DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 14 May 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: Innovative Financing Consultant TYPE OF CONTRACT: Consultancy UNIT/DIVISION: WFP Innovation Accelerator (INNA) DUTY STATION (City, Country): Munich, Germany DURATION: 11 months 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 named by Fast Company as the Most Innovative Non-Profit Organization 2021 for its work in identifying, nurturing, and scaling disruptive start-ups and innovations to end global hunger. Based in Munich, Germany, the Innovation Accelerator provides WFP employees, entrepreneurs, and start-ups with funding, hands-on support, and access to WFP’s global operations. Through the 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. Most recently, the Accelerator runs programmes for external partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others. More information here: http://innovation.wfp.org and https://youtu.be/OnKkQlRdh2c. ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES: The Consultant, reporting to the Head of Innovative Finance and Venture Launchpad, is expected to: Foster the development and implementation of the regenerative financing mechanisms, to pool donor funds and private investors’ money towards investable and scalable innovations, accelerating their path to scale: Conduct landscape mapping to further inform WFP impact investing activities and support relationship building with external investor partners to help with fundraising efforts for the WFP funding mechanisms as well as direct capital raising by the innovations. Deliver, design and implement selected innovative financing or other strategic ventures throughout the ideation, pilot and scale-up phases, contributing to the ventures’ launch and growth. Support the development of all the necessary innovative financing venture documentation and processes, including preparing agreements with third-party organisations, as appropriate. Coordinate daily the selected innovative financing or other strategic ventures’ operations ranging from the attraction of grant and micro-loans funding to their investment and the corresponding impact measurement and evaluation, reporting, and communication. Support innovations and other Accelerator teams with investment readiness, and other innovative financing activities to accelerate their path to scale and to advance toward Zero Hunger and other Sustainable Development Goals: Support and coach project teams from ideation to implementation (as applicable), with a focus on innovative financing while using methodologies such as human-centered design, lean start-up, project management and business modelling. Define key performance indicators and milestones for the innovation project and support their implementation, impact measurement and reporting. Support piloting and/or integration within WFP operations or within other organisations (as applicable), while liaising with internal units such as country offices, procurement and legal, as required. Engage and collaborate with all necessary internal and external stakeholders (including WFP country and field offices, finance, partnerships, and legal) to gather needed input, secure internal support, and approval, and launch innovative financing or other strategic ventures. Support the Innovation Accelerator’s strategy deployment and operations: Provide investment readiness and venture-building support and coach project teams from ideation to implementation (as applicable), using methodologies such as human-centered design, lean start-up, project management and business modelling. Engage with all necessary internal stakeholders on topics related to innovative financing ventures and support the building of strong external partnerships within the Innovative Financing and venture-building ecosystem globally. Provide analysis and content preparation for presentations and management meetings on innovative financing and other priority topics. Support other core processes of the WFP Innovation Accelerator (e.g. innovation sourcing; innovation bootcamps; sprints programme; scale-up enablement; innovation services; communications and knowledge management) as required, and, from time to time, support the Head of the Innovation Accelerator and the Director of Innovation and Knowledge Management with any other activities as required. DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT: Validated Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and Business Model for selected Innovative Financing or other strategic ventures. Innovative Financing of internal projects and external start-ups or scale-ups supported effectively. Ensure that all work and materials developed during the contract are well documented and available to the WFP Innovation Accelerator team. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Education: Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business Administration or equivalent. Master’s degree a plus. Experience: At least 3 years of progressively responsible international experience in a start-up leadership role, start-up accelerator, innovations in private businesses or innovations in the humanitarian or international development sector. Experience in innovative financing and in microfinance is a plus. Knowledge & Skills: A proven track record building fintech projects and/or driving and implementing innovative finance venture-building projects, preferably in an impact, humanitarian and/or development context. Experience in microfinance, and crowdfunding platforms, preferably in crowdlending. Experience and interest in initiatives focused on financial inclusion, microfinance, and resilience programmes. Passion and understanding of technology innovations (e.g. digital payments, crypto assets) and business model innovations (e.g. innovative finance, venture capital, impact bonds). Experience in innovation project life cycle - from ideation, minimum viable product, testing, prototyping and implementation. Worked or led cross-functionally and get things done in an agile and hands-on way. Experience working in a large-scale organisation or with a client/in partnership with a large-scale organisation. 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. Strong conceptual thinking to develop new strategies & innovative projects. Able to interact with a broad range of stakeholders and external audiences with maturity and tact. Excellent communication/presentation skills, with the ability to write strategy and partnership documents, develop business plans and write and deliver presentations. 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 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. Languages: Fluency in oral and written English is required. Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) is beneficial. 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.inclusionwfp.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 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 Please contact us at global.hrerecruitmentwfp.org in case you face any challenges with submitting your application 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.