Digital Product Manager

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

ABOUT WFP

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 a Digital Product Manager position in the INKA division, based in Munich, Germany.

Brief description of WFP Innovation Accelerator, INKA:

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 Innovation Accelerator provides WFP employees and start-ups with funding, hands-on support, and access to WFP’s global operations. Through the 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 2021, Accelerator supported innovations that positively impacted the lives of 9 million people globally. Most recently, the Accelerator runs programs 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:

Job title: Digital Product Manager

Unit: Innovation Accelerator, Innovation and Knowledge Management Division (INKA)

Country: Germany

Duty Station: Munich

Initial contract duration: 5 months (extendable)

Expected Start Date: 01.12.2022

About the Project:

Decisions about large scale food fortification (LSFF) programmes and policy require evidence of the magnitude and distribution of micronutrient malnutrition; the likelihood that current diets meet recommended vitamin and mineral requirements, including for specific subpopulations, and access to, and consumption of, current or potential fortified foods. Such evidence can help identify needs and determine the contributions of current or potential LSFF programmes, as well as other interventions, on improving micronutrient adequacy, with particular emphasis on women and girls and others who are usually most vulnerable. Unfortunately, due to the limited resources, complexity and invasiveness of collecting data on indicators of micronutrient status and dietary intake, these data can be scarce.

The Modelling and Mapping Inadequate Micronutrient (MIMI) project will address gaps in the LSFF data landscape by modelling and mapping a robust index for overall inadequate micronutrient intake at the subnational level and applying to policy dialogues. The project will harness the tools of Machine Learning to predict the MIMI Index in data constrained contexts, enabling rapid evidence generation to inform current decision-making. The ultimate focus is the rapid and accurate estimation of the risk of micronutrient inadequacy for different population subgroups and the development of interactive map-based dashboards to make these data accessible, relevant and actionable for decision-makers.

MIMI will be developed in coordination with WFP nutrition and research assessment & monitoring experts The final outcome is to test the policy relevance of the map by engaging with policy decision-makers in the three focus countries (India, Nigeria and Ethiopia), with an aim to inform strategies to quantify and optimize the contribution that LSFF can make towards achieving dietary nutrient sufficiency.

Purpose of the Assignment:

The Digital Product Manager will support the two-year MIMI project, led by the WFP Nutrition Division’s Analytics and Science for Food and Nutrition team. The incumbent will be under the overall supervision of the Head of Scale Up Enablement (INKA), reporting to the LSFF Project Manager, and will work in close coordination with the MIMI Project Lead (Nutrition Division). This position will engage with and work alongside potential users of the final MIMI ‘product’ – interactive map-based dashboards displaying the MIMI index at the sub-national level. The incumbent will be expected to inform nutrition analysts, data scientists and software engineers working on the index development and testing and intervention modelling, on stakeholder needs and preferences and, ultimately, how to design and position MIMI outputs to encourage uptake and use for decision-makers. They will then lead user experience exercises in tandem with the development of the interactive dashboards. The incumbent will work as part of a diverse and dynamic multidisciplinary team and alongside partners in each of our focus countries, as well as globally.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

The incumbent, reporting to the LSFF Project Manager and working in close coordination with the Nutrition Division, is expected to:

1. Drive development of user-facing MIMI ‘products’:

• Participate in and inform stakeholder mapping and engagement activities, globally and in each of the project countries;
• Liaise with country-based team members and take a key role in technical working group meetings to document and respond to end-user needs and preferences, reporting back to the broader project team;
• Take a lead role as a product development manager in advising and supporting multi stakeholder innovation teams on key decisions regarding digital product features, and technology elements;
• Mentor and coach project teams in designing the MIMI products using methodologies such as human centered design, lean start-up, agile project management and business modeling;
• Define key performance indicators and milestones for the innovation product, to assure their implementation, impact measurement, and reporting;
• Guide pilot activities with and/or integration of the product within Government and WFP operations or within other organizations (as applicable), while liaising with country offices and internal units, as required;
• Carry out discussions with WFP colleagues from the Project Team in other divisions or in WFP operations to align on the product and project scope and objectives; and execute any other task as required.

2. Operationalize and create tools for the product development lifecycle and related activities:

• Ensure a robust product definition process to drive all project phases from ideation to post launch, in coordination with the project team and other stakeholders of the project;
• Observe the market globally and in focus countries and identify new trends and customer needs;
• Work effectively with project team, all internal departments and external stakeholder during product development and launch phase;
• Prepare all relevant documentations in time (such as technical and process documentation, training materials and user guides).

3. Support the overall Innovation Accelerator operations:

• Provide analysis & content preparation (data on projects, PowerPoint presentations, briefs, etc.) for corporate priority topics and management meetings
• Participate and carry out discussions with colleagues in other divisions or external stakeholders on topics related to innovation;
• 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;
• Support the Head of the Innovation Accelerator and the Director of Innovation and Knowledge Management with any other activities as required.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Bachelor’s degree. Master’s degree is a plus

Experience: At least 5 years of progressively responsible international experience in a product role, including in a start-up or innovation accelerator, innovations in private businesses or innovations in the humanitarian or international development sector. Direct experience in product management is a must. Experience in scaling food fortification, nutrition, or digital health products and/or innovations in multiple locations and experience working in Sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia is a plus.

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

REQUIRED SKILLS | WFP COMPETENCIES

• Passion and understanding of technology innovations (e.g., mobile apps, blockchain, machine learning, artificial intelligence).
• Experience in product and innovation project life cycle - from ideation, minimum viable product, testing, prototyping and implementation.
• Worked or led cross-functionally and get things done in a scrappy and hands-on way.
• Demonstrated experience identifying, mapping, and engaging with stakeholders to understand project or market need and end-user demand and preferences.
• Experience working in a large scale-organization or with a client/in partnership with a large-scale organization.
• Proven track record of driving products and 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 products ideas.
• Strong conceptual thinking to develop new strategies & innovative products and projects.
• Able to interact with and work alongside 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.
• Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the UN World Food Programme.

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.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Closing Date: 24 October 2022

VA Reference number: 175821

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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.

WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFP’s standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment

WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.