s mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Trains junior teammates on new skills and capabilities.
• Create an inclusive culture: Seeks opportunities to work with people from different backgrounds.
• Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Serves as a peer coach for colleagues in same area of work.
• Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Tracks progress toward goals and shares this information on a regular basis with supervisor.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Explores ways to consistently be more efficient and accurate in own areas of work and shares new methods of work with colleagues.
• Focus on getting results: Focuses on getting results and tracks trends in completion rates for own tasks to identify opportunities for efficiency.
• Make commitments and make good on commitments: Takes responsibility for own tasks and notifies supervisor as soon as possible of potential delays in meeting deadlines or commitments.
• Be Decisive: Independently decides what action to take when faced with critical choices in the workplace or in dangerous situations in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Suggests opportunities for partnering with other units to supervisor.
• Build strong external partnerships: Identifies opportunities to work with colleagues and partners in the field towards common goals.
• Be politically agile & adaptable: Develops an understanding of the value of WFP’s teams and external partners in fulfilling team’s goals and objectives.
• Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Aligns own activities with supervisor’s priorities to fulfill internal and external partner needs.

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

Capability NameDescription of the behaviour expected for the proficiency levelProgramme Lifecycle & Food AssistanceCan facilitate implementation of food assistance programmes under guidance using basic understanding of principles and good practices of programme design, implementation and monitoring.Transfer Modalities (Food, Cash, Vouchers)Demonstrates ability to facilitate, under guidance, food assistance programme implementation that deploys full range of transfer modalities with an understanding of basic principles guiding modality selection and implementation.Knowledge of Specialized AreasUnderstands basic technical concepts and data andtheir relevance to food assistance programmes.Emergency ProgrammingDisplays capacity to provide inputs into the development, implementation and realignment of high quality emergency programmes.Strategic Policy Engagement w/GovtUnderstands and applies basic principles of engagement with government counterparts at the national or local level.