Product Manager - Digital SBP Products

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, color, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status, physical or mental disability.

Job Title: Product Manager – Digital SBP Products

Type of Contract: Regular Consultancy

Division: School-Based Programmes

Duty Station (City, Country): Rome HQ, Italy

Duration: 11 months

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The product manager is the main technical focal point between SBP and TEC and oversees day-to-day operations and product development of SBP digital products. He/she will report directly to tbi and collaborate closely with the digital solutions and innovation consultants dedicated to School Connect and SMP PLUS. The goal of School Connect to track attendance, consumption and stock movements at school level in all WFP operated School Feeding programmes worldwide. The SMP PLUS application allows governments and WFP operations to optimize the menu design, taking into account nutrition and health aspects, the economic benefits for the local economy and prices.

ACCOUNTABITLITIES / RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Update and translate the business case for menu optimization into a user-friendly quality application, which includes a nutrition, health, price and economic impact angle and to be used by governments in the improvement of their school feeding menus, in particular to buffer the economic challenges resulting from the Ukraine crisis.
• Update and translate the business case for and attendance, consumption and stock moving tracking, reporting and analysis into a user-friendly quality application which improve the decision making based on real time information by the country office management.
• Maintain product canvas, product roadmaps and digital SBP road map up to date
• Present any update to the Product Roadmap for endorsement to the TEC Architectural Board
• Make all decisions necessary to complete the project and be responsible for managing the Product Backlog, including to identify and express Product Backlog items clearly; to order the Product Backlog items to best achieve goals and missions, to optimize the value of the work the team performs; to ensure that the Product Backlog is visible, transparent, and clear to all, and shows what the Team will work on further as well as to ensure that the Team understands items in the Product Backlog to the level needed.
• Keep the team accountable to their commitments to the business and remove any roadblocks that might impede the team’s productivity and meet at least weekly to review work and deliverables.
• Coach and motivate team member and organize the critical events and meeting, including sprint planning sessions etc.
• Manage the product budget and prepare cost estimates based on the IT Solution Architect’s high-level effort estimates. 
• Keep track of the consumption of purchased time-and-materials quotas; 
• Provide guidance to vendors concerning the submission of consumption reports and invoices; 
• Approve consumption reports for the insertion the corresponding Service Entry Sheets; and 
• Create and renew Purchase Orders in collaboration with the TEC’s Head of Sourcing.
• Any other duties as required for the successful delivery of the product or project. 

DELIVERABLES QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• School Connect application finalized as user-friendly quality applications, which is well integrated with WFP’s data systems and addresses the business needs of school feeding programmes operationally manage by WFP.
• SMP-PLUS application upgraded to integrate a health aspect into the optimisation and to meet user need.
• Self-training applications finalized for solutions.
• A well-defined Product Vision and an up-to-date Product Roadmap fully aligned with Business Roadmaps and the needs of end-users. 
• A well-managed Product Backlog, duly groomed and with Product Backlog Items (PBIs) passing the Definition of Ready criteria. 
• A product which achieves the highest quality in terms of technical usability, user acceptability, and domain suitability. 
• A high level of satisfaction of the Stakeholders, IT Solution Architect, and Development Teams in relation to soft-skills such as effective communication, conflict management, strategic contributions to product’s success, leadership skills, etc. 
• Contribution to improvement of shared processes and tools.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

University degree in Business Administration, Information Technology or related fields

Experience:

Minimum three years post graduate experience with product/project management, and a proven track record of planning, leading and executing related projects.

Knowledge and Skills:

In-depth knowledge and experience with Agile and Scrum desirable. Knowledge of Product and Project Management methodologies and tools. Experience gathering business and user requirements. Ability to influence cross-functionally to manage projects within a matrix environment; Ability to manage budget, resources and risks. Ability to manage Stakeholders also at senior levels. 

Languages:

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: 3 June 2022

Ref.: VA No. 164855

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

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.