Regional Innovations Consultant

WHAT IMPACT WILL YOU MAKE WORKING WITH THE LARGEST HUMANITARIAN AGENCY FIGHTING HUNGER WORLDWIDE?

My WFP Story

“No matter your background (educational or experience or sector), you have unique skill sets that can be cross-applied to our work at WFP. So, when you see an opening, don't talk yourself out of it, apply! -Regional Data Coordinator

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) seeks individuals 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

Female applicants are especially encouraged to apply

The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetime. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

The WFP Regional Bureau for Eastern and Central Africa (RBN) is based in Nairobi and provides strategic direction, technical guidance, resource mobilization and management support to WFP operations and activities in nine countries: Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda.

The Regional Innovations Consultant will be responsible to identify, support and scales innovations that help fast-track WFP’s work towards the next level of emergency response and achieving Zero Hunger. The Consultant will be working closely with Regional Bureaus and Business Units at Headquarters level in support of the Country Offices.

The establishment of Regional Innovation Hubs within the Regional network will help facilitate those necessary links and collaboration initiatives among stakeholders, helping regional innovation projects to scale, establish central regional coordination, without compromising country and department specific initiatives while ensuring an orchestration of efforts, and the creation of synergies between projects, sharing knowledge and best practices among Country Offices, regions and WFP as a whole.

Reporting to the RBN (Regional Bureau, Nairobi), Head of Partnerships and working closely with all functional units in RBN including Partnerships, Supply Chain, Programmes, etc. The incumbent will ensure innovation coordination and innovation knowledge management across the region, provide technical advice to innovation projects in COs (Country Offices) in RBN, and support the scale of innovations through partnerships management and through close coordination with relevant RBN and CO teams.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Innovation, Design, Technology or related fields .Preference will be given to candidates with Master's degree in related fields.

Working Experience: At least 5 years of progressively responsible national or international experience in a start-up, innovations function in private businesses or innovations in the humanitarian or international development sector.

Proven Track of experience working in a large-scale organisation

Language: Fluency in oral and written English mandatory. An intermediate knowledge of another official UN language will be an added advantage.

• Passion and deep understanding of technology innovations (e.g. mobile apps, blockchain, artificial intelligence) and business model innovations (e.g. innovative finance, crowdsourcing)
• Startup experience or startup mentality. Worked or led cross-functionally and get things done in a scrappy and hands-on way
• Proven track driving projects - effectively delivering impactful elements of projects in fast-moving environment, ideally for new businesses, new business models, startups
• Able to generate new and original solutions to complex problems and to design new products ideas
• Strong conceptual thinking to develop new strategies & innovative projects
• Able to interact with a broad range of stakeholders and external audience with maturity and tact
• Excellent communication/presentation skills, with the ability to write strategy documents, to develop business plans and to 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 high-level of ambition for the project and own work to achieve impact for the hungry people we serve

1. Strengthen innovation capacity at RB and CO level:

1. Enable access and advice on use of innovation methodologies, such as human centered design, lean start up etc. and innovation process from ideation, sourcing, sprinting and scaling
2. Support the local WFP offer of innovation services, such as running or participating in local innovation workshop/bootcamps/challenges
3. Ensure linkages between COs and the Innovation Accelerator in Munich to help projects reach growth/scale (e.g. impact, level of innovation, team).
4. Support resource mobilization and seed funding efforts, ensuring these opportunities are made known and country offices have the support they need to pursue these funds.
5. Facilitate the Accelerator’s efforts in support to the design and implementation of the Country Strategic Plans.

2. Support strategic evolution of global innovation community, scale-up enablement and general innovation accelerator build up

1. Execute any other task required to support the activities of scale-up enablement and the Accelerator or regional innovation activities.

3. Establish and develop the Regional Innovation Hub as part of the WFP Innovation Community:

1. In consultation with the Accelerator and the RBN Management, define and develop the necessary structure, roles of the responsibilities of the various stakeholders contributing to the work of the Regional Innovation Hub
2. Design and build the Regional Innovation Hub processes and capabilities in line with Regional strategic priorities and with an emphasis on innovation, fundraising support, knowledge and best practice sharing
3. Establish and manage relationships with internal functional and business units at RB and Cos, as well as with the Accelerator.

4. Support building a strong local innovation platform, network and ecosystem

1. Support building strong partnerships within the Nairobi and East Africa ecosystem, especially with other UN agencies, to drive forward innovations with potential for zero hunger
2. Support building an internal innovation network to share best practices and create a peer support system
3. Provide support (act as liaison) to any relevant innovations which are showcased in the UNON Innovation Park.

December 16 ,2019.

Only Shorlisted Candidates will be contacted.

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.