Innovation Community Manager - Consultant

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

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the United Nations frontline agency fighting hunger. WFP reaches more than 80 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 has been named one of the top 10 innovative companies 2017 by FastCompany for operating a real startup accelerator to disrupt global hunger at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). It identifies, supports and scales high potential solutions to hunger worldwide - both WFP innovators and external start-ups with $50-100K cash, hands-on support by our team and access to WFP's global operations in developing countries in a 3-6 month sprint programme. The most promising innovations are supported in scaling further.

To better address this later-stage innovations and support the scaling up of innovations, the WFP Innovation Accelerator has developed a scale-up enablement program and best practice sharing set-up to complement the early stage acceleration. As a structured approach, the scale-up enablement will provide bespoke support including access to expertise, strategic guidance, access to WFP innovation network and relevant stakeholders within and outside the organization, fundraising opportunities and other relevant needs on the path to scale. This support addresses both WFP innovations and external start-ups working on solutions to fight global hunger.

More information here: http://innovation.wfp.org and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnKkQlRdh2c.

Based in Munich, Germany, we are currently a team of 40 innovators, with over 20 different nationalities and a diverse background, e.g. as serial entrepreneurs, management/HCD consultants focused on building businesses or experts in developing country innovation. Lean start-up and human-centered design (HCD) approaches are at the core of everything we do.

We have built partnerships with leading innovation organisations such as Singularity University, XPRIZE and the German National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). Several private sector partners and high-net-worth individuals support WFP in their work in disrupting global hunger, such as Google and others.

We support the next-level innovation for WFP’s operations, such as Building Blocks, using blockchain technology for e-wallets for people receiving cash-transfers;  EMPACT - connecting refugees to online work after a 12 week training; H2Grow / hydroponics, helps refugees grow food in desert areas or camps; FarmToMarketAlliance – an alliance between WFP and 7 private sector entities purchasing food from smallholder farmers and providing credit, and agricultural inputs as for profit business model,  or new startups that could help make a difference to end hunger.

As the Accelerator team, we support other entrepreneurs (could be WFP innovators or external startups, NGOs, companies) to take their innovations to the next level – either getting ideas to the first proof of concept or already implemented solutions to the next scale-up.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Consultant, reporting to the Head of Scale-Up Enablement, is expected to:

1. Design and implement a strategy to build, grow and sustain a long-term, thriving and active innovation community:

• Design and implement guidelines and best practices for the community to optimize member experience
• Support the development of the innovation project a communications tool kit and collection of base documents for process-standardization and best practice creation and sharing
• Design communication tools and assets to support the innovation community
• Define roles, responsibilities and categories of innovation champions
• Create a training to help innovation champions to build relationships that nurture the development of the community and its members
• Conceptualize, develop and implement the Regional innovation Hubs together with WFP Regional Bureaus and other stakeholders

2. Coordinate and engage the Innovation Community and act as the knowledge management focal point for Innovation Community:

• Help Country Offices foster innovation, integrate new methodologies and engage local innovation eco-system
• Organize, monitor and grow innovation community database
• Attract high-potential social innovations from within WFP and external networks through events and workshops
• Spread knowledge on existing innovations, help enable exchange between regions, country offices, HQ functions and with the external innovation eco system
• Prepare input, talking points, briefings, powerpoint presentations and reports for management, inter-agency opportunities and donor related activities
• Assist with project reporting requirements and information management between the Accelerator, project leads and external parties

3. Support strategic evolution of scale-up enablement and the design of innovation network:

• Support Head of scale-up enablement in preparing decision-making meetings and drive innovation-related workshops
• Build and maintain effective relationships at HQ, Regional Bureau, Liaison Offices and Country Office level and participate in meetings, as needed
• Support core processes of the Innovation Accelerator (e.g. innovation challenge; innovation bootcamps; sprint programme; thought leadership; innovation fund) as required
• Support the Head of the Innovation Accelerator and the Director of Innovation with any other activities as required

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

• Ensure that all work and materials developed during the contract are well documented and available to the WFP Innovation Accelerator team

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Due to the large number of applicants, WFP will only revert back to applicants who have been shortlisted for interviews for the role.

Only applications fully completed on the WFP career website will be considered. 

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: 29 November 2019

Ref.: VA No. 107955

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.