Programme Policy Officer - P4

World Food Programme; Roma; In loco; EUR 70.000 - 90.000; Tempo pieno

Descrizione del lavoro

A global humanitarian organization is seeking a Programme Policy Officer to lead technical assistance initiatives for national school meal programs. The successful candidate will have over 8 years of relevant experience and an advanced degree in Public Policy or related fields. Fluency in English and knowledge of another UN language are required. This role will support governments in designing and sustaining school meal programs in a collaborative environment.

Competenze

• Minimum 8 years of relevant professional work experience in school meals programs.
• Experience in providing technical assistance to governments.
• Fluency in English and intermediate knowledge of another UN language.

Mansioni

• Lead the technical assistance team and coordinate with country teams.
• Support design and implementation of technical assistance plans.
• Develop operational tools and templates for the Accelerator's processes.
• Generate strategic insights for adapting strategies to evolving contexts.

Conoscenze

Technical assistance

Leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Program design

Communication

Formazione

Advanced University degree in Public Policy, International Development, Education, Food Systems

Descrizione del lavoro

Your privacy is important to us**DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS**2 December 2025-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Rome)*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: and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: , , , , , . **ABOUT THE SCHOOL MEALS ACCELERATOR**The School Meals Accelerator (the Accelerator) is a new initiative under the School Meals Coalition, launching in 2026 to support low- and lower-middle-income countries in scaling up and strengthening their national school meal programs. It responds directly to growing government demand for strategic, high-quality technical assistance that ensures long-term sustainability. SMA builds on the momentum of the Coalition, which has mobilized over 110 countries and 140 partners around the school meals agenda, with more than 60 countries making formal national commitments. Hosted by WFP and supported by a diverse network of partners, the Accelerator will provide demand-led, country-driven support across three core pillars: national program design, partnership alignment, and learning and knowledge. Its goal is to unlock the full potential of school meal programs by enhancing design, scaling investment, and fostering cross-sector collaboration across education, health, agriculture, and food systems. The Accelerator aims to help countries reach an additional 100 million children by 2030 with healthy and nutritious meals in school. Joining the Accelerator team means being part of a bold, systems-focused effort to drive lasting change. It’s an opportunity to work alongside governments and partners to co-create solutions, strengthen national capacity, and help shape the future of school meals as a strategic investment in children, communities, and inclusive development.**THE ROLE**The Programme Policy Officer will be based in the central structure of the Accelerator and lead the technical assistance team, act as key liaison to country teams and will play a central role in operationalizing the Accelerator’s country support model. They will enable country teams to support governments in designing, implementing, and sustaining national school meals programmes through tailored technical assistance. By aligning global partners, networks, tools, and expertise with national priorities, the Officer will lead efforts to improve the quality and expand the reach of government-led school meals programmes. The goal is to build resilient, locally owned ecosystems that can thrive beyond external support.**KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES** (not all-inclusive, within delegated authority):* Lead the Rome-based technical assistance team and coordinate with country teams to implement and iterate the country support model of the Accelerator.* Provide hands on coaching and support to the Accelerator’s country teams and a range of partners, including WFP Country Offices, to support government priorities for achieving national school health and nutrition commitments. This includes through daily or weekly touchpoints, feedback sessions, development of toolkits and designing access to training and development opportunities.* Support the design and implementation of technical assistance plans through participatory, nationally driven processes that engage broad range of partners from multiple sectors.* Co-develop and refine operational tools, templates, and standards for the Accelerator’s processes. Ensure tools and methodologies are context-sensitive and continuously improved based on country-level feedback.* Identify and work with partners, mapping partner capacities, know-how and tools that might be deployed to specific countries and ensure partners are connecting with each other and with countries to continue growing the school meals network.* Provide technical advice or mobilise technical expertise, on a wide range of programme and policy issues including assessment and analysis, the choice of objectives, activities, the deployment and testing of innovative approaches and the development of strategies to support government efforts to achieve national commitments in school health and nutrition. Foster government-led coordination and strategic alignment across sectors to strengthen enabling systems for school meals.* Support timely, demand-driven delivery of strategic technical assistance in targeted countries while embedding sustainable systems for collaboration, learning, and accountability. Promote adaptive implementation by encouraging experimentation, learning, and iteration with country teams and stakeholders.* Develop and nurture strong partnerships to enable coordinated, multisectoral support for governments. Focus on fostering collaboration, aligning technical assistance with country priorities, and creating mechanisms that leverage diverse expertise and resources to deliver integrated solutions for school meals programmes. Facilitate inclusive, multi-stakeholder dialogues and peer learning to build institutional capacity and long-term sustainability.* Generate strategic insights and diagnostics to adapt strategies to evolving country contexts and priorities. Surface country-level insights to inform global learning and collaboration within the Stakeholder Assembly and broader ecosystem.* Advice and support the development of functional training in areas of expertise to enhance the capacity of the Accelerator, national stakeholders and partners to design and deliver demand-driven support to Governments, as well as develop and nurture strong partner ecosystems in targeted countries. Apply systems thinking in daily work and support country teams in adopting systems approaches and mindsets.* Lead, motivate and develop the Technical Assistance Cell team to enable professional grown and high performance.* Ensure the best use of assigned financial resources for achievement of set objectives within a significant budget.* Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion by creating a workplace culture that values different perspectives, ensures equal opportunities, and supports an environment of mutual respect and belonging.* Other as required.**QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE****Education**: Advanced University degree in Public Policy, International Development, Education, Food Systems, or related field, or First University Degree with additional years of related work experience.**Experience:** Minimum 8 years of relevant professional work experience in design and implementation of school meals programme with substantial focus on provision of technical assistance to Governments and strategy development. Experience in international organizations/companies and /or outside of home country.**Language**: Fluency (level C) in English language. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or Portuguese (a WFP working language).**MORE ABOUT YOU**:* You bring exceptional skills in