DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

30 March 2025-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Rome)
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.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:
Preference for a degree in business, economics or engineering
Experience:
About 4-5 years of work experience in management consulting, change management, investment banking or private equity. One year an international organization preferred.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Proven ability to develop new strategies and innovative projects
• Strong analytical abilities, both quantitative and qualitative: ability to perform advanced analysis in excel and produce high-quality written materials, including powerpoint presentations as well as text documents;
• Experience with optimization processes (e.g. optimization of strategic planning, sourcing, logistics, finance processes, performance management, etc.)
• Collaborative spirit to liaise with a wide range of people at all levels and across different cultures, with credibility and diplomacy;
• Time management skills with an ability to plan ahead, anticipate requirements, problems and obstacles, and an ability to juggle competing priorities successfully, and to work on tight deadlines;
• Self-motivated and able to work with of autonomy and to coordinate a team;
• Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the UN World Food Programme.

Languages:
In addition to a high proficiency in written and spoken English, knowledge of a
second UN language is a plus.
Visa:
WFP supports Visa applications and the position is based in Rome, Italy.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Over the past years the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has responded to an unprecedented level of emergencies, while maintaining ongoing operations. This increased demand stretches the organization which means WFP has to find new approaches and ways of working to ensure we are channelling every available resource to the people we serve.

The Change Management and Business Innovation Unit (BIU) was established in 2015 to manage change and to promote innovation as part of WFP’s Innovation division:

• BIU acts as the “advisory arm” of WFP
• BIU is composed of staff with top-tier management consulting backgrounds as well as UN experience

We execute projects on behalf of Executive Directors, Assistant Secretary Generals, and Directors across the UN system, and have become a trusted advisor to WFP and other entities (e.g. UN Women, UNFPA, Business Innovation Group). Our focus is on end-to-end solutions, including problem assessment, data analysis, operational model design, change plan and implementation monitoring.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Execution of Business Innovation projects Overall Innovation and Change Management priorities Other activities

Depending on time of joining, the candidate’s specific experience and current corporate priorities, the candidate will be responsible for the full delivery of a project work stream or a small project. Examples of specific deliverables are:

• Corporate Executive Director, Board and divisional key initiatives
• Support Division Managers on prioritization of key corporate initiatives
• Guide in discussions with team members and other divisions to align on objectives, activities, timelines and outputs
• Guide analytical and project management support
• Act as an advisory to the Director sponsoring the initiative and driving implementation
• UN Reform: Guide UN Reform implementation inside the WFP and part of an inter-agency project team
• Support UNDCO to perform data collection (e.g., producing/updating data collection template, preparing and leading training sessions for all participating UN entities, supporting data missions in countries, etc.);
• Propose and carry out analysis and visualizations to drive insights and enable CBO Project Team to make data-driven decisions
• Support UNDCO to perform analysis on service delivery effectiveness and efficiency, areas for optimization and improvement, and review current service approaches at global and country levels
• Support communication efforts on UN Reform
• Additional divisional needs
• Support knowledge management reviews and best practices sharing
• Guide and supervise more junior staff, acting as a point of referral and supporting them with more complex analysis and queries
• Additional project support based on pipeline and new projects contracted during time of contract, as require