Partnerships Officer

Organizational Context

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian organization, dedicated to saving lives and building peace through food assistance. WFP operates in complex environments, assisting people recovering from conflict, disasters, and climate change impacts. The organization values diversity, inclusion, and a high-performing workforce committed to its mission of saving and changing lives.

Job Purpose

The Partnerships Officer will play a crucial role in strengthening WFP's engagement with key partners, particularly the USDA, to mobilize resources and advance organizational priorities. This position involves strategic oversight of significant programs like the McGovern-Dole and US Food for Peace initiatives, requiring leadership in resource mobilization, donor engagement, and strategic planning. The officer will be responsible for developing and executing resource mobilization strategies, cultivating high-quality partnerships, and ensuring operational compliance. This includes supervising a team, providing technical support for program design and proposal development, managing grant compliance, and optimizing processes. The role is essential for ensuring the effective and compliant management of donor awards and for fostering strong relationships that support WFP's mission.

Responsibilities

The Partnerships Officer role at the World Food Programme (WFP) is multifaceted, focusing on strengthening WFP's engagement with the USDA and managing key food assistance programs. A primary responsibility is team leadership and supervision, providing strategic direction and direct management for the USDA McGovern-Dole portfolio or US Food for Peace programs. This includes overseeing a team and ensuring effective coordination across various WFP offices and with donor policies. Resource mobilization and strategic planning are crucial, involving the development and execution of strategies to support program growth and sustainability, including leading proposal development and negotiations for USDA contributions. Donor engagement and partnership development are key, requiring the cultivation of high-quality relationships with USDA and other partners, serving as a liaison, and coordinating donor meetings. The role also emphasizes compliance, process optimization, and capacity building by developing guidance, tools, and training for staff on donor requirements and WFP processes. Finally, grants and financial management are essential, involving providing technical support on grants and financial systems, assisting Country Offices with budgeting, monitoring expenditures, and ensuring accurate grant management entries and reporting in compliance with donor and WFP standards.

Work Experience

Requires a minimum of five years of relevant professional experience in partnerships or fundraising for an international organization. Key skills include strong grant proposal writing and management, US compliance understanding, excellent project management, financial acumen for budget development and monitoring, and knowledge of the UN system, WFP, US government agencies, and food aid policies. Experience with USDA McGovern-Dole or US Food for Peace programs is highly preferred.

Skills

Partnership Development, Resource Mobilization, Grant Management, Team Leadership, Project Management, Donor Engagement, Compliance, Financial Oversight, Strategic Planning, Capacity Building

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