Senior Program Officer – Food Systems, Livelihoods & Resilience

About the role

World Vision International – Somalia is looking for an experienced Business Development & Grants Specialist to lead resource mobilisation and grants management for food systems, livelihoods and resilience programmes. The Senior Program Officer will identify funding opportunities, develop winning proposals and ensure effective grant implementation from award through close‑out, helping farming and pastoral communities recover from shocks.

Key responsibilities

• Identify, prioritise and secure funding from donors, UN agencies, climate funds and the private sector.
• Lead proposal development, including concept notes, budgets, logframes and donor applications.
• Manage grants end‑to‑end: start‑up, compliance, reporting, budgeting and close‑out.
• Design food security, livelihoods and agricultural enterprise programmes grounded in market realities.
• Provide technical advisory and quality‑assurance support for programme implementation.
• Integrate climate‑resilient and adaptation approaches into proposals.
• Develop partnerships with government, UN agencies, private sector and research institutions.
• Maintain the grant management database and create project profiles.

Required profile

• Advanced degree in agriculture, agricultural economics, economics, business administration or development finance.
• 7–10 years of experience in business development, grants management or private‑sector partnerships.
• Proven track record of winning and managing institutional or UN/WFP grants.
• Experience working with the private sector in agriculture or finance.
• Technical knowledge of livelihoods, food systems, agriculture or livestock programming.
• Experience designing resilience or climate‑adaptation programmes.
• Strong financial literacy, excellent writing, analysis and negotiation skills.
• Prior experience in Somalia or a similarly fragile, climate‑vulnerable context is an advantage.

Required skills

• Grant proposal development and management.
• Financial budgeting and reporting.
• Technical expertise in food systems, livelihoods and agricultural enterprises.
• Climate‑resilience and adaptation programme design.