Partnership Officer (Government Engagement & Development Finance Advisor) NOD at World Food Programme (WFP)

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive, within delegated authority):

• Provide senior strategic advisory leadership to the Country Director and Country Office Senior Management on Government engagement, sovereign financing arrangements, and institutional partnerships, informing decision-making related to long-term fiscal commitments, programme governance, and WFP’s national positioning.
• Serve as WFP’s interface with senior Government counterparts, including the Presidency, Cabinet, National Treasury, and line ministries and with IFI leadership, anchoring structured policy dialogue and safeguarding alignment between WFP-supported programmes and national development and fiscal priorities.
• Lead coordination and lifecycle stewardship of innovative development financing mechanisms, including results-linked modalities, ensuring sustained coherence between transaction design, governance frameworks, budgetary remittances, and multi-year programme implementation.
• Assess and advise on political economy, fiscal sustainability, institutional risk, and partnership dynamics affecting sovereign financing commitments and government-anchored programmes, where misalignment may carry significant reputational, financial, and strategic implications for WFP.
• Ensure integration of WFP-supported programmes within national policy, planning, and budgetary frameworks, promoting structured programme co-creation and institutional embedding rather than parallel implementation.
• Provide functional oversight and strategic guidance to WFP-supported advisors embedded within Government institutions, ensuring alignment with agreed objectives, coherence of advisory inputs, and appropriate issue escalation across institutional interfaces.
• Strengthen internal cross-functional coordination within the Country Office by aligning programme, partnerships, and technical teams around coherent Government engagement strategies and sovereign financing commitments.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Education:

• Advanced University degree in Economics, Public Finance, Public Policy, Development Economics, International Development, Political Science, International Relations, Finance, or a related field or First University degree in the above-mentioned fields combined with additional years of relevant professional experience and/or advanced training in public finance, development finance, or international development.

​​​​​​​Experience:

• A minimum of eight (8) years of progressively responsible professional experience in government engagement, public finance, development cooperation, policy advisory, strategic partnerships, or development finance.
• Demonstrated experience operating at Director-level (or equivalent senior leadership level) within Government ministries, departments, or agencies; or within the private sector, including development finance institutions, financial institutions, advisory firms, or large corporate organizations engaging sovereign or public-sector clients.
• Proven experience advising or interacting with senior decision-makers; including the presidency, cabinet level, Principal Secretaries, Treasury officials, IFI management, or equivalent leadership on strategic policy, fiscal, financing, or investment-related matters.
• Demonstrated experience designing, negotiating, coordinating, or stewarding complex financing or partnership arrangements, preferably within sovereign, public-sector, or multilateral contexts.
• Strong understanding of public financial management systems, national budgetary processes, inter-ministerial coordination, and institutional governance frameworks.
• Experience operating in politically and institutionally complex environments requiring independent judgement, risk assessment, and sustained senior-level relationship management over extended time horizons.