Career Opportunities at World Food Programme (WFP)

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Advanced university degree in Human Resource Management, Public or Business Administration, Industrial Psychology or other relevant field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience or trainings/courses.

Experience: Typically five years or more of postgraduate progressively responsible professional experience in Human Resources with an interest in international humanitarian development. Experience of managing small teams of staff with related areas of expertise.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Sound theoretical understanding of HR concepts and principles with a broad knowledge of best practices, techniques and processes.
• Ability to lead, coach and motivate a team.
• Good communication skills with the ability to persuade, influence and adapt communication style to different situations and individuals.
• Knowledge of common business principles and processes and the ability to quickly assimilate UN/WFP specific processes and systems.
• Ability to build and maintain effective work relationships with human resources counterparts, managers and staff within HQ/regional/country office.
• Ability to work independently.
• Ability to establish priorities, and to plan, coordinate and monitor own work plan and those under his/her supervision.
• Ability to draft clear concise reports or rationale for human resources decisions.

National Professional: Fluency (level C) in English language and the duty station’s language, if different.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

These jobs are found in Country Offices (COs), Regional Bureaux (RBs), and Headquarters (HQ). Job holders report to the Division/Regional/Country Director or the designate.
Job holders are likely to manage a small team of staff to ensure strategies and plans are implemented across an assigned area. They work independently, using technical knowledge and expertise to analyse data, prepare reports, provide advice and solutions to problems, and identify opportunities for improvements.  They may develop core processes and procedures.

JOB PURPOSE

To manage the delivery of professional, client-focused HR services, partnering with senior managers to contribute to the implementation of HR solutions in line with WFP corporate priorities.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1. Participate in the development of country specific plans and processes, and lead the delivery of HR operational activities or projects to meet local objectives and support WFP strategic goals, ensuring alignment with wider WFP policies.
2. Provide advice to managers and employees on complex issues, understanding their needs and ensuring that HR policies, procedures, processes, systems and tools are available and correctly applied to support them.
3. Ensure the effective management of the employment relationship between WFP and its staff, determining conditions of service, contracts and appropriate entitlements, and resolving more complex employee relations issues.
4. Manage capability building, working with managers to understand individual skills and business requirements, and delivering development solutions which equip people with the skills and knowledge required to meet current and future challenges.
5. Plan and deliver an onboarding process which ensures new employees have a positive experience of WFP, and are successfully integrated into their new role and the organisation.
6. Contribute to building and managing talent within WFP, working with managers to understand their needs and planning/implementing solutions to recruit, retain, manage and develop a high caliber workforce to deliver business objectives.
7. Deliver organizational design activities that enable senior management to define and organize structures and jobs, and allocate people to the right places in order to improve efficiency.
8. Lead and motivate a small of HR staff, monitoring performance, providing coaching, training and guidance to ensure appropriate development and enable high performance.
9. Monitor the accurate and compliant recording of data; coordinate and prepare timely corporate statistics and conduct analysis, identifying trends and potential issues, and proposing solutions to stakeholders.
10. Maintain and share knowledge of best practice, and support the development and implementation of new/improved HR policies, systems and procedures to ensure they are reflective of legislation, and support WFP effectively.
11. Other as required.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Utilizes understanding of WFP’s Strategic Objectives to communicate linkages to team objectives and work.
•  Be a force for positive change: Proactively identifies and develops new methods or improvements for self and immediate team to address work challenges within own work area.
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Identifies opportunities to further align individual contributions with WFP’s mission of making an impact on local communities.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Helps colleagues to see the link between their individual tasks and the contributions of their unit’s goals to the broader context of WFP’s mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Is able to identify, support and encourage focused on-the-job learning opportunities to address gaps between current skillsets and needed future skillsets for WFP.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Recognizes the contributions of teammates, and encourages contributions from culturally different team mates to recognise the value of diversity above and beyond just including it in programming for beneficiaries.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Provides and solicits ongoing constructive feedback on strengths and development opportunities to help develop individual skills, whilst also helping others identify areas for improvement.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Sets clear targets for self and others to focus team efforts in ambiguous situations (e.g., unprecedented issues and/or scenarios).

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Thinks beyond team’s conventional approaches to formulate creative methods for delivering food aid and assistance to beneficiaries.
•  Focus on getting results: Maintains focus on achieving individual results in the face of obstacles such as volatile or fragile environments and/or organizational roadblocks.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Takes personal accountability for upholding and delivering upon team’s commitments and provides assurance to stakeholders.
•  Be Decisive: Demonstrates ability to adjust to team’s plans and priorities to optimize outcomes in light of evolving directives, while also responding quickly in high-pressure environments, such as in emergency settings.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Demonstrates an understanding of when and how to tactfully engage other units in conversations on impact, timing, or planning.
•  Build strong external partnerships: Networks regularly with key external partners using formal and informal opportunities to understand each partner’s unique value proposition, and to build and strengthen relationships.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Demonstrates ability to adapt engagement approach in the context of evolving partner circumstances and expectations.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Demonstrates ability to articulate to internal and external audiences the value that individual contributions and immediate teams bring to partnerships.

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JOB PURPOSE

To deliver budget and resource analysis and programming activities and provide support in the Regional Bureau, partnering with managers to apply best practice approaches that support the efficient, effective and compliant utilization of funds.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Under the direct supervision of the Regional Budget & Programming Officer, the National Budget & Programming Officer will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Contribute towards the development of plans, processes and procedures ensuring compliance with wider budget programming policies and WFP standards.
• Create and review project budget plans and monitor ongoing project performance against budget, ensuring adherence to guidance and policies, and providing financial analysis and advice to optimise resources.
• Monitor and provide advice on fund utilisation, and advance financing, loan and borrowing/repayment and refinancing arrangements; alerting Country/Regional Directors to approaching deadlines for unassigned funds and potential resource shortfalls/surpluses, and proposing appropriate solutions.
• Monitor and provide advice on actions related to project closure and resource transfer.
• Monitor the resource pipeline to maximise operational effectiveness, following standards and processes, and providing advice on resource allocations based on severity of pipeline shortfalls using relevant pipeline tools.
• Support the preparation of food-demand plans to support management and usage of corporate Global Commodity Financial Facility and provide information to guide RB/HQ decision-making when multiple projects compete for the same stock.
• Create and review budget and project documentation, and ensure relevant resource data is recorded in internal systems for reference, in line with WFP standards and procedures.
• Collate and analyse data for the preparation of accurate and timely reports, to enable informed decision-making and consistency of information presented to senior management and external stakeholders.
• Proactively contribute ideas to senior officers for improvement to systems, techniques, tools, processes and procedures to better monitor and manage budgets and funds.
• Support the capacity building of WFP staff in budgeting, fund management and operational planning through answering queries and updating training materials, manuals and guidelines.
• Represent the unit at internal meetings/committees/working groups as required, in order to obtain and provide information from a budget and resource programming perspective.
• Guide and supervise more junior staff, acting as a point of referral and supporting them with more complex analysis and queries.
• Follow standard emergency preparedness practices and contribute to technical recommendations and guidance and monitoring the management of financial risks.
• Others as required.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Advanced University degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics or other relevant field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses.

Experience: At least three years of postgraduate progressively responsible professional experience public sector management, development projects, emergency assistance, and/or operational aspects of national, bilateral or multilateral food aid or commercial transactions.

Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English essential. Proficiency in a second official WFP language, preferably French is desirable.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

The selected candidate will have a solid understanding and needs to have contributed to the development of operational or office related budgets, production of planning/budgetary reports and other analytical reports to support decision making. S/He will need to demonstrate a broad understanding of WFP’s financial architecture and how it supports implementation of operations.

S/he will have excellent communication (oral and written), interpersonal and leadership skills.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Understands WFP’s Strategic Objectives and the link to own work objectives.
•  Be a force for positive change: Flexibly adapts individual contributions to accommodate changes in direction from supervisors and internal/external changes (such as evolving needs of beneficiaries, new requirements of partners).
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Recognizes and shares with team members the ways in which individual contributions relate to WFP’s mission.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Sets own goals in alignment with WFP’s overall operations, and is able to communicate this link to others.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Assesses own strengths and weaknesses to increase self-awareness, and includes these in conversations on own developmental needs.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Participates in open dialogue, and values the diverse opinion of others, regardless of background, culture, experience, or country assignment.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Proactively seeks feedback and coaching to build confidence, and develop and improve individual skills.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Participates in accomplishing team activities and goals in the face of challenging circumstances.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Shows willingness to explore and experiment with new ideas and approaches in own work.
•  Focus on getting results: Consistently delivers results within individual scope of work on time, on budget and without errors.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Commits to upholding individual accountabilities and responsibilities in the face of ever-changing country or functional priorities.
•  Be Decisive: Makes rational decisions about individual activities when faced with uncertain circumstances, including in times of ambiguity regarding information or manager direction.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Seeks to understand and adapt to internal or cross-unit teams’ priorities and preferred working styles.
•  Build strong external partnerships: Demonstrates ability to understand and appropriately respond to and/or escalate needs of external partners.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Portrays an informed and professional demeanor toward internal and external partners and stakeholders.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Provides operational support on analyses and assessments that quantifies and demonstrates WFP’s unique value as a partner.

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

Capability Name    Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level

Internal Controls & Compliance  Utilizes understanding of risk management approaches and internal controls to monitor projects and programmes to confirm regulatory compliance and ensure data integrity. Performance Budgeting, Reporting and Analysis   Manages budget, business planning, and forecasting discussions on a programme-wide level, integrating financial resource information from a portfolio of projects to analyze effectiveness and financial viability.

Resource Management   Oversees staffing for HQ and Field resources at the programme level, taking resource usage trends and forecasting data into account.

Performance Management  Applies knowledge of WFP’s performance management system to manage resources and relationships to undertake monitoring actions or deliver straightforward evaluations of operations, programmes, or processes to WFP monitoring and/or evaluation quality standards.

Supply Chain and Operations Knowledge Applies knowledge of WFP programme and supply chain principles to develop and/or review project budget plans.