Programme Policy Officer (Anticipatory Action) - CST II - Peshawar

The World Food Programme (WFP), the largest humanitarian organization dedicated to saving lives and building resilience through food assistance, is seeking a Programme Policy Officer (Anticipatory Action) on a consultancy basis for a 3-month assignment based in Peshawar, Pakistan. This role supports WFP’s project on Integrated Climate Risk Management in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, focusing on developing and institutionalizing a government-owned anticipatory action system for flash floods. The specialist will provide technical advisory services to design an anticipatory action framework, develop operational guidelines including trigger mechanisms, and integrate these with early warning and disaster management systems at provincial and district levels.

Key Responsibilities:
- Contribute to the formulation and translation of WFP-wide programme policies into practical regional and country-level applications, ensuring alignment with organizational strategies and field realities.
- Provide technical advice on programme and policy issues, including assessment, transfer modalities, innovative approaches, and strategies to support government efforts in food security and nutrition.
- Assist government counterparts and partners in planning and implementing food assistance programmes that strengthen ownership and effectiveness at national and sub-national levels.
- Establish and maintain partnerships to foster collaborative initiatives that enhance assistance packages and advocacy efforts.
- Lead the design and operationalization of a Flash Flood Anticipatory Action Framework, including validation and development of trigger mechanisms based on forecast thresholds, impact-based forecasting, and vulnerability analysis.
- Develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for trigger activation, decision-making workflows, communication chains, financing mechanisms, and anticipatory action implementation.
- Integrate flood modelling and impact-based forecasting into early warning systems and develop costed early action menus with pre-agreed financing activation.
- Map institutional mandates and coordinate governance structures for anticipatory action at provincial and district levels, ensuring accountability, transparency, and sustainable financing pathways.
- Lead capacity development by designing and delivering technical training modules on anticipatory action concepts, forecast-based financing, trigger design, costing, and simulation exercises, including Training-of-Trainers support.
- Ensure anticipatory action protocols are gender-responsive and socially inclusive, defining differentiated early actions for vulnerable groups and integrating community feedback mechanisms.
- Develop and implement a performance monitoring framework to assess trigger accuracy, lead time, cost-efficiency, timeliness, and impact reduction, while documenting lessons learned and providing technical progress and completion reports.

Required Qualifications:
- Advanced degree in Disaster Risk Management, Climate Change Adaptation, Hydrology, Meteorology, Environmental Sciences, Development Studies, or a related field; or a first-level university degree with at least 5 additional years of relevant experience.
- Minimum of 5 years’ professional experience in anticipatory action, impact-based forecasting, flood trigger design, climate risk management, or flood risk management.
- Proven experience in designing and operationalizing trigger-based anticipatory action systems and integrating them with early warning and forecasting systems.
- Familiarity with resilience programming approaches and experience working with government institutions in developing country contexts.
- Experience working in Pakistan or South Asia is an advantage.
- Strong expertise in global anticipatory action frameworks and standards, hydrometeorological forecasting systems, disaster risk financing, and shock-responsive mechanisms.
- Excellent written and spoken English (Level C).

Preferred Qualifications and Benefits:
WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment, investing in personal and professional development through training, coaching, mentorship, and internal mobility. The organization provides an attractive compensation package, including salary and medical insurance. As a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, WFP offers a unique opportunity to work with passionate colleagues across global offices, contributing to effective humanitarian assistance worldwide.

WFP is committed to equal employment opportunities and encourages applications from qualified candidates regardless of race, gender, disability, or other status. Reasonable accommodations are provided for candidates with disabilities throughout the recruitment process. All applications must be submitted online through WFP’s recruitment system. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

For more information about WFP and its values—Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion—please visit the official website.