UN Careers – Programme Policy Officer (Innovation Advisor) – United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Job Title: Programme Policy Officer (Innovation Advisor)
Organization: United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
Reports to: Head of Partnership
About WFP:
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) 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. In emergencies, WFP gets food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. After an emergency, WFP uses food to United help communities rebuild their lives. On average, WFP reaches more than 80 million people with food assistance in 80 countries each year. The organization has the global footprint, deep field presence and local knowledge and relationships necessary to provide access to food and contribute to lasting solutions, especially in many of the world’s most remote and fragile areas.
Job Summary: The Programme Policy Officer (Innovation Advisor) will be responsible for the development and growth of impactful and sustainable innovations by leveraging WFP brand, public and private partners, deep field access, and expertise to develop, nurture and scale sustainable innovations to increase food security in Uganda. The incumbent will identify problem statements or (market) opportunities, source innovations, manage innovation programme implementation and events with the support of the WFP Innovation Hub for Eastern Africa, and support the scale-up of innovations through partnerships management and close coordination with relevant WFP and external stakeholders.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
- Understand the key gaps and opportunities where innovations can play a role:
- Lead internal consultations to identify WFP innovation needs in Uganda, what has been tested as well as current innovation plans and pilots
- Facilitate strategic connections to actors in the regional innovation ecosystem (private sectors, other UN agencies, government, etc.)
- Lead external consultations to better understand needs of local innovation ecosystems as well as market failures and opportunities overlapping with WFP positioning and key priorities.
- Understand the innovations that have been tried across WFP and what could be replicated in Uganda
- Source, select and support innovations
- Identify key opportunities for innovation to enhance WFP Uganda’s impact and programmes, bringing bespoke support to develop pilots.
- Build a network with local innovation entities (innovation centres, incubators, accelerators, etc.) to understand partnership opportunities and latest innovations.
- Recruit, review and select innovative projects to attend innovation programmes and bootcamps.
- Lead preparation and writing of all fundraising proposals and scout innovation funding and partnership opportunities.
- Communicate and share knowledge on innovations
- Provide analysis and prepare content (data on projects, PowerPoint presentations, briefs, etc.) for priority topics and WFP Uganda Country and Programme Management Team meetings.
- Participate and carry out discussions with colleagues in other divisions and offices on topics related to innovation to ensure best practices & knowledge sharing.
- Support the Head of the Partnership Development Unit and the WFP Innovation Hub for Eastern Africa, as required.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- The applicant for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Programme Policy Officer (Innovation Advisor) job should hold a Bachelor’s degree in business, innovation, design, technology, international development or other related degrees
- Four years of progressively responsible national or international experience in an innovation function in a private business or start-up and/or in innovations in the humanitarian or international development sector.
- Experience working in the humanitarian or international development sector and/or in the start-up or innovation world with a focus on humanitarian and/or development issues, especially in Uganda.
- Experience owning and building strategies to develop new concepts
- Experience navigating a complex network of stakeholders
- Passion and deep understanding of the Ugandan innovation ecosystem and relevant context
- Wide-reaching networks in the innovation community in Uganda
- Start-up experience and/or start-up mentality, i.e. experience of working and leading across functions/teams to get things done in a hands-on way
- Proven track record of driving projects, effectively managing projects and events from design to completion
- Strong conceptual thinking to develop new strategies and innovative projects
- Able to interact with a broad range of stakeholders and external audiences with maturity and tact
- Ability to manage and motivate indirect reports (matrix management), set clear expectations, and encourage them to develop their skills and take ownership
- Ability to own and lead multiple strategic areas of work
- Excellent communication/presentation skills, with the ability to write strategy documents, develop business plans 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 ownership over projects to achieve impact for WFP stakeholders
- Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the UN World Food Programme
- Language: International Professional: Fluency (level C) in English language.
Competencies:
- Programme Lifecycle & Food Assistance: Demonstrates ability to identify key variables and contextual factors that affect food assistance problems and programmes throughout the lifecycle to inform quality programme design or re-design.
- Transfer Modalities (Food, Cash, Voucher): Demonstrates ability to analyse and consolidate quantitative and qualitative information from different sources (e.g., market studies) to inform transfer modality selection and programme development.
- Broad Knowledge of Specialized areas (i.e. Nutrition, VAM, etc.): Demonstrates the ability to interpret basic data in the context of WFP specialised fields to contribute to technical programme design, implementation and monitoring.
- Emergency Programming: Displays capacity to provide inputs into the development, implementation and realignment of high quality emergency programmes.
- Strategic Policy Engagement w/ Government: Develops thorough recommendations using multiple inputs (e.g., government counsel, research, own experience) to strengthen national or subnational entities and government owned food and nutrition security programmes.
NB: 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.
How to Apply:
All suitably qualified candidates who wish to join the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) are encouraged to apply online at the link below
Deadline: 2nd December 2021
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