Partnership Officer, Head of Innovations (P4) at World Food Programme (WFP)

JOB PURPOSE:

Launched in December 2020, the WFP Innovation Hub for Eastern Africa is now supported by USAID and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs with more than $5M in seed funding. The hub ran a flagship program from East African student innovators, has just launched 3 food systems accelerator programs in Uganda, South Sudan, and Rwanda and is supporting the implementation of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in AgriTech.

The incumbent, reporting to the RBN Head of Partnerships, will lead the development and growth of the WFP Innovation Hub for Eastern Africa by leveraging WFP brand, public and private partners, deep field access and expertise to develop, nurture and scale sustainable innovations to increase food security in Eastern Africa. The incumbent will be in-charge of defining the strategy to further develop & scale the impact of the WFP Innovation Hub. She/he ensure innovation coordination and innovation knowledge management across the region, source innovations, provide technical advice to internal and external innovation projects in COs in RBN, develop new programmes and secure adequate funding, as well as support the scale up of innovations through partnerships management. The incumbent will be working with all relevant functional units in RBN, CO teams and external stakeholders within the Eastern Africa external innovation ecosystems.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree in business, innovation, design, technology or other related degrees

Experience:

• 8 years of progressively responsible national or international experience in a startup, innovations function in private businesses or innovations in the humanitarian or international development sector.
• Solid experience working in a large-scale humanitarian or development organisation and in the startup or innovation world
• Proven track record managing and growing teams

Language:

• Fluency in oral and written English mandatory. An intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) is desirable

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Further define and operationalize the strategy of the Innovation Hub to scale its operations and impact:

• Lead consultations (donors, partners, WFP teams and local innovation ecosystems) to better understand needs of local innovation ecosystems as well as market failures & opportunities overlapping with WFP positioning and key priorities.
• Define the vision of the Hub and design the next innovation programmes to maximize the impact of the Hub.
• Develop partnerships with corporations, innovation entities, NGOs and development agencies to increase offering to entrepreneurs.
• Raise the necessary funding to bring the vision of the Hub to life.

2.Strengthen WFP's ability to propel innovations:

• Design and build the Regional Innovation Hub processes and capabilities in line with Regional strategic priorities with a strong coordination with WFP Legal and Finance teams.
• Develop innovation capacity at CO level by spreading access to and advice on use of innovation methodologies, such as human centered design, lean start up etc. and innovation process from ideation, sourcing, sprinting and scaling.
• Support resource mobilization and seed funding efforts, ensuring these opportunities are made known and country offices have the support they need to pursue these funds.

3.Implement innovation programmes at scale to source, select, and

• Organize innovation programme centered on food systems and climate change.
• Grow the Innovation Hub brand with local innovation entities (innovation centers, incubators, accelerators, etc.) and develop a robust sourcing processes to ensure the creation of a strong pipeline of entrepreneurs.
• Design and implement strong review, selection and due diligence process to select the most promising innovations to attend the acceleration programmes organized by the Hub.
• Ensure a successful delivery of the innovation programmes

4.Scale up portfolio projects, MSMEs and start-ups to maximize their impact

• Further test the assumption that WFP can build momentum for private investment in innovations and foster market development: test mechanisms for supporting post-program fundraising efforts and explore financing partnership structures.
• Design and build an internal support structure for the innovations in the Hub portfolio.
• Grow a network of global experts, mentors and partners to support the Hub’s portfolio.

5.Communicate and share knowledge on innovations

• Support the CAM team to grow the LinkedIn channel of the Hub by designing and developing story boards, media assets and communication campaigns to ensure a strong & qualified media reach.
• Support building an innovation network and an innovation knowledge facility to share best practices and create a space for discussion.
• Attend and engage in relevant conferences, ecosystem gatherings, industry association meetings, and speaking engagements for sourcing, branding, thought leadership and learning opportunities.
• Ensure regular updates to donors on the Hub work, plans and achievements.
• Develop a M&E framework to qualify and quantify the impact of the Hub and its portfolio

6.Lead and grow the Innovation Hub team

• Manage a growing team of 6+ professionals.
• Define the right team structure for the Hub with clear roles and responsibilities.
• Recruit and grow the team with the right talents and diversity.
• Lead performance feedback and development session.
• Ensure that each team member has clear quarterly deliverables & KPIs and perform at the highest level.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

• Type of contract: Limited Fixed Term
• Unit/Division: WFP Regional Bureau for East Africa (RBN)