Partnerships Officer

Job Posting Organization:
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian organization, dedicated to saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build pathways to peace, stability, and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters, and the impacts of climate change. Established in 1961, WFP operates in over 80 countries, employing thousands of staff members who work tirelessly to ensure effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people globally. WFP's mission is to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, and it is committed to the principles of diversity and equal employment opportunity, encouraging qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

Job Overview:
The Partnerships Officer will play a crucial role in facilitating the work of senior staff to effectively position WFP with public, private, and external partners. This position aims to attract policy support, resources, technical assistance, and innovative solutions to advance WFP's work while supporting member states in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Zero Hunger. The officer will implement work plans to identify, develop, and strengthen quality partnerships in support of WFP's strategic objectives. The role requires proactive contributions to a partnerships portfolio, including partner profiling and outreach activities, to maximize resources and leverage policy and technical support for WFP's initiatives. The officer will also utilize data to present well-researched ideas to expand support from existing partners and scope new partnerships, enhancing the impact of WFP's work and diversifying the resource base.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Implement the work plan for an assigned area to enable WFP to identify, develop, and strengthen quality partnerships in support of WFP strategic objectives.
• Proactively contribute to a partnerships portfolio, including partner profiling and outreach activities, with the aim to maximize resources and leverage policy and technical support for WFP’s work; support partner visibility and ensure partner conditions are met.
• Use data to present managers with well-researched ideas to expand support from existing partners and to scope new partners, guided by programmatic assessment and context-specific analysis with the aim to enhance the impact of WFP’s work and diversify the resource base.
• Solicit inputs, including operational updates, from other WFP entities to inform partner audiences on WFP’s programmatic offering; draft quality briefs and proactively highlight strategic issues to senior staff to inform the best course of action and nurture partnership growth.
• Gather and present internal and external data/information, using key information systems (e.g., Salesforce, WINGS, WFPGo), to support WFP’s effective positioning vis-à-vis national governments, regional and international institutions with the aim to influence the policy agenda.
• In the context of the UN system and multilateral fora, support the development of partnerships and joint events with member states, civil society, and intergovernmental organizations to advocate for the SDGs and Zero Hunger on the global agenda and advance WFP priorities and objectives.
• Contribute to partnerships strategies, including the development of Partnership Action Plans; draw up quality partner proposals and reports by engaging with other WFP entities and external stakeholders.
• Support senior managers in the preparation of strategic agreements, joint strategies, and MOUs to promote the SDGs and Zero Hunger on the national, regional, and global agenda and to reach advantageous outcomes for WFP.
• Contribute to preparedness actions, providing technical recommendations and guidance, and monitor defined risks. 1
• Other duties as required.

Required Qualifications:
Candidates must possess a basic understanding of government strategies and have developed effective relationships with partners. They should have explored new areas to scale up existing activities and researched new opportunities. The ideal candidate will have developed powerful narratives using data analysis visualization to enable action-oriented discussions with partners. They should have prepared briefs to raise resources for operations and collaborated for timely registration, maintenance, and update of contributions and forecasts. Additionally, candidates should have provided advanced technical support and identified opportunities for service delivery excellence to strengthen partnerships. A strong team spirit and contribution to a gender-balanced, inclusive, and sound working environment are essential.

Educational Background:
The minimum academic qualification required for this position is an advanced university degree in Political Science, International Development, Development Economics, International Relations, Law, Marketing, Communications, or another relevant field. Alternatively, a first university degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses may be accepted.

Experience:
Candidates should have a minimum of one or more years of relevant professional work experience in partnership roles. This experience should include developing relationships with partners and exploring new areas for collaboration, as well as providing technical support to strengthen partnerships.

Languages:
Fluency (level C) in English is mandatory. Additionally, intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language such as Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, or Portuguese is desirable. For national professionals, fluency in the duty station's language is also required if different from English.

Additional Notes:
This position is a full-time role with a focus on partnership development and resource mobilization strategies. WFP is committed to diversity and encourages applications from qualified female candidates and individuals from minority social groups and people with disabilities. The organization offers an attractive compensation package and invests in the personal and professional development of its employees through various training and mentorship programs. All applications must be submitted through WFP's online recruiting system, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for the next stage of the recruitment process.