DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
14 November 2026-23:59-GMT Greenwich Mean Time (Dakar)
WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.
ABOUT WFP
The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of extreme weather shocks.
At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.
To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok.
WHY JOIN WFP?
WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.
WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.
A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.
We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).
JOB TITLE: Programme Policy Officer – Regional Anticipatory Action
Systems Strengthening Specialist (West Africa & Sahel)
TYPE OF CONTRACT: CST I
UNIT/DIVISION: Programme & Policy, PRGR WACARO, Climate and Resilience,
DUTY STATION: Dakar, Senegal
DURATION: 11 months
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
The World Food Programme’s PRGR service and the WACARO (West and Central Africa Regional Office) Climate and Resilience (C&R) team support Country Offices through integrated and context specific approaches that bridge immediate response and longer-term resilience building. These efforts combine climate finance, disaster risk financing, anticipatory action (AA), food systems, and resilience programming, while also providing strategic guidance and capacity strengthening to governments and Country Offices on climate risk management, climate change adaptation, and disaster risk reduction.
As part of this climate risk programming, WFP is scaling up Early Warning Systems (EWS) and Anticipatory Action (AA) across the region. This approach aims to mitigate the impacts of climate shocks
on food security in six countries across West Africa (Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and
Nigeria), supported by multiyear funds from NORAD, Austria and DG ECHO.
As AA and EW systems expand, further efforts are needed to strengthen regional coordination and knowledge management, integrate AA within national and regional systems, address funding gaps, and enhance early warning and trigger mechanisms, in collaboration with WFP partners, like CILSS and AGRHYMET, and the Regional AA Task Force. A key element for success and sustainability is building
capacities of NMHSs (national meteorological and hydrological services) and NDMA (national disaster risk management agencies).
To respond to these needs, the WACARO Climate and Resilience team is seeking a consultant to strengthen regional and national institutional capacity for AA and EWS across West and Central Africa.
The position will act as project manager for the joint FAO-IFRC-WFP DG ECHO-funded project and will provide technical and coordination support across the four key pillars, of the regional AA work:
• Project management and especially coordination, learning, and information sharing;
• Institutionalisation of anticipatory action systems;
• Partnership and resource mobilisation ;
• Strengthening and harmonising early warning and trigger mechanisms.
ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. Support project management, especially multi-stakeholder coordination, strengthening the
capacity of regional actors, and facilitating knowledge and information sharing:
• Prepare a structured regional roadmap for capacity building in key areas to operationalise
AA tools and methodologies.
• Support country offices and regional counterparts, notably AGRHYMET and ACMAD in the development and implementation of regional and national training plans covering data management, forecasting, trigger design, and AA implementation.
• Support AA coordination mechanisms at regional level, especially the AA Regional Task Force and CILSS, including embedding AA in policy frameworks, strengthening governance and
improving collaboration among all actors involved in early warning and anticipatory
response, anchored in existing structures.
2. Facilitate the integration of AA into regional mechanisms and national institutional frameworks to ensure sustainability.
• Support strengthening technical capacities of NMHSs in hydrological, meteorological, and climate forecasting and AA trigger definition.
• Reinforce national systems and contribute to harmonized regional forecasting and AA methodologies.
3. Contribute to project management and reporting, support advocacy and partnership development for AA resource mobilization
• Support regular coordination and technical support to country offices, including related to M&E and reporting related to AA programming (COMET, ACR, annual report)
• Support development of project proposals, and resource mobilization strategies for national and regional programmes.
• Support tailored M&E efforts and overall evidence of impact of AA in West and Central
Africa to strengthen evidence-based programming and advocacy
• Ensure timely reporting as per donor requirements (especially for DG ECHO)
4. Strengthen early warning systems and data management to establish reliable trigger mechanisms, based on clear guidelines and harmonized methodologies
• Support AGRHYMET and ACMAD in enhancing regional tools for flood and drought forecasting and monitoring.
• Integrate AA components in existing national or regional forecasting and monitoring fora (e.g. PRESAGG, PRESASS, ACCOF), and platforms (e.g. FANFAR, PHARES, multi-hazard platforms, etc).
• Strengthen existing tools by better integrating additional components, especially (when available) granular information to increase accuracy.
• Develop a harmonized regional methodology for AA trigger development, validation, and evaluation.
• Ensure consistency and reliability across countries to strengthen trust and enable timely,evidence-based AA interventions.
DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:
• Training reports indicating level of national authorities’ and NHMS satisfaction with the
alignment of trainings and tools with their needs and expectations
• Documentation of improvements and downscaling of national or regional forecasting platforms
(e.g. FANFAR, PHARES) and the integration of AA triggers, including capacity assessments,
model calibration and downscaling reports, training materials, and updated national bulletins
or technical notes referencing the platform’s use for risk monitoring and early warning.
• Harmonised regional AA tools and methodologies developed and included in national AA
documents (feasibility and risk assessments; forecasts & triggers; implementation tools;
financial mechanisms; M&E resources including AAR; AA SOPs)
• Regional guidance/briefing notes on trigger development and evaluation co-produced and
disseminated by regional and national actors
• Mission reports, donors and project reports
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
Education: Advanced University degree in climate change, agriculture, development studies,
international relations, political science or related fields.
Experience: At least 5 years of relevant progressively responsible experience in hydrology, meteorology, climatology, disaster risk financing, disaster risk management, anticipatory action, early warning systems, climate services, or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex programmes related to hydro-meteorological forecasting, early warning systems, climate services, or anticipatory action, including planning and coordination of technical activities, capacity strengthening, delivery of technical outputs, and monitoring of results against agreed workplans.
• Proven experience building strategic partnerships and facilitating collaboration and knowledge exchange among governments, NMHSs,
regional organisations, academic and technical institutions, development partners, and humanitarian actors.
• Demonstrated experience strengthening the operational and technical
capacities of hydro-meteorological institutions and disaster management agencies through the design and delivery of training workshops and other capacity-building initiatives, preferably in Africa and/or the Sahel region.
• Experience preparing guidance notes, SOPs, technical guidelines, and
operational frameworks.
Knowledge & Skills:
• Strong understanding of Anticipatory Action and Disaster Risk Financing,
notably in WFP, and/or in West Africa.
• Knowledge of operational forecasting systems and early warning systems, trigger development methodologies, and evaluation processes.
• Capacity to translate technical information into actionable guidance for decision-makers.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and partnership-building skills, including research institutions, national governments, regional bodies, and humanitarian actors.
• Proven experience in training facilitation, workshop management,
presentation and report writing skills.
• Ability to work in multicultural and multidisciplinary environments.
Languages: Fluency (level C) in French and English.
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.
No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.
Project Facilitation Officer-Training and Workforce DevelopmentNewSOS Children's Villages · Harar, Ethiopia
Government and Partnerships Lead - ZambiaNewmothers2mothers (m2m) · Lusaka, Zambia
Batch Recruitment: Social Policy Officer, NO-2, Temporary Position, 6 monthsNewUNICEF · Addis Ababa, Ethiopia+1 more
Retail Store ManagerNewCharter Communications, Inc. (Spectrum)
Senior Manager, Customer MarketingNewFireworks · Remote, US