Food Security & Livelihoods (FSL) Head of Department

Action Against Hunger (ACF) is a leading humanitarian and development agency working to combat the causes of hunger and malnutrition in over 46 countries worldwide. Eleven years into the Syrian conflict, more than 1.3 million Syrians have sought refuge in Jordan; 676,164 are registered refugees and approximately 80% live in non-camp settings. This influx of refugees has strained Jordan’s economy and resources, with Syrians often accepting worse working conditions and lower compensation than Jordanians and taking on low-skill, informal jobs in sectors such as in manufacturing, construction and agriculture. In 2022, Jordan had a 23% unemployment rate. For Syrian refugees, unemployment rates are significantly worse with 80% of Syrian refugees unemployed in 2021, up from 50% and 65% in 2019 and 2020.

ACF is looking for its program in Jordan for FSL Head of Department

Position Overview:

With field offices in Irbid and Azraq and a head office in Amman, ACF has been operational in Jordan since 2014, delivering livelihoods, social protection WASH and MHPSS programming in Irbid, Zarqa, Mafraq, and Madaba governorates. Through its livelihoods and social protection program, ACF aims to improve the livelihoods status of Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians through decent and sustainable employment opportunities; strengthening sustainable livelihoods and value chains and enhancing the capacity of local actors to promote economic opportunities and improve working conditions. So far, ACF has reached over 4,000 beneficiaries through its social protection and livelihood activities in 2022.

ACF is an active member of the Livelihoods, Basic Needs, Food Security and Durable Solutions Working Groups; Graduation Approach and Vocational Training Taskforces; and Common Cash Facility Steering Committee. ACF is also the co-lead of the WASH Working Group, an active participant in the Mental Health and Protection Working Groups and on the steering committee of the Jordan INGO Forum.

Action Against Hunger’s Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL) Head of Department plays a key role in overseeing the quality, relevance and implementation of the FSL program. Reporting directly to the Deputy Country Director and liaising closely with regional and global technical advisors, the FSL Head of Department will oversee a diverse portfolio of social protection, employability and agriculture programs. The position based in Amman with periodic travel to Action Against Hunger’s field offices and project sites. 

Responsibilities:

Objective 1: Contribute to defining the country strategy as well as the strategy and positioning of the FSL department

• Promote and foster an understanding within the field teams of the humanitarian and development situation regarding FSL in Jordan, ensuring regular analysis and continuous monitoring
• Disseminate information gathered and analysed both internally and externally, including from and with regional and headquarters staff
• Produce, review, and oversee the quality realisation of the mission’s FSL sectoral strategy document in line with Action Against Hunger international and national frameworks and with strong integration of cross-cutting issues (including but not limited to gender, environment, youth inclusion)
• Integrate the FSL sector with the other technical sectors (WASH, mental health)
• Contribute to the technical and operational advocacy strategies of the mission, region, and headquarters in line with the advocacy objectives defined in the Action Against Hunger reference documentation
• Identify the subjects for sectoral advocacy specific to the mission in collaboration with the DCDP

Objective 2: Coordinate the identification of needs and formulation of project proposals

• Coordinate the identification of FSL humanitarian and development needs sensitive to cross-cutting issues such as gender and environmental considerations
• Write analytical and technical sections of FSL-oriented monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL) reports
• Contribute to the identification of funding opportunities and inroads for donor relationship development, ensuring in collaboration with the DCDP that there is an exchange of technical information with the funding agencies identified
• Participate in visits by funding agencies whenever requested by the DCDP or Field Coordinator
• Produce the FSL sections of project proposals in accordance with the formats and deadlines of funding agencies, and make substantial contribution to general and cross-cutting sections of proposals

Objective 3: Technically oversee the implementation of programmes / projects ensuring quality of all FSL interventions

• Ensure the technical conformity of FSL programmes with international rules, approaches, and technical standards, and the Action Against Hungerframework documents and technical works
• Validate the key stages and the methodologies of the FSL standalone and integrated projects being undertaken (timetables, baseline / midterm / endline surveys and assessments, technical studies, calls for tender, specifications, community approaches, internal and external evaluations, amongst other elements)
• Work closely with the MEAL team to ensure that MEAL systems are in place to measure the outputs, outcomes, and impacts of FSL programmes; lead the integration of learning / findings from MEAL results into projects and programmes
• Validate in a timely fashion the FSL sections—and make substantial contribution to general and cross-cutting sections—of internal and external reports, as well as amendments to projects, with contributions by field teams
• Conduct regular visits to projects and maintain functional interaction with Program Managers
• Coordinate with MEAL staff to train field teams in FSL-related MEAL, and in the definition, measurement, and analysis of progress on indicators
• Propose action plans, mitigation measures, and solutions to ensure the quality execution of the programmes
• Issue and follow up on technical recommendations for the improvement or maintenance of FSL programme quality
• Alert the DCDP and the Regional Technical Advisor to all major difficulties encountered in applying necessary recommendations and / or adaptations to FSL programming, and suggest solutions and ways forward
• Promote external and internal evaluations of projects, in line with Action Against Hunger’sevaluation policy, leading in evaluation processes and ensuring recommendations are validated and translated into practice

Objective 4: Ensure the active participation of Action Against Hungerin national sectoral coordination and technical forums and develop sectoral partnerships

• Represent Action Against Hunger in sectoral coordination at national and sub-national levels (sectoral and / or cluster) and with technical authorities
• Define Action Against Hunger’scontribution to the various action plans in the FSL sector (Consolidated Appeal Process, Flash Appeal, Inter-Agency Contingency Plan, HFA, national sector strategies, Jordan Response Plan, etc.)
• Lead technical communications concerning FSL programming in liaison with the DCDP and Field Coordinators
• Promote sectoral and synergetic / complementary partnerships (with civil society, NGOs, authorities, the private sector, and other relevant entities), and enhance the capacity of partners on FSL
• Maintain and further Action Against Hunger’s position as a recognised and influential actor in the humanitarian and development sphere, in part by participating in coordination meetings and strategic working groups and passing information both upwards and downwards
• Gain, maintain, and spread internally an understanding of coordination cluster / sector/ working group procedures
• Participate in the drafting of documents dealing with the financing of humanitarian and development action (CAP, Flash Appeal, Jordan Response Plan, etc.) and with national strategies
• Take part in the identification, development and operation of FSL partnerships in line with the partnership strategy with a specific focus on national and local partners

Objective 5: Team management

• Manage, in either a functional manner, Action Against Hunger Jordan’s FSL personnel
• Evaluate the technical performance of all FSL team members (such as Programme Managers, Deputy HoD, Specialists)
• Develop FSL competence throughout the mission
• Take part in the recruitment of Programme Managers and in the selection of FSL staff (define profiles, conduct interviews and / or complementary tests, determine technical competence of candidates for the project)
• Take part in staff development interviews with both programme and support team members; identify technical training needs of both national and expatriate staff, in collaboration with the HR HoD
• Identify possible technical training resources at local and regional levels in collaboration with the HR HoD
• Seek technical support from regional and headquarters colleagues in order to reinforce own capacity and capacity of team members

Objective 6: Promote capturing and use of learning, technical development, and research within the FSL Department

• Capture and promote the use of learning within the FSL sector at the mission level, and consolidate and transmit lessons learnt and associated recommendations to headquarters (this may focus on technical developments, pilot projects, innovative or little documented approaches, operational approaches which may serve as a reference for the Action Against Hungernetwork, successes and failures, contextual analyses, or other matters)
• Guide the technical dimensions of assessments, studies, and evaluations throughout the strategy and program cycles to build a body of information for evidence-based decision-making
• Supervise the capturing and promotion of lessons learnt as undertaken by Program Managers and the FSL Department
• Share experience with actors in the FSL sector at country and regional levels
• Maintain continuity in respect of the FSL expertise and the history of the mission
• Lead the creative process for defining and applying new approaches at mission level, and consider the approaches proposed by Technical Advisors
• Report to the DCDP, Region, and Headquarters on technical developments and research requirements and on the implementation of projects (notably in response to calls for internal Action Against Hungerresearch projects)

Objective 7: Fulfil general responsibilities and contribute to broader Action Against Hunger Jordan operational quality and consistency

• Maintain the confidentiality of all sensitive information at all times
• Perform other job related tasks as requested by the supervisor
• Commit to and comply with the organisation’s gender, age, and diversity principles and policies (working with people, communication)
• Lead on the promotion of gender, age and diversity principles through daily activities and / or through the management of teams, as well as through the planning and implementation of operations and strategies (managing performance and development)