The position is located in the Office of the Chief of Staff (CoS), which oversees WFP’s regional bureaux. The office also manages the Operations Management Support (OMS) Office and the Global Privacy Office (GPO). The Office provides strategic guidance to the Executive Director and works closely with the Leadership Group and the regional directors to steer the direction of the organization and ensure optimal performance throughout.

Moreover, the Office oversees the new project focusing on optimizing support to country offices known colloquially as COSMOS (Country Office Support Model Optimization & Simplification) as well as a newly established Secretariat to harmonize different corporate initiatives including COSMOS.

As the challenges facing the humanitarian world multiply it becomes increasingly important that WFP aligns its functional activities with the expanding and evolving operational demands. Thus WFP’s organizational structure must empower and enable country offices to focus almost exclusively on those most in need, by streamlining functional activities in a manner that limits the administrative and oversight burden.

To that extent, WFP has engaged in a series of functional reviews aimed at improving the efficacy of support to operations enabling them to carry out their work in the most optimized manner. Complementary to these functional reviews are also other ongoing corporate initiatives focused on consolidating repetitive processes and strengthening the overall services.

To oversee the COSMOS project, which builds on the various functional reviews, as well as to align other ongoing corporative initiatives, the senior leadership of WFP has established a Secretariat to coordinate and align efforts to provide corporate coherence across the various initiatives.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

The successful candidate will contribute to an exercise, which will consist of in-depth analysis of how functions could be organized between headquarters, regional bureaux, and country offices, to maximize operational decision-making applying the subsidiarity principle.
Play an active role in the formulation of approaches and strategies for resolving complex, strategic problems the organization is facing. Through leveraging experience from other strategic roles in both a private sector and UN context, s/he will serve as a sounding board to the Project Coordinator managing the Secretariat.
Conduct analysis both independently and with the greater team as well as the selected functions to support strategy development and delivery.
Manage the day-to-day issues raised by project teams. Review project plans, status reports and monitor the completion of deliverables. Monitor project team capacity and recommend resource changes as required.
Serve as the project focal point for queries related to corporate documents and coordinate with the Chief of Staff front office and departmental front offices on project management topics.
Support field offices’ expectations in terms of business needs and ensure buy-in of solutions. Seek ongoing opportunities to support or increase the business value from those solutions.
Propose change and continuous operational improvement that supports field capabilities, by reviewing articulated needs, reviewing proposed solution and recommending improvements that deliver value for business priorities.
Perform other related duties and assignments as and when required.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced university degree in development studies, international relations, public administration, business administration, economics, social sciences or related field.

Knowledge and Skills:

A minimum of six years of professional experience, including relevant work experience in the United Nations system, other international organizations, NGOs, or public-sector. Experience in change management and project management are essential skills. Field experience is a desired skill.

Strong planning, prioritization and organizational skills.
Demonstrated negotiating, cultural sensitivity and diplomatic skills.
Ability to provide information, tools, resources to support work achievement.
Strong interpersonal skills.
Knowledge of WFP operations.
Strong communication skills, both written and oral. Excellent drafting skills with the ability to edit and clear reports, speeches and correspondences.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Experience with the development of key performance indicators and overall performance management.
Ability to work in a highly pressure environment.
Strong sense of responsibility, confidentiality and accountability.

Languages:

Proficiency/level C of English (requirement) and other United Nations language(s) desired.

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: 6 July 2022

Ref.: VA No. 167669

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.

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Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: wfp.org