Programme Policy Officer

About Job

Job Title: Programme Policy Officer (Gender Specialist)

Grade: SC8

Type of contract: Service Contract

Duration: 6 Months

Duty Station: Peshawar, Pakistan

Date of Publication: 13th June, 2025

Deadline of Application: 27th June, 2025

This Vacancy Announcement is for Pakistan Nationals Only.

Note: This vacancy announcement will also be used to build a roster of prequalified applicants for future opportunities within same job profile at the current or lower level in Pakistan.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

WFP offers a competitive benefits package including salary, pension, leave plus a medical insurance.

Important:All educational documents must be verified/attested by the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Appointment will be subject to submission of HEC-verified degrees.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency, with a long-standing presence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan, where it has been working for over three decades. WFP focuses on emergency response, livelihood recovery, nutrition, and building resilience to climate shocks in the region. As part of its commitment to resilience-building, WFP has secured Green Climate Fund (GCF) funding for the "Integrated Climate Risk Management for Enhanced Resilience to Climate Change in Buner and Shangla Districts, KP."

The project aims to improve the adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities, particularly against riverine flooding, by enhancing early warning systems (EWS), developing anticipatory action (AA) protocols, and promoting climate-resilient livelihoods. Targeting over 146,000 direct beneficiaries, it also aims for broader impact, benefiting approximately 1.6 million people. The project focuses on three outcomes: improving EWS and AA capacity, increasing climate resilience through local adaptation and diversified livelihoods, and enhancing knowledge management for evidence generation and scalability.

Gender mainstreaming is a core component of the project, requiring the leadership of a national gender officer to integrate gender policy across the project cycle. WFP Pakistan seeks a candidate to lead and coordinate the gender action plan in KPK, where cultural understanding and experience working with government and non-government stakeholders is essential. The position will work closely with an international consultant to support the foundational gender assessment, lead data collection, and address identified gaps throughout implementation. Strong technical expertise in gender, particularly in climate change adaptation, anticipatory action, and CBDRM, is required.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the direct supervision of the Project Manager and/or Head of the Provincial Office Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the incumbent will perform the following tasks:

Gender Integration and Capacity Building

• Lead the gender component of the project as per the Gender Action Plan, including conducting a comprehensive capacity needs assessment for flood forecasting and early warning systems at the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), Federal Flood Commission (FFC), Regional Meteorological Centre Peshawar (RMCP), and other relevant government agencies, including provincial irrigation departments.

• Collaborate closely with the international consultant to support data collection for the gender assessment exercise and provide facilitation in administering the research tools in the field (such as FGDs, KIIs, questionnaires etc etc).

• Coordinate with concerned stakeholders in community as well as govt departments to gather insights to administer various research tools promptly.

• Develop gender capacity strengthening plan and deliver gender-responsive training workshops with the international consultant to empower women's participation in flood preparedness and response activities.

• Facilitate the gender assessment process by engaging with communities to collect data on gender barriers of most vulnerable groups of women, girls & PWDs in accessing EWS and thus bringing a localised input to design gender responsive EWS.

• In collaboration with project team, develop and deliver inclusive, gender-responsive training modules and technical guidelines on Disaster Risk Management (DRM), Impact-Based Forecasting (IBF), climate change adaptation, natural resource management, and Anticipatory Actions (AA).

• Conduct gender knowledge reviews to assess / analyse the residual impact of capacity strengthening inputs on gender equality.

Risk Assessment and Technical Assistance

• Support risk assessment activities by integrating gender and protection related indicators (essentially covering PSEA) in the assessment tool. including

• Embed and highlight gender barriers of women and girls and risks related to SEA as part of hazard prioritization, timeline development and return period analysis etc etc

• Build in gender technical inputs as part of technical assistance plan to be provided to various Govt departments

Gender sensitive Anticipatory Action (AA) and Protocol Development

• Work with the international consultant to integrate gender considerations into the development of Anticipatory Action (AA) protocols for flash flooding in Shangla and Buner districts.

• Support the creation of an anticipatory action beneficiary database.

• Collaborate with PDMA, RMC, and other government stakeholders to develop and institutionalize AA protocols and triggers for flood events, ensuring effective coordination with the National Coordination Forum on AA.

• Design and implement simulation exercises to test and validate AA protocols and triggers embedding gender and disability inclusion lens.

Impact-Based Forecasting (IBF) and Gender Responsive Risk Communication

• Develop a risk matrix as per project gender action plan and crisis timeline for IBF through stakeholder consultations at national and subnational/district levels.

• Conduct local-level risk and vulnerability assessments, including developing tools and questionnaires.

• Generate gender-friendly, actionable advisories based on IBF products for stakeholders at the local level.

• Help develop gender responsive risk communication strategies to ensure the timely dissemination of early warning information to vulnerable communities especially groups of women, PWDs and elderly people.

Coordination and Collaboration

• Coordinate with the Project Management Unit (PMU), Project Implementation Unit (PIU), and District Coordination Groups to ensure smooth implementation of project activities.

• Collaborate with other GCF projects and initiatives to share knowledge and best practices particularly gender learning abstracts

• Actively participate in project meetings and contribute to discussions on project performance and improvements regarding gender and inclusion.

Monitoring, Reporting, and Knowledge Management

• Monitor the implementation of gender-inclusive AA and IBF activities in the field and prepare regular progress reports, including drafting the annual GCF report.

• Document gender-inclusive lessons learned and best practices for inclusion in knowledge products and communication strategies.

• Document learning abstracts on gender responsive EWS in most vulnerable districts of KPK for showcasing and scale up.

• Contribute to the development of technical guidelines for disaster risk reduction (DRR), incorporating gender considerations and the needs of marginalized groups in the targeted districts.

• Perform any other tasks assigned by the supervisor to ensure the successful implementation of the project.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced university degree or equivalent in Gender, Development Studies, Economics, Political Science, Anthropology or any other relevant Social Science discipline or first level university degree with additional 2 years of related experience.

Experience:

Minimum 3 years of professional/managerial experience in gender mainstreaming in disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, or related fields.

Knowledge & Skills:

•Expertise in conducting gender analysis and integrating gender-sensitive approaches into development projects. Working experience with GCF-funded projects would be an advantage.

•Experience working in developing countries, preferably in South Asia, with a focus on gender and disaster risk management.

•Excellent stakeholder engagement skills, with experience working with government bodies, women's groups, and local communities.

•Effective training, presentation and digital skills

•Strong communication and coordination skills.

Languages:

Fluency (level C) in English language,

Sound understanding and language skills in Urdu as well as duty stations language.

HOW TO APPLY

To be considered, interested candidates are invited to apply via (https://www.wfp.org/careers/job-openings) Link. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.