Innovation Ventures Consultant

at  World Food Programme

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

29 November 2024-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Berlin)
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: The candidate must have a bachelor’s degree; a degree in business, or international development is preferred. Certifications/degree in Entrepreneurship and or start-up methodologies is desired.
Experience: At least 3 years of progressively responsible international experience in a start-up leadership role, start-up accelerator, innovations in private businesses, or innovations in the humanitarian or international development sector. Active experience working in humanitarian contexts is highly desirable.
Knowledge & Skills:
Passion and understanding of technology innovations (e.g. mobile apps, blockchain, artificial intelligence) and business model innovations. Experience in innovation project life cycle - from ideation, minimum viable product, testing, prototyping, and implementation. Experience working cross-functionally and getting things done in a scrappy and hands-on way. Experience in the field and/or an humanitarian organization. Worked in a humanitarian agency at a country office or regional bureau for a minimum of a year. Proven track record of driving and implementing projects - effectively delivering impactful elements of projects in a fast-moving environment, ideally for new businesses, new business models, start-ups, etc. Able to generate new and original solutions to complex problems and to design new product ideas. Strong conceptual thinking to develop new strategies & innovative projects. Able to interact with a broad range of stakeholders and external audiences. Excellent communication/presentation skills, with the ability to write strategy documents, develop business plans, and write and deliver presentations. Collaborative spirit, able to partner with a wide range of people at all levels and across different cultures and to act with credibility and diplomacy. Self-motivated and able to work with a high degree of autonomy. Sets a high level of ambition for the project and own work to achieve impact for the hungry people we serve.
Languages: Fluency in oral and written English is required. Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) is beneficial.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the United Nations frontline agency fighting hunger. WFP reaches more than 100 million people every day - delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with smallholder farmers, communities, and governments to improve nutrition and build resilience.
The WFP Innovation Accelerator was named by Fast Company as Most Innovative Non-Profit Organization 2021 for its work in identifying, nurturing, and scaling disruptive start-ups and innovations to end global hunger. Based in Munich, Germany, the Innovation Accelerator provides WFP employees, entrepreneurs, and start-ups with funding, hands-on support, and access to WFP’s global operations. Through the Innovation Accelerator, WFP is leveraging unprecedented advances in digital innovation - such as mobile technology, artificial intelligence and blockchain - and new business models to transform the way it serves vulnerable communities across the world. In 2023, Accelerator supported innovations that positively impacted the lives of 60.7 million people globally. Most recently, the Accelerator runs programmes for external partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others.
More information here: http://innovation.wfp.org and
https://youtu.be/OnKkQlRdh2c
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ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

The incumbent is expected to:
< >Support the planning and implementation of core accelerator activities: Ensure the development and improvement of the following activities and processes - content design, operational coordination and planning, and/or facilitation of boot camps, workshops, and other innovation support activities. Coordinate the start-up/innovation sourcing process (innovation challenges, pipeline sharing, active scouting, etc.) as applicable. Match start-ups/projects with WFP Country Offices, HQ units or Regional Bureaux and vice versa, and external organizations, as needed. Ensure that all innovation support activities are planned and implemented effectively and efficiently, with all relevant internal and external clients and stakeholders. Support building strong collaborations and partnerships within the humanitarian ecosystem and with the external innovation community globally, as applicable. Drive innovations and new ventures (internal and external) to potentially scale and to advance towards Zero Hunger and the other Sustainable Development Goals: Support and coach project teams from ideation to implementation (as applicable), using methodologies such as human-centered design, lean start-up, project management, and business modeling. Advise and support innovation teams on key decisions regarding product features and technology elements. Coordinate with innovation ventures to define key performance indicators and milestones for the innovation projects and innovation programs, and assure their implementation, impact measurement, and reporting. Support the innovation team throughout the innovation program curriculum, as required. Support piloting with and/or integration within WFP operations or other organizations (as applicable), while liaising with internal units such as country offices, procurement, and legal, as required. Participate in and carry out discussions with WFP colleagues in other divisions or WFP operations to align on project scope and objectives, or with stakeholders in other organizations when applicable, and execute any other task as required.
< >Support the overall Innovation Accelerator operations: Provide analysis & content preparation (data on projects, PowerPoint presentations, briefs, etc.) for corporate priority topics and management meetings. Participate and carry out discussions with colleagues in other divisions or external stakeholders on topics related to innovation. Support other core processes of the Innovation Accelerator (e.g. innovation sourcing; innovation bootcamps; sprint programme; thought leadership; scale-up enablement; innovation services; knowledge management) as required. Support the Head of the Innovation Accelerator and the Director of Innovation and Knowledge Management with any other activities as required.