Programme Associate – Financial Services and Insurance

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

26 October 2026-23:59-GMT+02:00 Central Africa Time (Lusaka)

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP

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 extreme weather shocks.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok.

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).

CONTRACT TYPE: Service Contract, L6

UNIT/DIVISION: Programme

DUTY STATION: WFP Zambia Country Office, Lusaka

REPORTS TO: Financial Services and Insurance Technical Specialist/Thematic Lead

 

BACKGROUND

Under Strategic Outcome 2, resilience programming is being repositioned towards an integrated, systems-based approach that combines ecosystem and livelihood investments, information and market services, financial and risk solutions, and nutrition-sensitive programming. The Country Office provides programme architecture, thematic standards, portfolio coordination, evidence, partnerships and quality assurance, while Field Offices lead routine field implementation oversight, decentralized coordination and day-to-day technical support to implementation.

The Financial Services and Insurance workstream supports financial inclusion, savings and credit, digital financial services and micro/meso insurance within the SO2 resilience portfolio. The Programme Associate will support the thematic lead from the Country Office through planning, partner coordination, programme tracking, consolidated analytics, reporting and knowledge management.

REPORTING

Reporting to the Financial Services and Insurance Technical Specialist/Thematic Lead, the incumbent will support Country Office coordination of financial-services and insurance programming and will work closely with Field Offices, RAM, Government, financial institutions, insurers, digital-finance providers, Cooperating Partners and other SO2 thematic teams.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

1. Programme Planning and Implementation Support

• Support the design, planning, implementation, and tracking of financial inclusion, savings, credit, insurance, and risk financing interventions.
• Assist in the preparation of annual workplans, budgets, implementation schedules, and activity tracking tools.
• Support the integration of financial services and insurance interventions across resilience, livelihoods, climate adaptation, social protection, and market systems programmes.
• Monitor implementation progress and support the timely resolution of operational issues affecting programme delivery.

2. Partnership and Stakeholder Coordination

• Support engagement and coordination with government ministries, regulatory bodies, financial service providers, insurance companies, private sector actors, and development partners.
• Organize technical meetings, stakeholder consultations, workshops, learning events, and partnership review meetings.
• Maintain stakeholder and partnership databases and monitor follow-up actions and commitments.
• Facilitate communication and coordination between Country Office, Field Offices, implementing partners, and external stakeholders.

3. Financial Services and Insurance Coordination

• Support the rollout and monitoring of savings, credit, insurance, and risk financing initiatives across programme areas.
• Assist in tracking insurance enrolment, premium payments, claims processing, payouts, and overall programme performance.
• Support implementation of sovereign and macro-level risk financing initiatives, including coordination related to African Risk Capacity (ARC) and other risk transfer mechanisms.
• Contribute to the documentation and analysis of innovative financial inclusion and insurance models to support programme learning and scale-up.

4. Monitoring, Reporting, and Knowledge Management

• Consolidate programme data from Field Offices, implementing partners, financial institutions, and insurance providers.
• Support monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and evidence generation activities related to financial inclusion and insurance interventions.
• Track, analyze, and report on programme indicators, targets, and results under the Country Strategic Plan and donor-funded projects.
• Prepare technical reports, briefs, presentations, lessons learned, case studies, success stories, and donor updates.
• Maintain knowledge repositories and support dissemination of best practices and programme learning.

5. Capacity Strengthening and Technical Support

• Support the development and adaptation of training materials, operational guidance, and technical tools.
• Coordinate capacity strengthening initiatives for WFP staff, implementing partners, government institutions, financial service providers, and insurance stakeholders.
• Support the organization and delivery of training sessions, technical workshops, and learning exchanges related to financial inclusion, insurance, and risk financing.
• Contribute to strengthening stakeholder understanding of financial literacy, insurance awareness, and integrated risk management approaches.

6. Resource Mobilization and Communications

• Support the development of concept notes, funding proposals, presentations, donor briefs, and partnership engagement materials.
• Assist in identifying emerging opportunities for programme growth, partnership development, and resource mobilization.
• Contribute to communication, visibility, and advocacy products that showcase programme achievements, innovations, and impact.
• Support preparation of information products for donors, government counterparts, and development partners.

7. Routine programme coordination and business processes

• Maintain financial-services and insurance workplans, activity schedules, cash forecasts, expenditure/contractual milestone trackers and routine programme action trackers.
• Coordinate routine FSP, insurer, CP and service-provider check-ins; prepare performance updates, record agreed actions and follow up outstanding actions and corrective measures.
• Maintain consolidated trackers for enrolment, coverage, premiums, claims, payouts, financial-service uptake and other agreed programme-performance measures.
• Support technical/programmatic inputs to partner/service-provider agreements, workplans, amendments, onboarding and periodic performance reviews in coordination with the Technical Specialist and relevant WFP functions.
• Coordinate programmatic verification and follow-up of implementation evidence/supporting documentation required for relevant service-provider/partner invoice and payment processes and escalate discrepancies.
• Prepare weekly management/OneNote updates, country briefs/factsheets, RMC/pipeline inputs, donor/quarterly/corporate-report inputs, concept note/NFR inputs and management presentations.
• Maintain financial-services/insurance programme files, partner records, dashboards and the authoritative thematic repository.
• Track actions arising from monitoring, partner/FSP performance reviews, oversight/assurance exercises and technical reviews and follow up to closure.
• Coordinate routine Field Office data/information requests and follow-up and escalate operational, partner or performance issues requiring Technical Specialist action.
• For macro/sovereign risk financing, provide coordination/data support to the Technical Specialist for technical assistance to SO1; SO1 retains operational accountability for ARC and related sovereign risk-financing processes.

 

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Education: Completion of secondary education is required. A post-secondary certificate or university degree in Finance, Economics, Agricultural Economics, Banking, Insurance, Risk Management, Business Administration, Development Finance, Statistics or another relevant field is desirable.

Experience: At least six years of progressively responsible support experience in financial inclusion, banking, microfinance, savings and credit, insurance, agricultural finance, digital financial services, risk financing or related development programming. A relevant first university degree may substitute for some years of experience in line with WFP standards.

Knowledge & Skills: Good understanding of savings, credit, financial inclusion and insurance; strong numerical, data-management and analytical skills; experience maintaining programme trackers and partner follow-up systems; good report writing and stakeholder coordination skills; proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

Languages: Fluency (Level C) in English.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

 

WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework

 

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

 

WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact:  global.inclusion@wfp.org

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

 

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

 

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruiting system. We do not consider CVs or applications sent by email, LinkedIn, or any other channel.

• We strongly recommend that your Workday profile is accurate and complete, and that all sections are filled in, including your employment history, academic qualifications, language skills, and UN grade (if applicable). Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.

• If you experience technical issues while submitting your application, you may contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org. Please note that this email is only for technical issues with an application - unsolicited applications or documents sent to this inbox will not receive a reply.

• At the application stage, the only required documents are your CV and Cover Letter. Additional documents (passport, certificates, recommendation letters, etc.) may be requested later in the process.

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process.

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.