SPI and CCI Project 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 United Nations World Food Programme 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.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE POSITION
The Programme and Policy Development Department (PD) leads corporate efforts to develop and implement WFP’s Strategic Plan (2022-2025) and ensure the quality of WFP’s programmatic offer in all settings. Those efforts include putting in place the policies, strategies, partnerships, tools and capacities to enable WFP to deliver on its mandate of saving lives and changing lives by delivering assistance directly where it is needed and facilitating national zero hunger solutions.
PD’s work covers key commitments and initiatives that support the implementation of approved policies, including in Regional Bureaux and Country Offices, notably in the areas of food systems, resilience, nutrition (including school-based programmes), gender equality and women’s empowerment, environmental sustainability, and protection and accountability to beneficiaries. This also includes action with respect to audit and evaluation findings – such as in the areas of beneficiary information management, oversight of non-governmental organizations, and school feeding activities – and increased support for the promotion of resilient food systems.
WFP’s Strategic Plan for 2022-2025, approved by the EB in November 2021, defines the high-level strategy and results framework structure for WFP for the next 4 years. However, it is not prescriptive on the details of this framework or the way to implement it. Developing a thorough implementation plan has therefore become a corporate priority. Since January 2022, 5 workstreams have been working together with the support of a dedicated project management team on the Strategic Plan Implementation (SPI) to ensure the successful transition of the organization to the new Strategic Plan in terms of activities architecture, systems, policies, funding and guidance.
In addition, a Corporate Critical Initiative (CCI) has been developed in relation to the implementation of WFP’s Strategic Plan and Corporate Results Framework (2022-2025). The part of this CCI approved for 2023 includes funds to support key activities under PD and PA Departments around change management of the SPI, cross-cutting priorities, thematic funding, evidence generation, field monitoring and cooperating partners management.
The purpose of this position is to support the supervision and coordination of the Strategic Plan Implementation with a particular focus on the Strategic Plan/CRF Implementation CCI 2023.
ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:
Working under the overall supervision of the Director, Strategic Coordination, the selected candidate will be responsible for the following duties:
1. Project Management: work planning and coordination of workstreams under the Strategic Plan Implementation, supporting timely delivery of milestones and escalating roadblocks as needed
2. Support to supervision and tracking of progress of deliverables under the Strategic Plan/CRF Implementation CCI 2023, in collaboration with divisions involved
3. Organization of regular and ad-hoc meetings at all levels (including but not limited to technical working groups, divisional management, and Steering Committee members) to share information, facilitate decision-making and ensure endorsement of key decisions related to the Strategic Plan Implementation and the Strategic Plan/CRF Implementation CCI 2023
4. Tracking of spending of funds allocated under the CCI, including centralization of inputs provided by divisional focal points and coordination of progress reporting
5. Additional support to PD Front Office as required
DELIVERABLES
• Detailed workplan developed in collaboration with divisional focal points
• Coordination of the SPI workstreams
• Support to supervision of execution of CCI deliverables
• Regular progress updates prepared and delivered at working group and management level
• Consolidated tracking of budget spent under each CCI sub-allocation
DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE
Education: University degree in international affairs, public management, business or development. Master’s degree preferred.
Experience: At least 3 years of progressively responsible work experience in a business position, in the fields of project management or strategic advisory. Previous experience in change management or project management in development/humanitarian sector is required. WFP experience is desirable.
Languages: Fluency in oral and written English required. Knowledge of another UN language (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian) or WFP working language of Portuguese is desirable.
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
• Demonstrated effectiveness in coordinating large cross-divisional projects, involving several stakeholders from various units and levels
• Proven ability to plan work, support in-time delivery of milestones, detect roadblocks and manage competing priorities
• Strong interpersonal skills demonstrated by the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a wide range of people at all levels and across different cultures, with credibility and diplomacy
• Excellent ability to produce high-quality presentations and notes (PowerPoint, Word) to support information-sharing and decision-making
• Strong facilitation and presentation skills
• Good analytical skills, including in-depth knowledge of Excel
• Resourcefulness, proactivity, adaptability and autonomy, with ability to organize own time and follow high-level guidelines
• Ability to perform under pressure and tight deadlines, to multi-task, and to navigate through multiple priorities and conflicting requests
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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.
