ARC Head of Contingency Planning Division - World Food Programme

The African Risk Capacity (ARC) is a Specialized Agency of the African Union. ARC is seeking to fill the position of Head of Contingency Planning Division P4, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Background:

The African Risk Capacity was established as a Specialized Agency of the African Union (AU) in November 2012 to help Member States improve their capacities to better plan, prepare and respond to extreme weather events and disasters; and to assist food insecure populations. Operating under the privileges and immunities of the AU, the ARC Agency, through its Secretariat, provides Member States with capacity building services for early warning, contingency planning and risk finance.

In late 2013 the Agency established a financial affiliate called ARC Insurance Company Limited (ARC Ltd). ARC Ltd is a specialist hybrid mutual insurance company that issues policies to governments, and which aggregates and transfers risk to the international market. ARC, through ARC Ltd. and after its capacity building activities, provides financing in the form of insurance to African governments to execute pre-approved contingency plans in the event of severe disasters. In order for a country to purchase an insurance policy through ARC Ltd. and thus become a member of the Company, the country must demonstrate through a peer review process its ability to effectively use potential payouts.

In May 2014, with initial capital provided by the governments of Germany and the United Kingdom, ARC Ltd issued drought insurance policies to a first group of African governments – Kenya, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger and Senegal – marking the launch of the inaugural ARC pool. Due to a poor rainfall season in the Sahel during the 2014/ 2015 season, three of these four first countries received a payout from ARC Ltd to be used for the implementation of pre-approved contingency plans designed to reach those in need. In its second year of implementation ARC Ltd offered insurance coverage to seven countries for the 2015/ 2016 rainfall season. ARC Ltd uses the satellite weather surveillance software Africa RiskView, developed together with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), to estimate needs and trigger insurance payouts to those countries affected by poor weather. By allowing Member States to capitalise on the natural diversification of weather risk across the continent, premiums are significantly more affordable than they would be for countries approaching the market alone. Additional countries are in the queue to join future pools with the target to insurance 30 countries by 2020 through drought, flood and tropical cyclone products. The ARC design and establishment phase was managed by WFP; and WFP continues to provide administrative services support to the ARC Agency through an administrative services agreement.

Responsibilities:

Based in ARC Headquarters in Johannesburg, the Head of Contingency Planning Division will be responsible for managing the execution of the ARC Secretariat capacity-building work programme for contingency planning. Under the direction of the ARC Programme Director, and working closely with other senior ARC staff, the Head of Contingency Planning Division will have the following responsibilities:

Programmatic:

· Provide strategic oversight to the Contingency Planning unit in ARC including leadership on its direction, key activities, and approaches to integration into ARC Member States own contingency planning approaches.

· Manage ARC’s contingency planning team to carry out ARC’s in-country work programme to support ARC’s contingency planning workstream and ensure work is produced on time with high quality and meeting the specific needs for ARC;

· Work closely with ARC’s Country Engagement Managers coordinate contingency planning work in country;

· Manage the development and drafting of high-quality operations plans with African countries considering participating in the ARC risk pool directly and by supporting staff working in these areas;

· Ensure integration of ARC operations plans into countries existingnational response systems and broader country policies on food security, disaster risk reduction and management;

· Manage the refinement of ARC Contingency Planning Standards and Guidelines, ARC Standard Operating Procedures for Payouts and ARC Contingency Planning Process in general – particularly the ARC processes and criteria for approving and monitoring contingency plans;

· Ensure in the event of a payout, that Member States have appropriate support in preparation of Final Implementation Plans (FIP) for countries and implementation of ARC Standard Operating Procedures for Payouts;

· Support ARC’s Monitoring and Evaluation officer in carrying out the M&E functions as they relate to contingency planning;

· Support the work of the ARC Agency Board’s Peer Review Mechanism (PRM):

– Manage consultants recruitment and participation to the Technical Review Committee (TRC);

– Manage the TRC and PRM meetings’ organization;

· Collaborate with the Policy and Technical Services Department integrating lessons learned from ARC works as well as key information from work with countries to contribute to the definition of ARC policy, program design and standard;

· Contribute to ARC knowledge platform development and management.

Strategic

· Ensure ARC’s coherence with and relevance to important regional early warning and operational response systems, such as the Cadre Harmonisé and IPC Phase Classification;

· Build and manage relationships with in-country partner agencies, including UN Agencies, NGOs, the World Bank, governments, donor partners and relevant institutions to ensure ARC’s contingency planning programme aligns with and strengthens existing in-country initiatives;

· Identifying collaborative opportunities with relevant institutions for building and continued investment in social protection mechanisms and safety programs in ARC Member States;

· Representing ARC at international and regional conferences as needed, and supporting strategic partnerships’ development;

Qualifications & Experience Required

Education:

· Master’s degree in social science, agricultural development, food security, economics or similar relevant discipline;

Experience:

· At least 8 years of postgraduate progressively responsible professional experience in contingency planning, public sector management, development, emergency assistance, and/or operational aspects of national, bilateral or multilateral humanitarian assistance;

· At least 2-3 years of experience in managing a team of staff;

· Experience in food security country programming and/or contingency planning;

· Experience with food security planning and emergency response in Africa (especially for drought and other natural hazards), including beneficiary impact, political economy and the management and operational frameworks for major national and regional responses is desirable;

Technical Skills & Knowledge:

· Experience in working with governments in particular in Africa at technical and political levels;

· Experience in development of contingency plans;

· Knowledge of post disaster activities and response for drought, flood and tropical cyclone;

· Expertise in designing and/or conducting development or humanitarian operations; as well as building and managing training programmes for developing countries in particular in Africa;

· Strong interpersonal, partnership and diplomatic skills with ability to establish effective working relations with government and the private sector and of different national and cultural backgrounds;

Competencies:

· Excellent organization skills with ability to plan, coordinate and monitor own work plan;

· Ability to prioritize multiple tasks under tight deadlines in a timely manner in a dynamic environment;

· Good public communication and analytic writing skills;

· Excellent computer skills, including in MS Office based word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, report writing;

· Knowledge of risk transfer, including (parametric) insurance, climate change issues and climate-related development programmes in Africa is desireable;

Language:

· Excellent analytical, written and verbal communication skills in English and French;

· Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language is desirable

HOW TO APPLY:

Application Procedures:

Go to: http://i-recruitment.wfp.org/vacancies/16-0021621

Step 1: Register and create your online CV.

Step 2: Click on “Description” to read the position requirements and “Apply” to submit your application.

NOTE: You must complete Step 1 and 2 in order for your application to be considered for this vacancy.

Deadline for applications: 21 August 2016