Climate Finance Proposal Development Lead - Consultant Roster (Level II) at World Food Programme (WFP)

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Climate Finance Proposal Development Lead - Consultant Roster (Level II)

Ref: JR114300
Location: Nigeria
Employment Type: Full Time
Type of Contract: Consultancy (CST II)
Unit / Division: Climate and Resilience Service
Duty Station(City, Country): Home-based, with short-term field missions  
Duration: Between 1 and 11 months, with a definite number of working days, depending on needs

Background and Purpose of the Assignment

• The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
• Findings from the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate that climate change could increase the risk of hunger and malnutrition by up to 20 percent by 2050, and its impacts will be felt disproportionately on the most food insecure and vulnerable.
• WFP is committed to step up the number and scale of its climate-related interventions to support adaptation efforts of vulnerable people and governments globally, focusing on food and nutrition security.
• WFP is supporting governments to access climate finance from various bilateral and multilateral sources such as the Adaptation Fund (AF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The processes to design climate adaptation projects, draft the proposals and related documentation, review the proposals with the respective funds’ secretariats and submit them to the funds’ Boards need extra efforts, time and specific capacities. Therefore, WFP is building a roster of expert consultants that can be hired by Country Offices (COs) to facilitate the process of project proposal development.
• This vacancy announcement is for a consultancy level II that requires at least 5 years of relevant experience. Candidates who have more than 10 years of relevant experience are invited to also apply to the vacancies for consultancy level III (10-12 years of relevant experience), and consultancy level IV (12+ years of relevant experience) that are advertised in parallel.

Accountabilities /  Responsibilities

• Under the supervision of relevant WFP COs, with the support of  WFP Global HQ (GHQ), the consultant will support preparation of concept notes (CN), funding proposals (FP) and/or relevant annexes to be submitted either to the AF or to the GCF. These projects will focus on improving food security while enhancing adaptive capacities of communities, systems and governments.
• The specific tasks of each assignment will differ for each project, depending on local context, background documentation and assessments available, WFP CO and government existing capacities and needs, availability of local consultants to support with specific in-country tasks, and requirements of the fund.  A separate assignment-specific TOR will be prepared by  the relevant Country Office each time a project is assigned to the consultant. A list of possible tasks is presented below (points 3 to 12):
• Pre-feasibility/feasibility assessments: assist with the development of a pre-feasibility and/or a feasibility assessment in a format and template previously agreed with WFP and acceptable to the fund, which includes: i. context analysis, including climate analysis, climate change related problem and impacts, key factors of vulnerability and barriers to adaptation, national policies and priorities, existing initiatives; ii. design the project theory of change and structure, defining project components, outcomes and outputs in coordination with the Country Office and relevant stakeholders; iii. justification for the proposed project, including an analysis of factors such as sustainability, alignment with national priorities, cost-effectiveness, coordination with other relevant initiatives, additionality as required. A summary of the content will then be included in the proposal. [estimated days needed: AF 15 days; GCF 20 days for each (pre-feasibility and feasibility)]
• Support in-house and external specialists, including in the process of drafting or fine-tuning TORs for external specialists. [estimated days needed: 3 days]
• Participate in stakeholder consultations at national/sub-national/local level to gather the information needed to the design of the project and the drafting of the proposal. [estimated days needed: 10 days in-country at each stage (CN and FP)]
• Participate in community consultations [at concept note stage] to assess communities’ vulnerabilities, capacities and needs in terms of climate change adaptation, discuss activities’ ideas, collect information on gender roles and specific vulnerabilities/needs, collect information on environmental and social risks – in collaboration with gender and Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) experts. [estimated days needed: 5 days in-country (field)]
• Participate in community consultations [at funding proposal stage] to confirm/finalize project activities, receive feedback/concerns/approval from communities on the proposed activities, collect more information (if needed) on gender and ESS – in collaboration with the relevant experts. [estimated days needed: 10 days in-country (field)]
• Contribute to drafting of the concept note and funding proposal, drafting all of the sections using the results from the pre-feasibility assessment, the consultations, and coordinating inputs from technical experts, gender and ESS experts when available, and CO. [estimated days needed: AF-CN 15 days; AF-FP 25 days; GCF-CN 15 days; GCF-FP 40 days]
• Together with main stakeholders, and with support from CO/GHQ staff, help clarify project implementation and management structure and mechanisms. [estimated days needed: 2 days in-country]
• Support drafting of the proposal annexes,  with inputs from CO/GHQ staff. [estimated days needed depend on the involvement of CO/GHQ staff and support provided. AF 5-10 days; GCF 15-20 days]
• Check that the concept note/funding proposal and its annexes are of high quality and comply with the AF/GCF policies and guidelines
• Assist with preparing draft responses to AF/GCF Secretariats’ comments and amend the proposal and annexes accordingly, in coordination with CO/GHQ staff. [estimated days needed: AF-CN 5 days; AF-FP 5 days; GCF-CN (when necessary) 10 days; GCF-FP 10-20 days]

Qualifications & Experience Required
Education:

• University degree with experience and training/courses in one or more of the following disciplines: climate change adaptation, natural resources management, environmental studies, agriculture and food security, development studies, economics, engineering, or related area.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of post-graduate, progressively responsible, job-related experience in food security, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction or related area. The level of the consultancy will be defined based on the specific assignment and the years of experience of the candidate.
• Experience in humanitarian aid and/or development project design or implementation.
• Proven experience and ability to draft project proposals for the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, and/or the Global Environment Facility.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Familiarity with AF and/or GCF rules and regulations.
• Proven ability to coordinate across multiple stakeholders.
• Extensive, proven experience with community and stakeholders’ consultations.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Proactiveness.
• Field experience will be regarded as an asset.
• Familiarity with WFP and the UN system will be regarded as an asset.
• Proficiency in Windows, MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)

Languages:

• Excellent written and spoken English
• Knowledge of other UN languages is highly desirable

Deliverables at the End of the Contract:
Specific deliverables will be defined for each project the consultant will work on. However, this is an indicative list of possible deliverables:

• Pre-Feasibility Assessment.
• Project concept note.
• Full funding proposal based on AF/GCF templates.
• Annexes to the AF/GCF proposal, which include:
  • Feasibility study
  • Project Theory of Change and logical framework
  • Economic and/or financial analyses
  • Detailed project budget
  • Implementation timetable
  • Environmental and social risk assessment and management plan
  • Summary of stakeholder consultations at the national and local levels
  • Stakeholder engagement plan
  • Gender assessment and action plan
  • Operations and maintenance plan
  • Procurement plan
  • Monitoring and evaluation plan.

Why join WFP? 

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.
• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.
• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.
• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

Application Closing Date
30th July, 2025.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online