Senior IT Solutions Associate G7

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 is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  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.

Set in an already delicate situation, Armenia is exposed to multiple threats stemming from its geographical location that makes it prone to earthquakes, the presence of a nuclear powerplant without containment structures, the possible escalation of conflicts in the Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as its nature of landlocked country and high dependency on imports of food commodities. Such threats could therefore negatively impact on the already fragile food security situation of households as well as the political and economic stability of the country.

To that, the geo-politics of Armenia and its neighbouring countries resulted in the closure of two out of the four borders of the country, leaving open only the northern and southern corridors with Georgia and Iran respectively, thus further challenging humanitarian responses in case of potential shocks. 
In line with national strategies and action plans, WFP and its partners recognize the presence of some existent, critical, yet surmountable gaps related to Emergency Preparedness, which should be urgently attended to so as to enhance response capacity of national actors and facilitate support from international actors, in particular the UN agencies. 

Together with the Government, WFP has formulated a five-year Country Strategic Plan (CSP) plan to support increased access to food and nutrition security for the Armenian population. The strategy includes improving the resilience of the Armenian society through disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness activities mitigating multiple shocks. The CSP also includes activities to improve access to nutritious food via nutrition-sensitive Food Value Chains, strengthening of national systems to address malnutrition and the creation of a transformative School Feeding models.  

While acknowledging the pivotal importance of having distinct investments in  emergency preparedness for multiple  shocks and taking into account the on-going work of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) for the Contingency Plan and sector response plans, the Logistics Cluster Assessment (LCA) findings and WFP’s current preparedness gaps, the Country Office has received funds to support specific activities, that will enhance national response capacity, establish models for social protection  and support WFP’s ability to deliver emergency support in a timely manner. 

Specifically, WFP will support the setup of beneficiary registration protocols and feedback mechanisms, a Simulation Exercise (SimEx) in partnership with other UN agencies and Government, will engage for setting up staging areas in Gyumri airport, will support the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) logistic response plan drafting, WFP’s internal protocols and business continuity for nuclear spillage, a capacity investment plan for Government, identification of shock responsive social safety models. 
 

Given the above and taking into consideration the upcoming scaled-up activities, the Country Office has identified the need to hire a team which can take the emergency preparedness activities forward rapidly.  The team will be composed of a Programme Policy Consultant (Disaster Preparedness) and a support personnel (Business Support Assistant and Senior IT Solutions Associate). The team will help the Deputy Country Director to contribute to enhanced preparedness and facilitate swift delivery of aid, supporting the capacity and ability of the Government and humanitarian community to respond to needs of population affected by emergency, shocks and stressors. 

Under the overall guidance of the Country Director and the direct supervision of the consultant for Social Protection the Senior IT Solutions Associate will be responsible for the below duties:

Social Protection Sector

•    Support Country Office in the formulation of strategies, resource mobilization and in the design of social protection programs IT and Data ecosystems.; 
•    Prepare clear technical systems documentation for developed IT solutions as part of the partnership with the Government (Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs) and in coordination with UNDP and UNICEF 
•    Contribute with technical support and analysis  to the government IT counterparts within the WFP COVID 19 IR program implementation:
-    Beneficiary identification
-    Beneficiary lists, data accuracy
-    Beneficiary registration
-    Applying targeting and criteria-based identification
-    IT & data unified operations
-    Data synchronicity and availability for Monitoring/reporting
-    Assist country leadership in evaluation of distribution channels available within the scope of data, IT efficiency and synergies
-    IT & data risk evaluation, risk mitigation plan and recommendations for the program implementation
•    Provide support to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Armenia with evaluating its IT ecosystem and contribute to the strategy formulation and contribute to the formulation of  a road map for setting up a Government owned beneficiary information management IT and data ecosystem. 
•    Support the Social protection lead in the development and implementation of on-going and longer-term agenda with the MLSA in view of WFP mission and strategy in Armenia
 

Digitization and Innovation
•    Support capacity building of Country Office staff related to the use of IT systems; 
•    Contribute with ideas  in the area of digitization and innovation enhancing Country Office capacity for social protection programs and other programme streams;
•    Collect and collate data, and conduct basic analysis for impact, efficiency or effect assessments of the initiatives implemented
•    Support the communication in this area with staff

Data Governance

•    Critical review of existing programs’ and initiatives’ data availability and tools 
•    Prepare a presentation on findings and opportunities for integration, efficiency
•    Consider data governance structures to maximise Country Office data driven decision-making capacity
•    For any recommendations lead implementation of recommendations
 

Education:    University Degree in Computer Science/Engineering, Information Systems, Programming languages and techniques, Web services and interfaces, or other relevant field.  

Experience:    At least 4 years of experience in the development of systems and applications needed to fulfil business requirements; experience in the administration and support of the applications; experience in preparing reports/trainings on IT related subjects.   
Previous experience in building capacity and partnerships with government authorities is desired. 

Knowledge & Skills:    Knowledge of database technologies, networking technologies, cloud technologies; Knowledge of KoBo Toolbox and other open source software;
Strong analytical, written and oral communication skills, excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work in a team and establish effective working relationships with key stakeholders; ability to plan and organize work with minimum supervision; ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines.

Languages:    Fluency (level C) in English and Armenian languages; working knowledge (level B) of Russian language is an advantage.

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Coaches team in the most effective ways to communicate WFP’s Strategic Objectives to WFP team and partners in the field.
•  Be a force for positive change: Implements new methods or tools to improve team’s work processes and productivity.
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Maps team’s activities and tasks to specific successes in beneficiary communities to showcase positive impact.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Explains to teammates how each unit contributes to the overall WFP mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Identifies skill development opportunities such as training modules or on-the-job experiences for self, colleagues and direct reports.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Facilitates team building activities to build rapport in own unit.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Facilitates the pairing of junior colleagues with coaches within own team.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Proactively anticipates potential challenges and develops mitigation plans to ensure that team meets goals and targets.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Identifies opportunities to be creative in own work and to help team be more innovative and accurate in their respective tasks and areas of work.
•  Focus on getting results: Monitors team’s deliverables and provides feedback to ensure outcomes are delivered consistently and accurately.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Provides accurate guidance to team on expected responsibilities and tasks, whilst also upholding own commitment to the team.
•  Be Decisive: Sets an example and provides guidance to junior team members on when to escalate issues when faced with challenging issues in the workplace or in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Facilitates partnerships with other WFP units to accomplish missions in the field.
•  Build strong external partnerships: Sets an example and provides guidance to team on how to build relationships with external partners.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Articulates to colleagues or direct reports the value of contributing to other WFP teams and agency partnerships in fulfilling WFP’s goals and objectives.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Organizes, monitors, and prioritizes own and team’s efforts to ensure that they will fulfill the needs of internal and external partners.

19 November 2020

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.