Consultant - Release Manager (Service Transition)

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency, fighting hunger worldwide. We are seeking to fill a consultancy position of Release Manager (Service Transition) based at our Headquarters in Rome, Italy.

The Technology Division (TEC, formerly known as IT) is the digital business engine of the World Food Programme, providing the business with multi-pronged and resilient technical capabilities able to respond with the immediate agility required in conflict zones on the one hand and with the longer-term stability to cope natural disasters on the other. In 2019, TEC Division will increase its activities to meet the constantly growing demand from the business and the field operation, and implement the initiatives related to digital transformation.

Under the direct supervision of the Service Transition Manager, the consultant will be responsible for adapting existing ITIL processes to the Agile and DevOps framework, with Release and Change Management as its focus. The candidate will map existing business and technical processes, design workflows and review Standard Operating Procedures, working with internal stakeholders in the Technology Division and Field Offices.

The incumbent will work proactively for the Continual Service Improvement and automation of the Release service, along with the harmonisation with the other Solutions Map Boards. The role requires coordination among colleagues in the IT Service Desk, Regional Bureaus and Country Offices to ensure a successful delivery of the global Service Management tool.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Schedule, coordinate and manage corporate releases for multiple applications across various portfolios;
• Provide tools and services to help project teams manage and deploy releases into the production environment in a structured way;
• Work collaboratively with all the project teams, IT stakeholders and representatives;
• Create ad-hoc detailed reports, IT Release Calendar management and centralized view of all releases;
• Request for Changes (RFCs) screening and approval on the Service Management Corporate Tool, for those forwarded to the TEC release management queue;
• Release Advisory Board meetings management (schedule, agenda, communications, NFR), as well as pre-release formal meetings for planning, strategy, risk assessment;
• Conduct Release readiness reviews, milestone reviews, and Business Go/No-Go reviews; considering compliance, certifications, supportability and sustainability, through Network, IT security, service management and user acceptance testing;
• Maintain and update the release repository, containing all the documentation, requirements, information and certifications regarding the process and the projects/services;
• Continually work towards making improvements in the release process automation, in order to offer a better service not only for HQ but also for the entire Organization worldwide;
• Ensure that the principles of transparency, accountability and boundaries are followed and registered, aiming at infrastructure integrity;
• Assess new server requests, RFC opening and follow-up with UNICC colleagues and requestors, Datacenter repository management and update, implement RFC vetting, submission and outcomes, through the service management tool;
• Part of the Cyber Security Taskforce, to oversee all related Service Transition aspects and contribute to the improvement of the overall IT Security posture of the Organization;
• Perform any other related duty as required.

Qualifications & Experience Required

Education:

• University Degree, preferably in Business Administration, Engineering, Economics Computer Science, Social Informatics or Engineering.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of relevant experience on release management and IT Service management

Technical Skills & Knowledge:

• Strong client orientation with the ability to build productive working relationships;
• Strong verbal and written communication skills;
• Demonstrated skills at teamwork and ability to work well in a multicultural team environment;
• Certification on ITIL v4 Foundation, Service Management desirable;
• Training in specific modules including Service Transition is desirable.

   Language

• Fluency in oral and written English with an intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) is desirable.

Terms and Conditions

WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.

Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WFP.

http://www.wfp.org Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.

Deadline for applications: 20 September 2019

Ref.: VA No. 107150

Qualified female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero-tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.