Senior Innovation Manager, Innovation Consultancy Services Lead, CST II at World Food Programme (WFP)

JOB PURPOSE

• The incumbent, reporting to the Head of Innovation in WFP Kenya, will be expected to lead the Innovation Consultancy Services pillar, including the strategic leadership, business development, project delivery and team management. The incumbent will also be expected to actively contribute to the strategic direction and leadership of the Innovation Unit and work towards the overall success of the Unit and the WFP Kenya Country Office.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Lead the Innovation Consultancy Services workstream including strategic direction and business development

• Set the strategic direction for the Innovation Consultancy Services team, manage the innovation portfolio, and ensure that the team delivers on key impact and budget targets
• Lead on demand generation, proposal preparation and negotiation of new contracts and funding agreements
• Provide guidance on scoping, delivering and managing innovation services in cooperation with a broad range of partners within and outside of WFP
• Build strong relationships with programme partners and realise high-impact, high value innovation projects with multiple partners within and outside of WFP

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSIGNMENT (cont.):
Lead and deliver high-priority and high-impact innovation projects in line with WFP Kenya’s mission

• Ensure the on time, on budget and on scope delivery of the Innovation Services projects
• Plan and deliver projects related to WFP Kenya’s mission that involve senior stakeholders, and high-level partnerships management
• Lead and facilitate strategic multi-partner co-creation and strategy planning sessions, workshops, retreats
• Ensure that Innovation mindset, methods and practices are mainstreamed across the WFP Kenya country office through effective capability building and knowledge management
• Manage and guide the strategic partnership with the office of the UN Resident Coordinator on the development of UNCT Joint Programmes

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSIGNMENT (cont.):
Lead and guide a team of Innovation experts:

• Guide and grow a team of Innovation experts and other disciplines by establishing priorities, providing coaching, and making sure people are engaged in the right value-creation activities.
• Provide strategic and expert advice and guidance on innovation methodologies, practices and project management
• Cultivate an open and high-performing team culture to help the team thrive in constantly changing environments.
• Conduct performance feedback and development sessions to foster the right conditions for collective and individual learning and growth

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSIGNMENT (cont.):

Co-lead the strategic and organizational development of the Innovation Unit 

• Contribute to the establishment of strategic objectives and ensure work plans are in place to meet key results.
• Build up the right capabilities, share knowledge and best practices, making sure that people are equipped with the right tools and skills to deliver results.
• Define and run initiatives and projects that help to improve the team’s efficiency and results
• Help shape the strategic evolution of the Innovation Unit’s portfolio and value proposition to best meet the needs of the people and organizations we serve

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education:

• Advanced University degree in business, economics, innovation, international development, public policy or related fields

Experience:

• At least 6 years of international experience in a start-up, innovation accelerator, innovation-related roles in private businesses and in the humanitarian or international development sector.
• Experience in building and managing partnerships and teams to deliver innovative, sustainable projects from within the private and humanitarian sectors. 
• Experience owning and managing end-to-end verticals of work (e.g. delivering consulting products, capacity building programmes). 
• Experience with the World Food Programme and working in a Country Office location is highly desirable.

Languages:

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

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS
Knowledge & Skills:

• Experience in innovation project life cycle - from ideation, minimum viable product, testing, prototyping and implementation
• Excellent knowledge on Innovation methodologies such as Human-centered Design
• Experience working cross-functionally and getting things done in a scrappy and hands-on way.
• Experience with leading teams
• Worked in a large-scale organization – ideally in WFP/UN
• Experience with working in developing countries, ideally in East Africa
• A proven track record of driving and implementing projects - effectively delivering impactful elements of projects in a fast-moving environment
• Strong conceptual thinking to develop new strategies & innovative projects.
• Able to interact with a broad range of stakeholders and external audience with maturity

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS (cont.):
Knowledge & Skills:

• Excellent facilitator who is able to lead high-level stakeholder meetings
• 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
• Sets a high-level of ambition for the project and own work to achieve impact for the people we serve
• Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the UN World Food Programme