Sr. Technical Advisor – School Meals

Job Summary

The Senior Technical Advisor – School Meals serves as the global catalyst for transforming school meal programs into a high-impact, scalable solution for child well-being. This role is pivotal in mobilizing significant resources, driving quality programming, digital innovation and leading evidence generation to position World Vision as a recognized global leader in school meals. By leveraging strategic partnerships, technology and robust research, the Advisor ensures programs deliver quality, efficiency, and measurable impact for the most vulnerable children.

Key Responsibilities

40% Resource Mobilization & Strategic Partnerships

• Drive innovative funding strategies for food, cash and school meals aligned with global priorities for the Food, Cash, and Markets portfolio diversification and growth..
• Cultivate high-impact partnerships with foundations, corporates, and institutional donors to expand reach and sustainability.
• Champion the school meals marketing offer (Dollar Handle) to position school meals as a top investment opportunity.
• Equip and support Field Offices to embed home grown school meals into national strategies, ensuring integration and scale-up.

25% Scale-Up Coverage & Quality

• Lead the constant orientation of the School Meals Field Manual across all Field Offices to ensure consistent implementation and quality standards.
• Drive adoption of World Vision school meals standards by governments and implementing partners to enhance program credibility and scale.
• Lead review of existing school meal programs to capture lessons learned and inform future programming and scale-up strategies.

15% Digitalization of School Meals Programs

• Support digitalisation of school meal program delivery, real-time monitoring, beneficiary feedback, and reporting in priority Field Offices to enhance efficiency, transparency, and data-driven decision-making.
• Build capacity of Field Office teams to effectively use digital solutions for planning and reporting.

15% Research, Evidence & Knowledge Management

• Lead World Vision’s engagement in donor funded research on access to school meals for refugee children in collaboration with GCNF, ensuring WV’s thought leadership and evidence contribution.
• Develop and disseminate semi-annual external-facing school meals updates in collaboration with the ENOUGH campaign team to showcase impact, innovations, and advocacy wins.
• Maintain and continuously update the School Meals WV Central Page with new information, reports, and data to serve as the authoritative knowledge hub for internal and external audiences.

5% Advocacy & External Engagement

• Represent WV in global and regional school meals forums.
• Collaborate with ENOUGH campaign and partners.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND EXPERIENCE

Required Education, training, license, registration, and/or Certification

Postgraduate degree in Public Health, Education, Nutrition, Food Security, International Development, Social Sciences or Business Administration (MBA) is required.

Required Professional Experience

• Minimum 8 years of progressive experience in food assistance, school meals, education programming, or related sectors, including at least 5 years in a senior technical or advisory role.
• Proven track record in resource mobilization, donor engagement, and strategic partnerships at global or regional level.
• Demonstrated expertise in multisectoral/integrated program design, scale-up strategies, and digital transformation.
• Strong analytical, communication, and partnership-building skills.
• Ability to travel up to 30%, including fragile contexts.

Preferred Experience, Knowledge and/or Other Qualifications

• Ability to maintain effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including the UN and governments.
• Ability to manage and track a wide range of activities and prioritization skills.
• Ability to work and deliver quality results with minimal supervision.
• Cross-cultural sensitivity.
• Mentoring and capacity-building skills.
• Good analytical and writing skills and ability to communicate in verbal and written forms.
• Computer proficiency, experience in MS applications and a good knowledge of digital collaborative platforms.

Required Language(s)

Fluency in English is essential.

Position’s physical requirements

Able to frequently travel and attend meetings to support regional and field offices, including in high-insecurity environments.

Skills Required:

• Education / Teaching / Training
• Food / Technology / Science / Engineering
• Health / Medical
• Sales / Marketing / Business / Management
• Social / Science / Project / Management / Development