DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 29 December 2025-23:59-GMT01:00 Central European Time (Berlin) 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 World Food Programme 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. At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves. To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok. WHY JOIN WFP? WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment. WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities. A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe. We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement). JOB TITLE: Innovation Consultant - Field Innovation Project Manager TYPE OF CONTRACT: Consultancy UNIT/DIVISION: WFP Innovation Accelerator DUTY STATION : Munich, Germany DURATION: 6 months, extendable BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT The World Food Programme (WFP) is the United Nations frontline agency fighting hunger. WFP reaches more than 100 million people every day - delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with smallholder farmers, communities, and governments to improve nutrition and build resilience. The WFP Innovation Accelerator was recognized by Fast Company as one of the Best Workplaces for Innovators 2023 for its work in identifying, nurturing, and scaling disruptive start-ups and innovations to end global hunger. Based in Munich, Germany, the WFP Innovation Accelerator provides WFP employees, entrepreneurs, and start-ups with funding, hands-on support, and access to WFP’s global operations. Through the WFP Innovation Accelerator, WFP is leveraging unprecedented advances in digital innovation - such as mobile technology, artificial intelligence and blockchain - and new business models to transform the way it serves vulnerable communities across the world. In 2023, Accelerator supported innovations that positively impacted the lives of 60.7 million people globally. The Accelerator acts as WFP’s global function for innovation and supports WFP Country offices in developing their own innovation strategies and setting up their own local or regional innovation teams. More information here: http://innovation.wfp.org and https://youtu.be/OnKkQlRdh2c. WFP's Innovation Network enables and drives innovation, by activating WFP innovators, mainstreaming a culture of innovation & collaboration throughout the organization, by providing tailored services and by building the digital systems and facilitated exchanges to scale and maximize impact. ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES The incumbent, reporting to the Head of WFP Innovation Network, is expected to: 1. Drive the coordination and growth of the WFP innovation hubs and units and teams based in the field that form the WFP Innovation Network a. Manage and coordinate the overall integration of WFP Innovation Hubs and Units into the WFP Innovation Network and the WFP Innovation Accelerator; b. Support WFP Innovation Hubs and Units in designing and adopting innovative strategies and programs that align with and feed into WFP’s Innovation Strategy; c. Act as the broader WFP Innovation portfolio manager and keep track of different investable projects that are managed by WFP Innovation Hubs and Units to create synergies and matches across opportunities for scale, funding or other; d. Actively seek opportunities to drive the design of innovation programs that can be co-delivered by the Accelerator and members of the Innovation Network; e. Actively pursue partnerships and fundraising opportunities, draft proposals, to invest in the portfolio of the WFP Innovation Network; f. Build relationships across the network and convene members regularly both virtually and in person including through a yearly flagship event or workshop; g. Activate online interactions and correspondence with and between members of the Network to strengthen the community feel among the members of the Innovation Network, including together with the WFP Innovation Champions community; h. Act as the global focal point for WFP Innovation Hubs and Units, effectively providing input, routing correspondence and requests, and maintaining up-to-date knowledge of operations to effectively assume that role. 2. Build a comprehensive offering for the setup of new Innovation Hubs and Units around the world, for WFP or other organizations in the humanitarian sector a. Design and drive a service offering to set up and support the establishment of WFP Innovation Hubs and Units across the organization; b. Advise WFP leaders and decision-makers on opportunities and steps to establishing innovation units through data-driven and field-based experience in a compelling and clear format; c. Manage the actual potential set up of Innovation Units in a given location, design a roadmap of implementation, drive local partnership creation, and travel to said locations as needed to drive the set up phase hands-on; d. Diligently work to align Country Innovation strategies with their strategic plans and/or work to include innovation in Country strategic plans in select locations; e. Cultivate expertise through active consultation and observation as well as collecting data of the best practices and models of Innovation Units, and actively ensure needed processes are mapped or unlocked as needed to ensure operational health within the organization; f. Manage project budgets with sensitivity and diligence and demonstrate responsibility in accurate and correct documentation of expenditures, reports and other components that arise through the project; g. As needed design and deliver workshops to co-create hub models, design and implement new milestones, bring alignment, formulate theories of change and other topics as appropriate 3. Maintain robust data-driven storytelling and reporting and build on the existing systems to continuously improve them: a. Manage the reporting and participation of WFP Innovation Hubs and Units into the global innovation reporting system and cadence, ensuring an accurate input of data and information, both qualitative and quantitative; b. Analyze the data and draft narrative summaries of each team’s work in a way that speaks to external and internal stakeholders and partners and showcases the value and impact of their work; c. Be on top of WFP innovation hubs and units latest plans, results and activities, including but not limited to funding status, people reached and impact generated; d. Design and oversee the execution of a yearly communications plan to highlight the work of WFP Innovation around the world in close collaboration with the Accelerator’s communications team; e. Maintain the WFP Innovation Network’s contribution in the Innovation Database; f. Commit to the betterment of the WFP Innovation Network digital systems through active usage and mainstreaming; g. Contribute to an environment that fosters knowledge sharing as well as the development of systems and processes to manage knowledge effectively 4. Support the overall WFP Innovation Accelerator operations: a. Provide analysis & content preparation (e.g. data on projects, presentations, briefs) for corporate priority topics and management meetings; b. Participate and carry out discussions with colleagues in other divisions or external stakeholders on topics related to innovation; c. Support other core processes of the WFP Innovation Accelerator (e.g. workshop facilitation, event hosting, speaking engagements, event management) as required; d. Proactively contribute to a positive and high performing team culture; intentionally collaborate across different teams within the Accelerator; e. Support the Head of the WFP Innovation Network, Head of the WFP Innovation Accelerator and the Director of the Innovation Division with any other activities as required. DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT: - WFP Innovation Hubs and Units effectively coordinated and supported - Digital reporting and storytelling systems are effectively contributed to - Budget permitting, one yearly in person global workshop effectively organized - All work and materials developed during the contract are well documented and available to the WFP Innovation Accelerator team. - Effective support of operations of the WFP Innovation Accelerator. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Education: Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree in economics, business administration or innovation management is a plus. Experience: At least 5 years of progressively responsible international experience in a humanitarian innovation role, start-up accelerator, innovations in private businesses, or experience coordinating different teams spread globally. Knowledge & Skills: - In-depth understanding of humanitarian operations and how innovation can help achieve desired impact - Proficiency in designing and end-to-end managing of projects - Experience working at WFP in a field context is a considerable advantage - Experience setting up new teams or projects from the ground up - Understanding of innovation project life cycle - from ideation, minimum viable product, testing, prototyping, and implementation. - Experience working in a large-scale organization or with a client/in partnership with a large-scale organization. - Proven track record of driving projects - effectively delivering impactful elements of projects in a fast-moving environment, ideally for new businesses, new business models, start-ups etc, and especially in inter dynamic and cross-functional setups - Experience organizing events, workshops and other types of convenings both virtually and in-person - Able to generate new and original solutions to complex problems and to design new product ideas. - Able to interact with a broad range of stakeholders and external audiences with maturity and tact. - Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to write strategy documents, develop business plans and present confidently - Collaborative spirit, able to partner with a wide range of people at all levels and across different cultures and to act with credibility, humility and diplomacy. - Self-motivated and able to work with a high degree of autonomy. - Sets a high level of ambition for the project and own work to achieve impact for the hungry people we serve. - Approaches challenges with optimism, positivity and sense of initiative. - Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the UN World Food Programme Languages: Fluency in oral and written English is mandatory. Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) is a plus. WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission. Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact: global.inclusion@wfp.org NO FEE DISCLAIMER The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web. REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruitment system. We do not accept CVs or spontaneous applications by email. If you experience challenges while submitting your online application, please contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org for technical support only. Please note that applications sent to this email address cannot be considered. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable). Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application. Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time Only shortlisted candidates will be notified 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.