Emergency Food Assistance Consultant

This position will play a key role in enhancing CORE's emergency food assistance capabilities during an emergency response by providing technical support across the program cycle, contributing to CORE’s strategy and proposal development, and managing and implementing a gender-sensitive food assistance program responsive to the needs of men, women, boys, and girls. The role also involves building and strengthening the capacity (mentoring, coaching, training) of staff and partners, ensuring that all food assistance programs integrate and meet humanitarian principles, protection, and gender minimum standards.

This position will rapidly be deployed (often within 72 hours of a crisis) in close coordination with CORE’s Sr. Director of Humanitarian Response. This role will provide technical assistance, coordination, and support harmonization of programming needs and operational support for rapid response ensuring CORE’s emergency food assistance process and procedures are being implemented and lay the foundation for later phases of food assistance emergency response and recovery, including an exit strategy. 

This role’s responsibilities will be based on organizational needs in the given response context(s) (this ToR may be revised based on shifts in priorities after initial assessment) but will include assessment, design, implementation and reporting of food assistance in support of individuals, households and communities affected by crisis.

Roster work is available on an as-needed basis (it is not full-time or continuous).

As a Roster Member, you may be requested to deploy based upon the needs of a disaster and the need for your position. Deployment opportunities and length of deployments are not guaranteed and may be unpredictable. Roster Member should be prepared to deploy at moment’s notice.

Compensation will be determined at the time of deployment based on location and anticipated length of service needed.

• Assess, design, and deliver CORE’s emergency food assistance and recovery programs in response to natural or man-made disasters and complex emergencies, ensuring they meet protection and gender minimum standards in humanitarian programming.
• Provide technical support, advice, and oversight for programs to support CORE in the delivery of high-quality programs, specifically those that adequately address the needs and capacities of vulnerable and marginalized groups.
• Coordinate with other team members and CORE staff to ensure a rapid, proportionate, integrated, and effective response.
• Ensure an effective response to immediate food assistance needs while simultaneously considering longer-term food security and recovery needs, including the development of possible scenarios related to food availability and access.
• Take an active role in coordination, support, and advocacy with other stakeholders.
• Provide specific, short-term expertise to CORE, including, but not limited to, nutritional analysis, food distribution methods, cash and voucher programming, local food market assessments, environmental impact assessment and mitigation, needs assessment, and evaluation.
• Build local capacity on food security and nutrition; this will include mentoring, coaching, and training of staff and partners.

• These tasks are the type of activities any of the above specialists could be asked to lead or contribute to. It is not an exhaustive list but gives an indication of the kind of roles that the team members take on.

• Provide sectoral leadership and expertise in the assessment of food security and nutrition needs.
• Conduct an initial rapid assessment of the situation in collaboration with local specialists and the affected population to determine priorities, immediate activities, and required resources.
• Assess potential recovery activities related to food security that CORE can be involved in.
• Represent CORE to stakeholders, including governmental and non-governmental agencies, regarding the assessment's food assistance aspects.

• Define aims and objectives for food assistance programs and projects.
• Select and design activities for programs and projects to address immediate and long-term food security needs.
• Develop design, legal, and financial documents in consultation with displaced families, host populations, and government ministries, ensuring the participation of women.
• Collaborate effectively with other CORE staff to ensure an integrated approach.
• Ensure that cross-cutting issues, including protection, gender, livelihoods, disaster risk reduction (DRR), environmental impact, operation, maintenance, and sustainability, are factored into the program design.
• Ensure Sphere minimum standards and other relevant guidelines are met or exceeded where appropriate.
• Identify and ensure the input of specialist technical advice where required.
• Develop letters of intent, concept papers, terms of reference (ToRs), budgets, and proposals.

• Plan and manage the program in a phased and prioritized manner with full consultation and coordination with CORE staff and other stakeholders.
• Ensure gender is fully considered throughout the project cycle, enabling women to influence decision-making around food assistance issues.
• Ensure adequate logistic capacity and systems are in place, and appropriate food distribution methods and support are available for all activities.
• Ensure regular monitoring and collection of relevant data, including but not limited to Post-Distribution Monitoring (PDM) and other relevant Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) tools.
• Ensure legal and ethical standards are enforced where necessary.

• Provide regular updates to the Team Leader and CORE team on progress, priorities, and constraints—verbally and in writing, at an agreed-upon frequency.
• Represent CORE to stakeholder groups as needed and agreed with the Team Leader.
• Train and brief CORE staff and stakeholders on food assistance issues.

• Team Leader and other members of the team as appropriate.
• CORE leadership team including CEO, COO, VP of programming, Director of Humanitarian Response, Data, Partnership Development & Fundraising.
• CORE media and communications staff.

• Other agencies and groups responding to the emergency.
• Donors.
• Governmental representatives from the ministries tasked with shelter and recovery.
• Local professional bodies and private companies for the built environment.
• Media.

• Reports to the Designated Emergency Response Team Leader

• Minimum 5 years' humanitarian aid experience, with at least 4 years specifically in Emergency Food Assistance roles.
• And/or Relevant professional qualification or post-graduate degree in nutrition, food security, agriculture, development studies, or related fields.

• Demonstrated professional expertise in food security and nutrition interventions, including food distribution methods, cash and voucher programming, nutritional support programs, and local food market assessments in humanitarian contexts.
• Demonstrated understanding of the different modalities and types of food assistance programs and how they can be designed to meet the needs of diverse populations.
• Demonstrated competence in gender analysis and developing strategies for gender-sensitive programming, with a clear understanding of how food assistance programs can address the specific needs of men, women, boys, and girls.

• People Skills: Ability to work independently and as a team player who demonstrates leadership and is able to support and train local and international staff and able to work with disaster-affected communities in a sensitive and participatory manner.
• Communication Skills: Well-developed written and oral communication skills. Able to communicate clearly and sensitively with internal and external stakeholders as a representative of CORE. This includes effective negotiation and representation skills.

• Integrity: Works with trustworthiness and integrity and has a clear commitment to CORE's values and humanitarian principles.
• Resilience / Adaptability and flexibility: Ability to operate effectively under extreme circumstances including stress, high-security risks and harsh living conditions. Ability to work and live with a flexible, adaptable and resilient manner.
• Awareness and sensitivity of self and others: Demonstrates awareness and sensitivity to gender and diversity. Has experience and the ability to live and work in diverse cultural contexts in a culturally appropriate manner. Has a capacity to make accurate self-assessments, particularly in high stress and high security contexts.
• Work style: Is well-planned and organized even within a fluid working environment and has a capacity for initiative and decision-making with competent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Knowledge and skills: Have knowledge of Sphere and the Red Cross / NGO Code of Conduct. Has general finance, administration, information management, and telecommunication skills and proficiency in information technology/computer skills.
• All staff members understand and abide by the CORE’s Code of Conduct. All staff must sign the relevant Code of Conduct, which includes Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA). Staff are required to report any suspicions of exploitation and/or abuse of children and vulnerable people via established internal referral mechanisms. All staff must adhere to CORE’s zero-tolerance policy for sexual exploitation and abuse of children.

• Knowledge of food security and nutrition interventions, including direct food distribution, cash and voucher programming, and nutritional support.
• A professional qualification in nutrition, food security, agriculture, or a related field. Experience can substitute for qualifications, but not vice-versa.
• Demonstrated competence in conducting needs assessments, developing food assistance strategy, and implementing programs through the emergency response and recovery phases.
• A thorough and demonstrated understanding of humanitarian contexts (including natural disasters, conflict, and complex emergencies) and humanitarian principles.
• Ability to prepare concept papers and project proposals in accordance with the standards required by CORE and donors.
• Strong awareness of gender and protection issues in humanitarian interventions, specifically in food assistance programming.
• Awareness of public health issues as applied to emergency settings, with special attention to the needs of women and children.
• Good communication skills in English, and the ability to speak French, Creole, Spanish, and/or Portuguese is desirable.
• Strong awareness of gender and protection issues in humanitarian interventions, including specifically in shelter programming.
• Awareness of general public health issues as applied to emergency settings, with special attention to the needs of women and children.

Clear pre-employment background check requirements, including local, state, and national criminal records checks, sex offender registries, employment, education verifications and child abuse registry check (if required by state regulations) are required post job offer and prior to employment.

Safeguarding

CORE is committed to keeping children and vulnerable individuals safe and has a Zero Tolerance policy for sexual exploitation and abuse. Every CORE employee, consultant and volunteer is bound by CORE’s Code of Conduct and Safeguarding Policy. By applying for this position, an applicant confirms that they have not previously violated an employer’s safeguarding, sexual misconduct, (child) sexual exploitation and abuse, or human trafficking policy.