With 75 years of experience, our focus is on helping the most vulnerable children overcome poverty and experience fullness of life. We help children of all backgrounds, even in the most dangerous places, inspired by our Christian faith.
Come join our 31,000+ staff working in nearly 100 countries and share the joy of transforming vulnerable children’s life stories!
Employee Contract Type:
Local - Fixed Term Employee (Fixed Term)Job Description:
Senior Program Officer
Food Systems, Livelihoods & Resilience | Somalia
About the Role
World Vision International – Somalia is seeking an experienced Business Development & Grants Specialist to support resource mobilisation and grants management for our food systems, livelihoods, and resilience programmes. The incumbent will identify funding opportunities, develop winning proposals, and manage grants from award through close-out, while shaping practical programmes that help farming and pastoral communities recover from and withstand shocks.
Main Roles and Responsibilities
- Find, prioritise and win funding opportunities with donors, UN agencies, climate funds and the private sector.
- Lead proposal development: concept notes, budgets, logframes and donor applications.
- Manage grants end-to-end: start-up, compliance, reporting, budgets and close-out.
- Design food security, livelihoods and agricultural enterprise programmes grounded in market realities.
- Provide technical advisory and quality assurance support to ensure effective programme implementation and sustainable results
- Build climate-resilient and adaptation approaches into programme and funding proposals.
- Develop partnerships with government, UN agencies, private sector and research institutions.
- Update the grant management database, creating opportunities and project profiles.
Qualifications and competencies.
- Advanced degree in agriculture, agricultural economics, economics, business administration or development finance.
- 7–10 years' experience in business development, grants management or private-sector partnerships.
- A track record of winning funding and managing institutional or UN/WFP grants.
- Proven experience working with the private sector (agriculture, finance, etc).
- Technical knowledge of livelihoods, food systems, agriculture or livestock programming.
- Experience with resilience or climate-adaptation programme design.
- Strong financial literacy, and excellent writing, analysis and negotiation skills.
- Prior experience in Somalia or a similar fragile, climate-vulnerable context is an advantage.
Working Environment
Position to be office based with 30% international travel is required.
World Vision adheres to strict child and adult safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks which will include criminal background checks. They will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.
Position advert will close on 18th October 2026 at 00:00am (EAT)
Applicant Types Accepted:
Local Applicants OnlySkills Required
- 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
- Track record of winning funding and managing institutional or UN/WFP grants
- Proven private-sector experience, including agriculture or finance
- Technical knowledge of livelihoods, food systems, agriculture, or livestock programming
- Experience designing resilience or climate-adaptation programs
- Strong financial literacy, writing, analysis, and negotiation skills
- Prior experience in Somalia or a similar fragile, climate-vulnerable context
- Ability to undertake 30% international travel
What We Do
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to tackle the causes of poverty and injustice.
