Programme Policy Officer (School Feeding)

The Programme Policy Officer (School Feeding) provides strategic and technical support to WFP and the Ministry of Education and Culture in Mozambique to implement the Technical Assistance framework for school feeding. The role involves multi-stakeholder engagement, improving programme performance, strengthening systems and processes, and advancing the national school feeding agenda through analytical, advisory, and coordination support.

Responsibilities

• Lead the coordination, quality assurance, and oversight of external technical assistance services, ensuring timely delivery and high-quality outputs across key thematic areas, including financing strategy, communications and visibility, and monitoring.
• Manage relationships with external service providers and consultancy firms, ensuring alignment with agreed scopes of work, deliverables, and quality standards.
• Provide strategic guidance to the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) on the design, prioritization, and implementation of technical assistance activities, ensuring coherence with PRONAE and the National School Feeding Strategy objectives.
• Contribute directly to the development of analytical products and strategic outputs, including reports, briefs, and evidence-based materials required under the Technical Assistance framework.
• Manage the design and implementation of key events, workshops, and missions, working closely with government counterparts to ensure alignment with technical assistance priorities and to support implementation during the transition phase.
• Contribute to the strategic positioning of school feeding within the education sector and other sector coordination mechanisms, strengthening visibility, coherence, and alignment with donor priorities.
• Support resource mobilization efforts and reporting for both technical assistance activities and broader school feeding initiatives, including identifying funding opportunities and contributing to donor engagement and proposal development.
• Support the transition towards a more streamlined and efficient operational model for school feeding, including strengthening processes, systems, and governance arrangements.
• Build capacity of WFP national staff, including coaching and on-the-job training, to progressively expand responsibilities towards full programme cycle management.

Requirements

• University degree in the areas of international relations, economics, social sciences or other relevant areas
• Five years of post-graduate professional experience, with specific experience working closely with the government, partners on school feeding programmes.
• Knowledge of food security
• Knowledge of School Feeding and School Health and Nutrition
• Experience working with Mozambican national institutions
• Experience working in a team environment, involving people of different nationalities and/or cultures.
• Excellent reporting skills
• Fluency in English and Portuguese.

Skills

• School Feeding Programmes
• Food Security
• School Health and Nutrition
• Government Relations
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Programme Performance Improvement
• Systems Strengthening
• Policy Advisory
• Programme Coordination
• Reporting Skills
• Experience with Mozambican Institutions
• English
• Portuguese

Languages

English, Portuguese