Innovation Learning Design & Impact Officer, SC8, Regional Bureau for Eastern Africa (RBN)

JOB TITLE: Innovation Learning Design & Impact Officer

TYPE OF CONTRACT: Service Contract, SC8

UNIT/DIVISION: WFP Regional Bureau for East Africa (RBN)

DUTY STATION (City, Country): Nairobi, Kenya

DURATION: 12 months (With possibilities of extension)

BACKGROUND:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the United Nations frontline agency fighting hunger. WFP reaches more than 80 million people every day – delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with smallholder farmers, communities and governments to improve nutrition and build resilience.

As conflict, climate change and COVID-19 drive up the number of hungry people in Eastern Africa, finding innovative solutions to the complex humanitarian & development challenges in the region is essential, now perhaps more than ever. WFP Regional Bureau for Eastern Africa which oversees some of the most promising innovations at WFP, has recently launched a WFP Innovation Hub for Eastern Africa to disrupt hunger in the region (Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda).. Its main goals are to a) upscale & support local innovation ecosystems to strengthen local food systems, b) support WFP country offices to test new products and innovations and c) facilitate best practices & knowledge sharing.

Based in Nairobi, the WFP Innovation Hub for Eastern Africa identifies, supports and scales high potential solutions to hunger worldwide. It supports entrepreneurs (could be WFP innovators or external startups, NGOs, companies) to take their innovations to the next level – either getting ideas to the first proof of concept or already implemented solutions to the next scale-up. The most promising innovations are supported in scaling further.

The WFP Innovation Hub for Eastern Africa is now supported by USAID, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other partners. A wide range of next-level innovation are being supported, ranging from innovative businesses in South Sudan to start-ups in Uganda and Rwanda. With additional funding secured, the Hub is planning to launch new innovation programmes in the region (e.g. a climate-focused acceleration programme), build more services and products to support WFP teams in their quest to build the WFP of tomorrow and implement its newly-developed theory of change and M&E framework.

PURPOSE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

With a growing portfolio the Hub is looking for an Innovation Learning Design and Impact Officer to take impact measurement and knowledge sharing to the next level. Reporting to the Sustainable Food Systems Innovation Advisor, you will be spearheading this critical work within the Hub. Entrepreneurial and independent, you will be working with all functional units in the Regional Bureau, HQ and Country Offices as well as stakeholders and partners in the global and regional innovation ecosystem and lead the development of this portfolio.

The responsibilities will include:

1. Drive the collective learning agenda for the Innovation Hub:

• Use innovation approaches like Human Centered Design to define what we want to learn, when and why. Map potential research questions and define which case studies are most relevant to share externally about the Hub’s innovation journey.
• Develop timely surveys and after-action reviews and assess feedback to gain actionable qualitative insights into what is working / what could be improved across the Hub’s programming.
• Work with workstream leads within the team to implement lessons learned into project design.
• Further refine the existing learning framework to evaluate the impact of each Innovation Hub’s innovation activities in collaboration with the Innovation Hub Team and WFP Evaluation team.
• In collaboration with communications, knowledge management and graphics, co-create content on the work of the innovation hub, particularly with regards to what we have learnt, where we have failed, how we have iterated our approach.

1. Orchestrate the development and set up of an innovation learning community:

• Proactively facilitate cross learning on innovation (case studies, calls, workshops etc) between our country offices, the Columbian Innovation Hub and HQ teams; utilizing channels such as the WFP Global Innovation Network, WFP East African Innovation Community, regional network etc.
• Champion cross learning on innovation across the UN innovation community (UNIN) and play a key role in knowledge exchange and collaboration with other UN agencies.
• Develop a plan to create a community of practice with external actors (innovators, entrepreneur support organizations, universities, governments, etc.) to create a space where learning is shared, valued and leveraged.

1. Lead on impact measurement and reporting:

• In collaboration with CARE counterparts, revise the Hub’s current Theory of Change (TOC) on a periodical basis based on lessons learned and the Hub’s evolution of activities.
• In collaboration with HQ and implementing partner, develop a standardized set of indicators to enable the overarching measurement of impact of the Hub activities, at both the individual and collective level, aligned with the TOC.
• Identify and bring partners on board as required to support us to assess the impact of our activities and generate insights for future programming (e.g. research centers of universities).
• Identify stories and major communication moments that showcase the impact of the Hub’s work in strengthening food systems across the region to be sustainable.
• Lead on donor project reporting requirements and information management between donors, internal stakeholders and project leads.

4. Support other partnerships and events needs as required:

• Provide input into communication materials and fundraising.
• Prepare inputs, talking points and briefings for WFP senior management, inter-agency opportunities and donor communications.
• Develop material for advocacy/fundraising purposes.
• Coordinate the Hub’s fundraising activities and participation at external events.
• Contribute to the Hub’s core innovation activities (e.g. innovation challenges; bootcamps; sprint programmes; thought leadership).

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THIS FIRST CONTRACT PERIOD:

• Establishment of a learning strategy and a workplan for the portfolio of work.
• At least 5 learning case studies shared publicly across various channels (e.g. knowledge café, website).
• Surveys/reviews completed immediately after relevant activities.
• Satisfactory reporting to donors and key stakeholders internally and externally.
• Partnerships in the work to bring additional skillset to the hub for impact measurement.
• Satisfactory support to other hub activities including required research, presentations, and strategies.
• Satisfactory 360 review by manager and collaborating team members.
• All work and materials developed during the contract are well documented and available to all relevant stakeholders in designated knowledge management processes/platforms.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education: Advance degree in innovation, design, international development or First University Degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses.

Experience:

At least four years of progressively responsible experience managing a fast-paced learning agenda in the East African Region in the international development sector.

Experience working and delivering in the private and/or humanitarian sectors, preferably at large-scale organizations.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Ability to gather and synthesize different types of qualitative (e.g. interviews, stakeholder consultations, network analysis) and quantitative (e.g. impact modelling) information to guide major strategic and operational decisions with regards to learning and design
• Ability to create plans/tools for gathering learnings and insights
• 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, taking initiative and proactively seeking support when needed
• Excellent communication/presentation skills, with the ability to write learning reports, synthesis information to create actionable insights, write and deliver presentations, share lessons succinctly across networks
• Sets high-level of ownership over projects to achieve impact
• Intrapreneurial experience such as starting a new program / creating new processes
• Has worked cross-functionally and can navigate uncertainty with curiosity, poise, and a solution-oriented mentality
• Strong conceptual thinking to integrate lessons learnt into programme design to drive progress towards the SDGs
• Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the UN World Food Programme
• Passion and interest in innovation

Languages: Fluency in oral and written English mandatory. Good command of Swahili; other regionally-spoken Bantu, Nilotic, or Afro-Asiatic languages; and/or French is an added advantage.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS:

This vacancy announcement will close on 18th November 2022 @ 11:59 PM EAT

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