Regional Advisor Emergency Food Security & Vulnerable Livelihoods

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  • Annual Salary and Benefits : Competitive Package
  • Internal Job Grade : National C1
  • Contract type : Fixed-term, 12 months
  • Reporting to : Regional Humanitarian Coordinator (RHC)
  • Staff reporting to this post : Matrix management of EFSVL teams in-country(TBC)
  • Locations : Preferably Chad, RCA, Burkina, Niger or Senegal

Shaping a stronger Oxfam for people living in poverty

Job Purpose

To lead the direct support to Oxfam West Africa country teams for humanitarian scale up and ongoing support of large humanitarian responses in West Africa and effectively contribute to the development of regional and country level capabilities in programmes that address emergency food security and livelihood vulnerability. These include programmes that enable food and livelihood insecure communities and households to anticipate, mitigate and recover from food insecurity and also reduce their vulnerability to food and livelihood insecurity.

Job Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

This post will fulfil the following responsibilities for work on vulnerable livelihoods & adaptation and on integrating humanitarian and sustainable livelihoods approaches to address humanitarian crises and contribute to addressing extreme poverty and social/gender inequality in Oxfam’s programmes.

Emergency response

  • Support rapid scale-up for large emergency responses. This may require traveling at short notice for temporary deployments (up to 6 weeks at a time in country), and include responsibilities such as: leading or advising on needs assessment and response analysis, program strategy and design, starting up programming and coordinating in the initial response phase, setting up MEAL systems and/or evaluating our responses as needed.
  • Advise on if, when and how Oxfam should be scaling up programme activities in the face of food or livelihoods crises.
  • Promote the use of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) and the leadership of local humanitarian actors.
  • Function as the regional technical lead in EFSVL programming & in responding to regional and country level emergencies, taking an active and hands on role in assessing impact, advising on appropriate interventions, and operationalizing when necessary.

Analysis and influence

  • Monitor and analyse external trends with respect to food security, climate change, chronic poverty and inequality.In close coordination with Regional Platform colleagues working in the Food Justice pillar of the Programme Team (the work of this pillar is specifically oriented towards early warning systems and tools and mechanisms for the prevention and monitoring of food crises in the West African region).
  • Collect/Compile/provide regional analysis and updates on evolving food security elements of the humanitarian situation.Use the Cadre Harmonisé data in coordination with the food security pillar work on the Cadre Harmonisé, IPC, Fews Net, and information from Oxfam and other EFSVL actors for regional humanitarian context analysis and forecasting, as well as sharing this appropriately within Oxfam.
  • In close collaboration with Regional Platform Food Justice pillar colleagues, provide regular updates about the structure, functioning and dynamics of agri-food markets at nationaland regional levelsfrom a humanitarian perspective.
  • In close collaboration with relevant Regional Platform colleagues, provide regional advice on climate and economic adaptation and appropriate policy responses to food crisesfrom a humanitarian perspective.
  • Contribute to Oxfam’s global campaigning work supporting evidence-based policymaking and influencing work, including on social protection and cash programming, with the Cash Learning Partnership (CALP) and Cash Working Groups for example. Ensure coordination with Food Justice pillar colleagues working on food security safety nets and social protection.
  • Help build links between Rights in Crisis & Economic Justice campaigns.
  • Contribute to Climate Change Adaptation,Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Food Security and Livelihoods work in Oxfam through participation in inductions, regional meetings, external representation, responses to enquiries, and taking part instrategic planning discussions.
  • Work closely with regional institutional partners in ways that support and contribute to informing and influencing quality analysis of food insecurity and relevant response and policy design.
  • Identify and engage in the use of new and innovative methodologies, processes, or technologies (particularly in cash voucher and market assistance) that improve EFSVL outcomes.
  • Work closely with Oxfam’s other sectors (WASH, protection, gender, MEAL)to improve programme quality and provide timely and bespoke support to country teams.
  • Ensure programmes are safe, are sensitive to gender and other power dynamics and ensure that they are informed by the community intended to benefit from the work.

Partnership and Coordination

  • Develop effective partnership with key stakeholders,including local organisations, NGOs, Civil Society, Government and private sector as appropriate.
  • Support the development, implementation and communication of Oxfam’s strategy in the area of vulnerable livelihoods.
  • Facilitate linkages with external organisations working on EFSVL and social protection.
  • Contribute to the development of a monitoring framework for Oxfam International’s work on key aspects of food security and livelihoods adaptation.
  • Internal coordination and collaboration with Gender and Safeguarding teams, including the Global Humanitarian Team (GHT).

Programme support

  • Provide remote support to country and regional staff to ensure oversight of the design and implementation of needs assessments in emergencies, working with staff and partners to ensure response analysis and the identification of appropriate response strategies in a rapid, culturally-appropriate and effective manner. Review and provide feedback on response strategies or other key documents as needed.
  • Engage with Oxfam’s GHTEFSVL team on researching and developing EFSVL issues.
  • Advise programme staff and managers on issues of programme quality and to support global programme cycle management (planning, monitoring, implementation and impact assessment).
  • In coordination with Food Justice pillar colleagues working on the institutional early warning tools of the region,set up tools for monitoring and follow-up in the event of a food security crisis.
  • Under the leadership of the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator,participate in the analysis, categorization and declaration of a potential food crisis in a country.

Regional humanitarian capacity development

  • Build on and use the emergency food and livelihood security and vulnerability programming & in the various countries in the region to help design, lead and coordinate effective interventions that enables responses for future food security crises both in countries and within the region.
  • Ensure capacity development of the staff in EFSVL and CVA inthe region, through training, accompaniment and coaching.
  • Establish and maintain an ongoing understanding of the current capacity of country teams to analyse vulnerability and risks to food and livelihood security and design appropriate EFSVL responses.

Other

  • Eager and required to adhere to Oxfam’s principles and values as well as the promotion of gender justice and women's rights
  • Understanding of and commitment to adhere to equity, diversity, gender, child safety and staff health safeguarding and wellbeing principles.
  • The post holder will be expected to undertake regular travels in the region, be deployed as much as needed to support WAF countries and may be seconded to protection country programs if required.

Job Requirements

Essential

  • Postgraduate qualification (or sufficient relevant experience) in food security, development, climate change or a related humanitarian field of study.
  • Experience managing food security emergency programmes including in assessment, analysis, and program design; preparedness and early warning; technical standards and best practices.
  • Proven ability, ofworking in humanitarian contexts on EFSVL.
  • Fluency (written and oral) in either English or French and working knowledge of the other language.
  • Enthusiasm for and commitment to Oxfam International’s values and mission, and commitment to promoting gender equity and the interests of marginalised people in all humanitarian and advocacy work.
  • Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible.
  • Ability and willingness to travel extensively to remote and conflicting affected areas sometimes for prolonged periods (up to 12 weeks total per year).

Desirable

  • Knowledge of current trends in the climate change debate, agriculture and livestock; food aid; and/or nutrition in relation to humanitarian crises.
  • Proven experience of working in poverty-affected contexts, evaluating the impact of livelihoods interventions and of the analytical principles that structure household economic analysis and sustainable livelihoods.
  • Previous experience preferably within Sahelian West Africa.
  • Demonstrable coaching and capacity-building skills, particularly in a remote working context.
  • Knowledge of an additional regional language spoken in West Africa.

Organizational Values:

  • Accountability – Our purpose-driven, results-focused approach means we take responsibility for our actions and hold ourselves accountable.We believe that others should also be held accountable for their actions.
  • Empowerment – Our approach means that everyone involved with Oxfam, from our staff and supporters to people living in poverty, should feel they can make changehappen.
  • Inclusiveness – We are open to everyone and embrace diversity.We believe everyone has a contribution to make, regardless of visible and invisible differences

Key Behavioural Competencies (based on Oxfam’s Leadership Model)

Decisiveness - We are comfortable to make transparent decisions and to adapt decision making modes to the context and needs.

Influencing - We have the ability to engage with diverse stakeholders in a way that leads to increased impact for the organisation. We spot opportunities to influence effectively and where there are no opportunities we have the ability to create them in a respectful and impactful manner.

Humility - We put ‘we’ before ‘me’ and place an emphasis on the power of the collective, nurture the team and play to the strengths of each individual. We are not concerned with hierarchical power, and we engage with, trust and value the knowledge and expertise of others across all levels of the organization.

Relationship Building - We understand the importance of building relationship, within and outside the organization. We have the ability to engage with traditional and non-traditional stakeholders in ways that lead toincreased impact for the organisation.

Listening - We are good listeners who can see where deeper levels of thoughts and tacit assumptions differ. Our messages to others are clear, and consider different preferences.

Mutual Accountability - We can explain our decisions and how we have taken them based on our organizational values. We are ready to be held to account for what we do and how we behave, as we are also holding others to account ina consistent manner.

Agility, Complexity, and Ambiguity - We scan the environment, anticipate changes, are comfortable with lack of clarity and deal with a large number of elements interacting in diverse and unpredictable ways.

Systems Thinking - We view problems as parts of an overall system and in their relation to the whole system, rather than reacting to a specific part, outcome or event in isolation. We focus on cyclical rather than linear cause and effect. By consistently practicing systems thinking we are aware of and manage well unintended consequences of organisational decisions and actions.

Strategic Thinking and Judgment - We use judgment, weighing risk against the imperative to act. We make decisions consistent with organizational strategies and values.

Vision Setting - We have the ability to identify and lead visionary initiatives that are beneficial for our organization and we set high-level direction through a visioning process that engages the organization and diverse external stakeholders.

Self-Awareness - We are abletodevelop a high degree of self-awareness around our own strengths and weaknesses and our impact on others. Our self-awareness enables us to moderate and self-regulate our behaviors to control and channel our impulses for good purposes.

Enabling - We all work to effectively empower and enable others to deliver the organizations goals through creating conditions of success.We passionately invest in others by developing their careers, not only their skills for the job. We provide freedom; demonstrate belief and trust provide appropriate support.We give more freedom and demonstrate belief and trust, underpinned with appropriate support. 

How to apply

If you believe your qualifications meet the requirements, please click on this link : https://recruitment.oxfam.org/VacancyDetails.aspx?FromSearch=True&MenuID... to start the application process.

Please outline in your cover letter how your skills and experience meet the essential criteria of the role.

Closing date: 24th January 2021 @ 23:59 GMT