Partnerships Consultant

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

The School Meals Accelerator (the Accelerator) is a new initiative under the School Meals Coalition, launching in 2026 to support low- and lower-middle-income countries in scaling up and strengthening their national school meal programs. It responds directly to growing government demand for strategic, high-quality technical assistance that ensures long-term sustainability. The Accelerator builds on the momentum of the Coalition, which has mobilized over 110 countries and 140 partners around the school meals agenda, with more than 60 countries making formal national commitments.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL MEALS ACCELERATOR

Hosted by WFP and supported by a diverse network of partners, the Accelerator will provide demand-led, country-driven support across three core pillars: national program design, partnership alignment, and learning and knowledge. Its goal is to unlock the full potential of school meal programs by enhancing design, scaling investment, and fostering cross-sector collaboration across education, health, agriculture, and food systems. The Accelerator aims to help countries reach an additional 100 million children by 2030 with healthy and nutritious meals in school.

Joining the Accelerator team means being part of a bold, systems-focused effort to drive lasting change. It's an opportunity to work alongside governments and partners to co-create solutions, strengthen national capacity, and help shape the future of school meals as a strategic investment in children, communities, and inclusive development.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT:

The School Meals Accelerator (the Accelerator) is a new initiative under the School Meals Coalition, launching in 2026 to support low- and lower-middle-income countries in scaling up and strengthening their national school meal programs. It responds directly to growing government demand for strategic, high-quality technical assistance that ensures long-term sustainability. SMA builds on the momentum of the Coalition, which has mobilized over 110 countries and 140 partners around the school meals agenda, with more than 60 countries making formal national commitments.
 

Hosted by WFP and supported by a diverse network of partners, the Accelerator will provide demand-led, country-driven support across three core pillars: national program design, partnership alignment, and learning and knowledge. Its goal is to unlock the full potential of school meal programs by enhancing design, scaling investment, and fostering cross-sector collaboration across education, health, agriculture, and food systems. The Accelerator aims to help countries reach an additional 100 million children by 2030 with healthy and nutritious meals in school.

Joining the Accelerator team means being part of a bold, systems-focused effort to drive lasting change. It's an opportunity to work alongside governments and partners to co-create solutions, strengthen national capacity, and help shape the future of school meals as a strategic investment in children, communities, and inclusive development.

JOB PURPOSE:
 

The School Meals Partnership Officer will be based in the central structure of the Accelerator as part of one of the Rome-based Technical Assistance Cells, acting as a key liaison to Accelerator and stakeholder country and regional teams. In addition, the Officer will play a key role in supporting connection with the Global Partnership for Education in particular, as well as with other founding partners of the Accelerator.  The Officer will play a central role in operationalizing the Accelerator's country support model by enabling country teams to help governments design, implement, and sustain national school meals programmes through tailored technical assistance and strategic partnerships. By aligning global networks, tools, and expertise with national priorities, the Officer will strengthen collaboration, contribute to strengthening partner ecosystems, and expand the reach of government-led school meals systems. The ultimate goal is to build resilient, locally owned ecosystems that thrive beyond external support.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Within delegated authority, the Consultant, under the supervision of the School Meals Technical Assistance Officer (Technical Assistance Facility project lead), will be responsible for the following duties:

Substantially contribute to the design and implementation of partnership strategies that enable the Accelerator to mobilize resources and technical assistance aligned with government priorities for school meals.

Serve as the primary global liaison for strategic partners, including the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and founding partners, driving coordination and delivery of activities under the respective partner project and ensuring full integration with Accelerator objectives.

Develop funding proposals, annual project reports and executive briefs to the Global Partnership for Education and other donors, maintaining compliance with reporting standards and deadlines.

Substantially contribute to the development of the Accelerator's partnership model by analyzing partner capacities, identifying synergies, and supporting mechanisms for collaboration across education, health, and food systems sectors.

Serve as the regional partnership liaison, engaging with WFP regional teams and regional offices of partners, and regional platforms to adapt partnership approaches to regional contexts and strengthen collaboration across countries.

Develop high-level briefing materials, concept notes, and resource mobilization proposals for internal leadership and external stakeholders, including major donors and global partners, influencing multi-million-dollar funding decisions.

Act as the lead for assigned countries, supporting the transition from Technical Assistance Facility implementation to the broader partnership landscape envisioned by the Accelerator. This includes offering specialized guidance and drawing on technical expertise across diverse partnerships and programme areas, including: designing and driving the key stages of the country support model—such as inception missions, contextual analysis, partner and power mapping, multistakeholder workshops, workplan design and validation, and implementation of partnership-related activities—while ensuring alignment with government priorities and national coordination platforms.
 

Deliver practical coaching and guidance to the Accelerator's country team members and actively lead and join in country missions as needed to ensure effective implementation and overall success of the initiative in the selected countries. This involves regular touchpoints—whether daily or weekly—alongside structured feedback sessions, and the creation of practical resources such as toolkits, methodological guidance, and standardized templates.
 

Facilitate matchmaking between government priorities and partner expertise to strengthen national school meals programmes and advance sustainable financing strategies, while facilitating inclusive, multi‑stakeholder dialogues and peer learning to build institutional capacity and ensure long‑term sustainability.
 

Apply systems thinking to partnership and country support activities by identifying interconnections across education, health, and food systems, promoting integrated solutions, and supporting iterative learning and adaptation within the Accelerator's country support model and partnership-related prototypes.
 

Any other duties as required by the Hiring Manager.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced degree in Political Science, International Development, Law, Marketing communications or relevant field or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training courses.

Experience:

Four years of relevant experience in International Development or International Relations.

Knowledge & Skills:

Relationship/partner management, resource mobilization, excellent writing and analytical skills, project management, proposal writing.

Languages:

Fluency (level C) English. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second UN language is a plus.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

The School Meals Accelerator is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact: 

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

The School Meals Accelerator does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).

• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.

• Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter

• Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time

• Please contact us at  in case you face any challenges with submitting your application

• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.