Head of The School Meals Coalition Secretariat

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

9 February 2025-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Rome)

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 climate change.

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.

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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).

In 2021, the governments of Finland and France, together with more than 40 countries, launched the School Meals Coalition at the Food Systems Summit. Brazil joined as the third co chair in 2023. Now recognized as one of the most successful multilateral initiatives of recent times, t he School Meals Coalition
is a network of governments and partners at multiple levels ( regional and national) and different sectors ( food systems, climate) and has more than 100 country members 130 partners and five initiatives The goal of the Coalition is to ensure that every child receives a meal in school by 2030 It is governed by a Task force of 12 member states which guides decisions on strategic direction for the entire Coalition. The Taskforce identified WFP as the secretariat of the School Meals Coalition.

As the Secretariat of the Coalition, WFP is expected to provide the thought leadership for this area of work globally, position the initiative at the highest levels including in G7 and G20 discussions, and support coordinate and connect the entire membership of this multistakeholder Coalition, with the ultimate objective of helping individual countries move forward with their own national school meals programmes. The Secretariat team works out of WFP Headquarters in Rome connecting with a vast network of allies and supporters worldwide.

THE ROLE

Reporting to the Director of School Meals and Social Protection the Head of the School Meals Coalition Secretariat leads a team of about 20 staff members which support s all the countries and partners of the Coalition, including academia, NGOs, civil society organizations think tanks, UN agencies and others
The Head of the Secretariat oversees the complex work of managing the Coalition and its different components. This includes ensuring that governments are participating and connecting in different ways engaging them in discussions, motivating them to issue domestic commitments to the Coalition and connecting them with partners that can help to implement those commitments. It also means supporting and empowering countries or regional entities such as the African Union in taking leadership on the topic of school meals, helping them organize and lead local, regional or global events and create local networks.
The Secretariat oversees all the global and local events organized using the Coalition’s brand while ensuring communication is flowing through the Coalition and its members at all times. The position requires high level political skills and judgement to negotiate the complexities of governments, civil society, partners, initiatives, and UN system collaboration. The role also requires deep experience in advocacy and communications that leverages global platforms and processes. Finally, demonstrated experience conceiving and organizing high level events to support broad mobilization around an issue while driving policy
change and action at regional and national levels is required The role requires experience and preferably training in public speaking, including with media.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive, within delegated authority):
- Oversee the strategic and operational coordination of the Secretariat, ensuring the Coalition's membership and initiatives are effectively positioned to advance the global school meals agenda.- Lead high level political negotiations with governments and partners to secure political support, engageme