Programme Associate (Cooperating Partners)

The Programme Associate (Cooperating Partners) supports the Cooperating Partners Management function in line with corporate guidelines and Country Strategic Plan requirements. The role involves technical support, project management, data analysis, coordination with partners, capacity building, and compliance monitoring to ensure effective delivery of food assistance programmes.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical support and assist in the development and implementation of CPM activities and processes within the specific area of work supporting alignment with wider programme policies and guidelines.
• Provide specialized project management support to specific and/or defined programmes to ensure that the various activities are performed within the established targets following WFP’s policies and procedures.
• Within the specific area of responsibility, prepare a range of reports and data analysis (e.g. food assistance needs, resource utilization, programme status, performance) and highlight trends/issues ensuring deliverables adhere to corporate standards and quality control.
• Ensure and/or perform accurate, timely recording of data within the specific technical area of work (e.g. assistance programmes, food security and vulnerability assessments) and consistency of information presented to stakeholders.
• Liaise with internal counterparts to support effective collaboration, implementation and monitoring of ongoing project activities.
• Coordinate and communicate with local partners, agencies, NGOs and government institutions to perform accurate food security analyses and to ensure efficient delivery of food assistance.
• Support the capacity building of WFP staff, cooperating partners and national government within the specific technical area.
• Act as a point of contact for resolution of a range of operational queries and problems within a specific technical area of responsibility.
• Oversee and/or review the work of other support staff, providing practical advice and guidance, to contribute to delivering objectives to agreed standards and deadlines.
• Follow standard emergency preparedness practices to ensure WFP is able to quickly respond and deploy needed resources to affected areas at the onset of the crisis.
• Any other task required within the job level of expertise.
• Conduct risk-informed capacity assessment of prospective partners.
• Support in strengthening risk assessment processes and embed risk indicators and mitigation measures into CP planning, selection, and management.
• Support in conducting detailed risk-informed spot checks of CP portfolios and recommend operational, programmatic, and financial mitigation measures.
• Conduct the CP selection process using UN Partner Portal (UNPP), including systematic due diligence and quality checks in the verification, screening, shortlisting and evaluation processes, in compliance with WFP corporate standards and Country Office SOPs.
• Conduct Cooperating Partner Committee (CPC) meetings in compliance with CO SOPs and corporate guidelines.
• Initiate the vendor registration process in close coordination with activity and cross-functional units.
• Prepare partnership agreements diligently, ensuring quality control and checks in finalization of partnership agreements (FLA General Conditions and applicable Special Conditions, Environmental and Social Sustainability risk screening, Plan of Operations, budgets etc.).
• Develop and roll out a standardised compliance and documentation checklist on CPM for CO and Field Offices in line with CP SOPs.
• Support in identifying systemic compliance gaps and propose improvements to internal controls and assurance processes.
• Support CP onboarding and use of WFP’s digital tools for partnership management, including Partner Connect, and other corporate platforms.
• Strengthen CP and WFP team capacity to use digital systems for selection, contracting, performance monitoring, reporting and invoice management.
• Improve data accuracy, completeness, and timeliness across all digital partnership records.
• Support in strengthening CP performance evaluation tools, integrating corporate KPIs, cross-cutting indicators, and risk-based metrics.
• Support CP unit in updating the CP tracker for CP partnerships, performance, compliance, and financial oversight.
• Conduct trend analyses to inform corrective actions and capacity strengthening.
• Ensure cross-cutting obligations are integrated into partner selection, FLAs, implementation plans, and monitoring.
• Support in developing tools and checklists for assessing CP adherence to protection, gender, inclusion, safeguarding, and environmental standards.
• Provide guidance and follow-up on identified gaps with activity and cross-functional managers.
• Review existing CP modalities and support the transition toward longer-term or strategic partnerships where appropriate (e.g. multi-year FLAs).
• Support analysis of CP programme and budget benchmarking, capacity strengths, and alignment with WFP’s Country Strategic Plan.
• Support CP unit in updating CP Management SOPs based on identified gaps and strengthened processes, as and when required, aligned with new guidance.
• Develop user-friendly guidance notes, templates, and slide decks for CO/Field Office staff and Cooperating Partners (CPs).
• Deliver targeted training for staff and CPs on compliance, risk management, digital tools, cross-cutting requirements and documentation standards.
• Establish and maintain a centralised, structured CP Management knowledge repository (guidance, templates, SOPs, tools, lessons learned).
• Systematically document lessons learned and good practices from CP engagements.
• Facilitate knowledge-sharing across units and Field Offices to improve consistency and institutional memory.

Requirements

• Completion of secondary school education.
• A post-secondary certificate in law, business administration, finance, accounting, international development, audit or other relevant field and/or professional qualification in audit, performance and risk management or other related fields is required.
• First level University degree in law, business administration, finance, accounting, international development, audit or other relevant field and/or professional qualification in audit, performance and risk management or other related fields is an advantage.
• Minimum 6 years of progressively responsible experience in risk management, partnerships, compliance, internal control systems, or programme management.
• Experience with digitalisation of programme or partnership processes (e.g. Partner Connect, data platforms) is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated experience in due diligence, oversight, documentation review or performance monitoring.
• Humanitarian or development sector experience in Pakistan is a requirement.
• Strong knowledge of WFP partnership procedures is an asset.
• Excellent analytical, documentation, and organisational skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and has excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to manage digital tools, dashboards and knowledge management systems.
• Strong coordination, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to deliver training and capacity building.
• Fluency in both oral and written communication in English and Urdu.

Skills

• Risk Management
• Partnership Management
• Compliance Monitoring
• Internal Control Systems
• Programme Management
• Due Diligence
• Performance Monitoring
• Audit
• Digitalisation of Programme Processes
• Partner Connect
• Data Platforms
• Documentation Review
• Humanitarian Sector Expertise
• Development Sector Expertise
• WFP Partnership Procedures
• Analytical Skills
• Organizational Skills
• Digital Tools Deployment
• Dashboard Management
• Knowledge Management
• Training Delivery
• Capacity Building

Languages

English, Urdu