Consultant Partnerships

Job Posting Organization:
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, established to save lives in emergencies and to use food assistance as a means to build pathways to peace, stability, and prosperity for individuals recovering from conflict, disasters, and the impacts of climate change. WFP operates globally, with a mission to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe. The organization is committed to diversity and equal employment opportunities, encouraging qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply. WFP has received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020, highlighting its significant contributions to humanitarian efforts.

Job Overview:
The Consultant Partnerships position at WFP involves providing strategic leadership and oversight of the External Relations function. The role is critical in ensuring effective partnership development, resource mobilization, and donor relations, aligning with WFP's corporate and country strategic objectives. The incumbent will lead a team, driving high-quality engagement with key stakeholders to secure sustainable funding and enhance WFP’s visibility and influence. The position requires a proactive approach to identifying new funding opportunities and strengthening existing partnerships, ensuring that WFP remains a partner of choice in humanitarian efforts. The role also involves preparing high-quality advocacy materials and representing WFP in various forums, thereby playing a vital role in the organization’s mission to combat food insecurity in Burkina Faso.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Leadership and Management: Lead and manage the External Relations Unit, ensuring clear priorities and high-quality outputs. Supervise and develop a team of 4 staff, fostering a high-performance and inclusive work environment. Ensure effective coordination across partnerships, reporting, and communications streams.
• Partnership Development and Resource Mobilization: Design and implement partnership strategies and workplans to expand and diversify WFP’s funding base. Identify and pursue new funding opportunities, including with non-traditional donors and private sector actors. Develop and articulate compelling value propositions aligned with partner priorities. Strengthen and maintain strategic relationships with existing partners to maximize long-term engagement.
• Stakeholder Engagement and Positioning: Build and manage relationships with government counterparts, donors, private sector, and multilateral stakeholders. Position WFP effectively in national, regional, and global policy discussions. Prepare high-quality briefings, talking points, and advocacy materials for senior management.
• Partnership Management and Coordination: Ensure coherent partner engagement across functional units and with Regional Bureau (RB) and Headquarters (HQ). Coordinate the development of Partnership Action Plans and ensure alignment with corporate frameworks. Oversee quality assurance of proposals, reports, and visibility materials.
• Reporting, Analysis, and Knowledge Management: Oversee donor reporting processes, ensuring compliance, quality, and timeliness. Monitor partnership performance and funding trends using corporate systems (e.g., WINGS, Salesforce, WFPGo). Promote data-driven decision-making to inform partnership strategies.
• Strategic Development and Innovation: Identify opportunities to expand existing partnerships and develop innovative collaboration models. Conduct partner analysis, due diligence, and risk assessments. Provide strategic advice to senior management on partnership opportunities and risks.
• Representation and Advocacy: Represent WFP in relevant forums, including UN, donor, and multilateral platforms. Support the organization of high-level events and partner engagements to advance WFP priorities.
• Cross-Cutting Responsibilities: Integrate gender equality and inclusion considerations across all partnership activities. Ensure compliance with WFP policies, procedures, and ethical standards. Perform other related duties as required.

Required Qualifications:
Advanced University degree in International Relations, Political Science, Development Studies, Economics, Law, Communications, Marketing, or a related field. Minimum 5 years of relevant professional experience in partnerships, external relations, or resource mobilization. Proven experience managing multi-stakeholder partnerships, including with governments, donors, and private sector actors. Demonstrated experience in resource mobilization, proposal development, and donor engagement. Experience leading or supervising teams and delivering results through others. Strong experience in developing partnership strategies and expanding engagements. Experience working in complex and high-pressure operational environments is an asset.

Educational Background:
Candidates must possess an advanced university degree in fields such as International Relations, Political Science, Development Studies, Economics, Law, Communications, Marketing, or a related field. This educational background is essential for understanding the complexities of partnerships and resource mobilization in a humanitarian context.

Experience:
The position requires a minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in partnerships, external relations, or resource mobilization. Candidates should have proven experience managing multi-stakeholder partnerships, including with governments, donors, and private sector actors. Additionally, demonstrated experience in resource mobilization, proposal development, and donor engagement is crucial. Experience leading or supervising teams and delivering results through others is also necessary, along with strong experience in developing partnership strategies and expanding engagements. Experience working in complex and high-pressure operational environments is considered an asset.

Languages:
Fluency in English and French (both oral and written) is required for this position. Proficiency in these languages is essential for effective communication and stakeholder engagement in the diverse contexts in which WFP operates.

Additional Notes:
This position is classified as a Consultant role, with a duty station in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The contract type is specifically for consultancy, and the role is expected to engage with various stakeholders to enhance WFP's operations in the region. The organization emphasizes a commitment to diversity and inclusion, ensuring that all candidates are considered based on merit and qualifications. WFP also provides a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment, along with an attractive compensation package. The deadline for applications is set for 9 July 2026 at 23:59 GMT.