IT Officer (Digital Assistance Services) at World Food Programme (WFP)

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The World Food Programme has developed and is continuing to enhance and maintain a set of digital solutions to help in managing:

• the identities and entitlements of its beneficiaries,
• the operational parameters of the programmes that transfer benefits to them, and
• the assurances and insights to ensure related risks are properly managed.

This includes SCOPE, WFP’s beneficiary and transfer management platform that supports the WFP programme intervention cycle from a technical perspective. The SCOPE platform is a web-based application used for beneficiary registration, intervention setup, distribution planning, transfer and distribution reporting.  While there is a current focus and scale-up/enhancement related to cash-based transfers, SCOPE is intended and being developed to fully support all WFP transfer modalities: in-kind, voucher and cash for a variety of project activities. As an extension and over the next couple of years, WFP also plans to develop a broad array of digital assistance services (DAS) beyond those related to the current SCOPE capabilities.

JOB PURPOSE

Under the overall responsibility of the lead Regional Digital Assistance Services Officer (DASO), the incumbent will be responsible to support country offices (COs) in the operationalization of SCOPE and related DAS for WFP and/or partners in the region. This will include analyzing new requirements and functionalities for COs, testing and ensuring the new features respond to the programmatic needs. The incumbent should expect frequent missions to countries with SCOPE/DAS operations. 

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Advanced University degree in business management, computer science, telecommunications engineering or social sciences, or relevant degree with relevant work experience.

Experience:

Five years plus post-graduate progressively responsible professional experience in humanitarian aid operations and/or business systems analysis, design and development.

Experience in client-facing roles in either technology implementation projects or in the planning, design and implementation of humanitarian or development programmes. Experience in collaborating with different humanitarian actors or different service providers to design and decide on payment mechanisms and instruments, and capacity building to coordinate the delivery of assistance in humanitarian contexts.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Knowledge of and hands-on experience in cash-based transfers (CBT) programming in humanitarian contexts; awareness of technologies used in the delivery of cash and vouchers in humanitarian contexts; and training and knowledge of business analysis and project management philosophies and methodologies would be an asset.
• Possession of a combination of broad business skills and IT experience including: General management skills in business and public sector contexts; Business analysis including creation and review of functional and non-functional business requirements for IT solutions.
• Ability to operate in distributed / decentralised teams, engage with and support partners; Ability to perform under pressure, to multi-task, to navigate through multiple priorities and conflicting requests; Ability to work independently through appropriate personal initiative and regular follow-ups; Capacity to work in difficult and insecure environments; Highly-developed written and oral communication skills with the ability to influence and adapt communication styles to different situations and individuals; Collaborative hands-on team member and relationship-builder with a facilitative nature and strong business partnering skills towards colleagues and stakeholders; Detail-oriented; Ethics & Values; Client Orientation.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES 1/2 (not all-inclusive)

• Coordinate the implementation and operations of SCOPE/DAS in the region, ensuring involvement of all relevant stakeholder units at Country Office, Regional Bureau and Headquarters as required;
• Engage with Country Office management and colleagues to support in identifying requirements and the operational design, budgeting, planning and deployment of technology solutions and systems to support SCOPE/DAS in their given contexts, particularly with respect to cash-based transfers;
• Consolidate, analyze and report on regional SCOPE/DAS operational information;
• Capture, document and analyze (i.e. through diagrams, flowcharts, data models, user experience designs, storyboards) CO business requirements for DAS and either identify workable existing solutions or escalate to Headquarters and follow up for potential consideration (e.g. change request);
• Test and analyze SCOPE/DAS solutions and document the match against business requirements for quality and accuracy;

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES 2/2

• Through the appropriate channels, support the efforts of technical teams on outstanding operational issues and changes relevant for the region;
• Support COs to conduct appropriate IT assessments in order to assist management in making informed SCOPE/DAS-related operational decisions;
• Deploy as needed to COs to support on-ground testing, roll-out and/or operations of SCOPE/DAS as required;
• Identify learning needs and support capacity building initiatives for SCOPE/DAS and new related functionalities, aimed at building solid digital assistance expertise amongst cross-functional colleagues in the region;
• Where relevant, support the CO in extending their operational support to partners for the use of WFP’s SCOPE/DAS;
• Support the management of change brought about by the use of technology in CO/Programme processes;
• Perform any other duties as required.

DELIVERABLES AT THE CONTRACT

1. SCOPE/DAS operational needs and requirements defined, and workable options developed for priority COs;
2. SCOPE/DAS solutions tailored and developed to meet specific CO operational needs;
3. SCOPE/DAS solutions implemented and fully leveraged to enable delivery of WFP assistance in a cost-efficient manner in the prioritized countries in the region;
4. On-going direct support to CO SCOPE/DAS operations is provided as required.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Grade : Service Contract, SC10 (NOC equivalent)

Duty Station : Nairobi, Kenya

Duration : Initial 6 months