Programme Policy Officer (Home grown School Feeding) | Jijiga, Ethiopia

Location: Jijiga, Ethiopia

Deadline: 12 November 2026

Job Description

JOB TITLE: Programme and Policy Officer (Home Grown School Feeding)

TYPE OF CONTRACT: Service Contract

GRADE/LEVEL: SC-8

UNIT/DIVISION: Programme

DUTY STATION: Jijiga area office_ outposted to regional bureau of education

DURATION: 12 months

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) supports humanitarian and development operations through timely, transparent and efficient procurement. In the current CSP 2026-2030, under Activity 5, WFP aims to support Ethiopia’s ambition of achieving universal coverage of school meal programmes by 2030, WFP will partner with the Ministry of Education, regional government offices and communities to scale up home-grown school feeding. WFP will strengthen institutional capacity and coordination across government levels and sectors to enhance effective planning, resource mobilization, and monitoring of the national school meal programme.

As part of the capacity building support, WFP will hire a programme officer for the regional education bureau to help them in establishing a home-grown school feeding programme in the Somali region. The staff member will be directly supporting the bureau, spending at least 50% of his time at the regional education bureau and spend some time at the WFP Jijiga office in planning and monitoring programme implementation.

JOB PURPOSE:

Under the direct supervision of the International Programme Policy Officer (Resilience, Livelihood and School Feeding) the Programme Officer (School Feeding) provides support to the school feeding programme under the Jijiga area office.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive):

A dynamic programme leader responsible for steering regional programme portfolios, forging strategic partnerships, and delivering high-impact development outcomes. Combines strong project leadership, stakeholder engagement, and operational excellence to coordinate complex multi-partner initiatives, influence policy discussions, mobilize resources, and ensure the effective delivery of programmes that create sustainable results for communities and government partners.
Lead HGSF project planning, implementation, monitoring, and adaptive management to achieve strategic objectives.
Managing programme risks, identifying opportunities, and ensuring timely resolution of implementation bottlenecks.
Driving accountability, results-based management, and continuous improvement through data-driven decision-making.
Representing the organization at regional leadership forums and serving as a key liaison between field operations and Somali Area office management. The staff is expected to spend 50% of time at WFP office and 50% at regional education bureau.
Ensure multi-sector coordination of the programme, explore and identify opportunities with other regional sector like agriculture, social protection, energy, health etc. that can contribute and improve quality of homegrown school feeding
Facilitate coordination meetings, support regional bureau of education to hold project steering committee meetings, technical meetings, draft minutes and document action points and follow up with respective teams to deliver.
Support zonal and woreda education offices in the implementation of the home-grown school feeding programme.
Develop progressive, periodic (weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly), and ad-hoc reporting on program activities and outcomes.
Support education bureau in progress and expenditure report submissions
Promote the integration of protection and gender perspectives to ensure equal participation of girls and boys across all program areas
Perform additional tasks as required

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Education:

BA in educational leadership, social work, agro-economics, community development, pastoral livelihoods or any field related functional area. Master’s degree will be an added advantage.

Experience:

At least 1 year professional experience in a relevant field of work, with a background and interest in international humanitarian development.
Working knowledge on Nutrition and Education and Social Protection/Social Assistance.
Working in an agro-pastoral setting will be an asset for the post

Language:

Fluency in both oral and written communication in English and Somali

Knowledge & Skills:

Proficient in the use of office equipment and computer software packages, such as Microsoft Word.
Knowledge of work routines and methods in order to complete processes under minimal supervision.

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

All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruiting system. We do not consider CVs or applications sent by email, LinkedIn, or any other channel.
We strongly recommend that your Workday profile is accurate and complete, and that all sections are filled in, including your employment history, academic qualifications, language skills, and UN grade (if applicable). Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.
If you experience technical issues while submitting your application, you may contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org. Please note that this email is only for technical issues with an application – unsolicited applications or documents sent to this inbox will not receive a reply.
At the application stage, the only required documents are your CV and Cover Letter. Additional documents (passport, certificates, recommendation letters, etc.) may be requested later in the process.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process.

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.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 12 November 2026-23:59-GMT+03:00 East Africa Time (Addis Ababa)