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Communications Consultant

WFP Innovation Accelerator, INKA, Munich, Germany

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. We are currently seeking to fill an Innovation Accelerator Events Project Manager position in the INKA division, based in Munich, Germany.

Brief description of WFP Innovation Accelerator, INKA:

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the United Nations frontline agency fighting hunger. WFP reaches more than 100 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 was named by Fast Company as Most Innovative Non-Profit Organization 2021 for its work in identifying, nurturing, and scaling disruptive start-ups and innovations to end global hunger. Based in Munich, Germany, the WFP Innovation Accelerator provides WFP employees, entrepreneurs and start-ups with funding, hands-on support, and access to WFP’s global operations. Through the Innovation Accelerator, WFP is leveraging unprecedented advances in digital innovation - such as mobile technology, artificial intelligence and blockchain - and new business models to transform the way it serves vulnerable communities across the world. In 2020, Accelerator supported innovations that positively impacted the lives of 3.7 million people globally. Most recently, the Accelerator runs programmes for external partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others.

More information here: http://innovation.wfp.org and https://youtu.be/OnKkQlRdh2c.

General Information:

• Title of Post: Budget and Programming Consultant
• Unit: Innovation Accelerator, Innovation and Knowledge Management Division (INKA)
• Country: Germany
• Duty Station: Munich
• Initial contract duration: 5 months
• Expected Start Date: 01.01.2022

Duties and responsibilities:

The incumbent, reporting to the Head of Innovation Operations, is expected to:

1. Contribute towards the development of plans, processes and procedures ensuring compliance with wider budget programming policies and WFP standards.
2. Create and review project budget plans and monitor ongoing project performance against budget, ensuring adherence to guidance and policies, and providing financial analysis and advice to optimise resources.
3. Monitor and provide advice on fund utilisation, and advance financing, loan and borrowing/repayment and refinancing arrangements; alerting Head of Business Units to approaching deadlines for unassigned funds and potential resource shortfalls/surpluses, and proposing appropriate solutions.
4. Monitor and provide advice on actions related to project closure and resource transfer.
5. Monitor the resource pipeline to maximize operational effectiveness, following standards and processes, and providing advice on resource allocations based on severity of pipeline shortfalls using relevant pipeline tools.
6. Create and review budget and project documentation and ensure relevant resource data is recorded in internal systems for reference, in line with WFP standards and procedures.
7. Collate and analyse data for the preparation of accurate and timely reports, to enable informed decision-making and consistency of information presented to senior management and external stakeholders.
8. Proactively contribute ideas to senior officers for improvement to systems, techniques, tools, processes and procedures to better monitor and manage budgets and funds.
9. Support the capacity building of WFP staff in budgeting, fund management and operational planning through answering queries and updating training materials, manuals and guidelines.
10. Represent the unit at internal meetings/committees/working groups as required, in order to obtain and provide information from a budget and resource programming perspective.
11. Support the overall Innovation Accelerator operations:
    1. Provide analysis & content preparation (data on projects, PowerPoint presentations, briefs, etc.) for corporate priority topics and management meetings;
    2. Participate and carry out discussions with colleagues in other divisions or external stakeholders on topics related to innovation;
    3. Support other core processes of the Innovation Accelerator (e.g. innovation sourcing; innovation bootcamps; sprint programme; thought leadership; scale-up enablement; innovation services; knowledge management) as required;
    4. Support the Head of the Innovation Accelerator and the Director of Innovation and Knowledge Management with any other activities as required.

Required qualifications and experience:

Education:

Advanced University degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics or other relevant field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses.

Experience:

At least 3 years of experience in budget management in the humanitarian or international development sector.

Required soft skills/WFP Competencies:

• Experienced with SAP with a good understanding of various Finance modules like FI, FM or GM is an asset.
• Confident user of MS Excel which can handle a wide range of formulas, pivot tables and other available tools and functions to manage big volumes of information in a reasonable time.
• Good knowledge of internal controls and proper accounting procedures and systems to recommend improvements when necessary.
• Experience working cross-functionally and getting things done in a scrappy and hands-on way.
• Worked in a large-scale organization or with a client/in partnership with a large-scale organization.
• A proven track record of driving and implementing projects - effectively delivering impactful elements of projects in a fast-moving environment, ideally for new businesses, new business models, start-ups etc.
• Able to generate new and original solutions to complex problems and to design new product ideas..
• 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 a high-level of ambition for the project and own work to achieve impact for the hungry people we serve.
• Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the UN World Food Programme.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in oral and written English is mandatory. Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish), Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) or German is beneficial.

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 website for detailed information on working with WFP: http://www.wfp.org

Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.

VA Reference no: 151249

Closing Date: 1 November 2021

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.

Fighting Hunger Worldwide