Programme Policy Officer – School Feeding

The Senior Technical Advisor will provide strategic technical leadership and advisory support to WFP Iraq and government counterparts on the design, piloting, institutionalization, and potential scaling of a government-led healthy kitchen Home-Grown School Feeding model. The Advisor will also lead the capacity strengthening of WFP’s national school feeding and nutrition team through coaching, mentoring, technical guidance, and structured learning initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Provide overall strategic and technical leadership for WFP Iraq’s school feeding portfolio.
• Guide the technical design and implementation of the healthy kitchen Home-Grown School Feeding pilot model.
• Support the development of operational modalities that maximize integration within existing national systems and facilitate eventual government ownership and handover.
• Ensure alignment and embedded design, where possible, of the pilot within government systems, regulations and existing capacities.
• Advise on nutrition-sensitive menu design, food quality standards, healthy eating approaches, food safety considerations, and operational standards.
• Facilitate and strengthen cross-government coordination and partnerships among key ministries, particularly the MoE, MoT, MoH, MoP, and MoF.
• Support the development of governance, coordination, implementation, and accountability arrangements for the pilot.
• Provide technical guidance on local procurement and home-grown school feeding approaches that strengthen linkages with local food systems and markets.
• Support integration of healthy eating and nutrition-sensitive Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) targeting students, caregivers, teachers, and communities.
• Support the development of implementation guidelines, operational manuals, SOPs, and technical tools as required.
• Provide technical and progress inputs for donor reporting.
• Support the development of the evidence base for school feeding in Iraq to inform government decision-making and future scale-up.
• Provide technical support to the ongoing Value for Money (VfM) study and ensure alignment with policy and financing objectives.
• Support the development of an investment case for school feeding to strengthen advocacy with the Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders for renewed domestic financing allocations.
• Identify opportunities for innovative domestic financing mechanisms and complementary financing sources to support programme sustainability and scale-up, including continuing ongoing engagements with the School Meals Coalition and the Sustainable Financing Initiative.
• Support the finalization, government endorsement, publication, and dissemination of the SABER.
• Provide technical and strategic support for advocacy around the endorsement and launch of the National School Feeding Policy. Play a key support role in the launch of the Policy.
• Develop advocacy materials, presentations, policy briefs, and evidence products targeting senior government stakeholders and development partners.
• Support engagement with donors, IFIs, UN agencies, and development partners on school feeding priorities and financing opportunities.
• Identify relevant regional and international examples of successful Home-Grown School Feeding programmes.
• Design and organize South-South knowledge exchange initiatives to facilitate peer learning and exposure to global good practices.
• Identify funding opportunities for South-South knowledge exchanges, if required, and lead the application process for WFP Iraq.
• Support the identification of government counterparts and technical institutions for exchanges, study visits, workshops, and technical dialogues.
• Ensure lessons learned and global experiences are contextualized for Iraq’s operational and institutional environment.
• Support preparations for Iraq to participate in global school feeding fora including the Global Child Nutrition Forum and the School Meals Coalition Summit.
• Assess the technical and operational capacity development needs of the national school feeding team.
• Develop structured individual and team capacity strengthening plans.
• Provide day-to-day coaching, mentoring, and on-the-job technical support to national staff.
• Design and deliver dedicated technical workshops, trainings, and learning sessions on priority school feeding topics.
• Support staff in strengthening strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, analytical, and programme management capacities.
• Foster knowledge transfer and institutional learning to ensure sustainability of technical expertise within the Iraq Country Office.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree in Nutrition, Public Health, Education, Food Systems, Social Protection, International Development, Public Policy, Economics, or related field.
• Minimum 8 years of progressively responsible professional experience in school feeding and social protection is required.
• Demonstrated experience designing or supporting government-led school feeding programmes, preferably including Home-Grown School Feeding models.
• Strong experience working with government institutions and supporting systems strengthening and policy development, particularly with Ministries of Education.
• Demonstrated experience supporting evidence generation, investment cases, cost-benefit/value for money analyses, or public financing advocacy for social protection programmes, specifically school feeding.
• Experience facilitating multi-sectoral coordination and partnerships across government entities.
• Proven experience in capacity building, coaching, mentoring, and technical advisory support.
• Familiarity with school meals global platforms including the School Meals Coalition and the Global Child Nutrition Foundation.
• Experience in fragile or complex operating contexts is highly desirable.
• Strong strategic and analytical skills.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and facilitation skills.
• Strong policy advisory and advocacy capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to operationalize innovative programme models and support scale-up.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong training, facilitation, and mentoring skills.
• Fluency in English required. Knowledge of Arabic is an asset.

Skills

• School Feeding Programme Design
• Home-grown School Feeding
• Social Protection Policies
• Government Systems Strengthening
• Policy Development
• Evidence Generation
• Cost-Benefit Analysis
• Public Financing Advocacy
• Inter-sectoral Coordination
• Partnership Facilitation
• Capacity Building
• Technical Advisory
• Coaching and Mentoring
• Strategic Leadership
• Analytical Skills
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Policy Advisory
• Advocacy Skills
• Programme Scale-Up
• Training Facilitation

Languages

English, Arabic