Chief of Technology/CTO
WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.
Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.
Job Title: Chief of Technology/CTO
Division: PPF – Private Partnerships and Fundraising Division
Duty Station: Remote
Type of Contract: full-time regular Consultant
Duration: 11 months
Deadline for applications: 18.10.2022
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. Around 20,000 people work for the organization, most of them in remote areas, directly serving the hungry poor.
To reach a world with zero hunger, WFP is investing in and growing private sector fundraising and partnerships. ShareTheMeal is WFP’s fundraising and awareness-raising app. Free to download, the award-winning app is a pioneering way for people to join our efforts in creating a world with zero hunger.
ShareTheMeal currently has more than 6 million users worldwide, who have shared more than 125 million meals (US$ 60 million). WFP is pursuing an ambitious growth strategy for individual giving, and ShareTheMeal is a key driver for this strategy going forward. The team, located in Berlin, is focused on further developing the app to include new and innovative features, and on increasing the engagement of existing users and growing the user base through marketing and communication initiatives.
ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Consultant, reporting to the Head of the ShareTheMeal initiative, is expected to:
Lead the (~18 person) Product and Platform Engineering teams
- Lead high-performing teams to create and implement strategic initiatives in support of the goals and priorities across the board.
- Adopt Agile principles to continuously improve working processes and drive iterative business value.
- Lead, inspire and develop the team of Android, iOS, Web, QA, Backend and Infrastructure Engineers and Lead Engineers.
- Mentor and coach direct reports and their reports as needed, to ensure performance in the team is sustained and continuously improved.
- Ensure ways of working and team processes optimize for high impact output, all the while striking a balance between agility and the need to navigate established external structures.
- Instil a culture of user centricity and experimentation, based on data and insights.
- Carry out discussions with relevant external counterparts and WFP staff to derive options on the tech strategy.
- Own the planning and prioritising of resources across the Technology team to ensure an effectiveness on delivery and ongoing maintenance/support of our platforms and services
Develop the tech strategy and tech OKRs
- Planning, development, and implementation of an updated technology roadmap.
- Create OKRs and tech roadmaps to execute on the tech strategy; ensure teams are aligned on these and they take ownership in delivering on them.
- Create, prioritize, and oversee tasks, as well as update relevant documentation
- Follow the latest developments in software engineering and convert these learnings into a future-proof tech strategy.
- Transition to a scalable cloud architecture for a high traffic environment based using best practices like containerisation, immutable infrastructure, etc.
- Achieve Production excellence using Observability and security best practices.
- Set, monitor and analyse technology performance metrics
- Align the technology resources with the organization’s short- and long-term goals, incl. Data privacy and security.
Ensure operational excellence in driving the strategy implementation
- Work collaboratively with the staff, where relevant, and at all levels across the organisation to ensure that our digital and technology products are customer-led and scalable.
- Continuously improve working processes within the Tech team (incl. tools, hardware) as well as at the intersection of other teams like Product and UX.
- Ensure squads are well-balanced and have (or to have access to) the correct technical skills to succeed.
- Improve internal tooling and automation, interface with WFP TEC on tools and processes.
- Guide overall technical and architectural decisions and tool choices.
- Collaborate with tech vendors and partners and drive decisions that optimize for output for WFP.
Other
- Stay abreast of sector trends in major donor fundraising and bring relevant learnings to the team.
- Work with our existing global systems, policies, and processes to deliver the objectives of this role in a compliant, collaborative, and efficient way.
- Any other tasks as consummate with the level of experience and required to support the Tech team and PPF
DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:
- A stable and engaged Tech team which meets agreed objectives but is also fulfilled and growing alongside ShareTheMeal to deliver on its future ambitions.
- A tech strategy and roadmap for 2022-23, working with the Head of ShareTheMeal, to achieve ShareTheMeal’s targets.
- Stable operations of the ShareTheMeal mobile app, website, backend and infrastructure.
- Engaged, high performing teams who are driven by our mission and excited to continue working at ShareTheMeal.
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
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Education: |
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related |
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Experience: |
At least 9 years of experience developing and scaling native mobile applications to millions of users. At least 4 years of experience managing software teams. |
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Knowledge & Skills: |
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Languages: |
In addition to a high proficiency in written and spoken English, knowledge of a second UN language is a plus |
Terms and Conditions
Short-listed candidates can be subject to written assessment.
WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by role’s responsibilities and deliverables. This consultancy assignment is renewable upon funding.
Visit the website for detailed information on working with WFP: http://www.wfp.org – Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about our operations.
Qualified female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply.
WFP is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all qualified candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the Organisation. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the selection & recruitment process, and for work-related needs upon joining the Programme.
WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status. WFP has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, abuse of authority or discrimination. 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.
We greatly appreciate your interest in WFP and joining our mission to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030
Saving Lives, Changing Lives!
