Economic Empowerment Pathways policy and programming (SSTA)

The Senior Strategic Technical Advisor (STA) will support the Government of Iraq in co-designing, modelling, and piloting Economic Empowerment Pathways interventions to foster sustainable self-employment and wage employment among Social Safety Net beneficiaries. The role includes capacity building of the national Economic Empowerment Officer to ensure sustainability of the programme in the medium to long term.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and technical advice to WFP and government counterparts on economic empowerment pathways, inclusive and transformative social protection.
• Lead and contribute to research, evaluation, policy development, programme design, and capacity strengthening.
• Support the institutionalisation of inclusive practices and the development of knowledge products.
• Ensure quality assurance and coherence across WFP’s social protection portfolio in Iraq.
• Prepare a technical professional development plan for the national Economic Empowerment Officer.
• Provide on-the-job training and mentorship to national staff.
• Design and deliver targeted training sessions and knowledge transfer on economic empowerment initiatives.
• Support documentation and institutionalization of knowledge including development of practical tools, guidelines, and SOPs.
• Review project documents and advise on improvements for Economic Empowerment Pathways Pilot in Iraq.
• Support launch and rollout of the Economic Empowerment Pathways Pilot project and facilitate simulation exercises.
• Supervise and monitor the EEPs pilot project implementation.
• Conduct After-Action-Reviews to facilitate and document operational learning and inform programme refinement and scale-up.
• Support dissemination of findings through learning workshops, skill labs, and webinars.
• Contribute to development of EEPs In Practice Manual and scaling up roadmap and business case.
• Support the EEPs research agenda and develop policy and operational briefs.
• Develop a technical professional development plan and provide continuous hands-on technical support to national staff.
• Deliver knowledge transfer on inclusion of women and vulnerable groups in economic empowerment programs.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (master’s or equivalent) in Social Policy, Development Studies, Economics, Public Administration, or related field.
• At least 10 years of relevant experience in social protection, poverty reduction, or inclusive development.
• Proven experience in policy advisory roles, research, and programme design.
• Experience working with governments, UN agencies, or international development organisations.
• Strong analytical and writing skills.
• Expertise in economic empowerment, graduation, livelihoods.
• Expertise in inclusive and transformative social protection.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Ability to work independently and deliver high-quality outputs under tight deadlines.
• Fluency in English (written and verbal) is required.
• Knowledge of Arabic and/or Kurdish is an advantage.

Skills

• Social Policy
• Development Studies
• Economics
• Public Administration
• Social Protection Policies
• Poverty Reduction Strategies
• Inclusive Development
• Policy Advisory
• Programme Design
• Government Relations
• UN Agency Collaboration
• International Development
• Research
• Analytical Skills
• Economic Empowerment
• Graduation Approach
• Livelihood Development
• Inclusive Disability Social Protection
• Transformative Social Protection
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Capacity Building

Languages

English, Arabic, Kurdish