Unique P4

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

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 worlds 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 WFPs 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: 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:Head of Innovation Services

TYPE OF CONTRACT:Short Term Professional (P4)

UNIT/DIVISION:Innovation Accelerator (INNA)

DUTY STATION (City Country):Munich Germany

DURATION: Until 31.12.2026 extendable

ABOUT WFP

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. WFP does this through its presence in over 120 countries and territories globally working with local governments grassroots ecosystems public and private sector donors to save lives and change lives through food assistance and resilience building.

Food insecurity is expected to remain at alarming levels as we enter 2026. In countries where WFP operates and data is available 318 million people are facing acute food insecurity more than double pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Among them 41.1 million people are in Emergency or worse levels of acute food insecurity (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Phase 4) a 20 percent increase since late 2020.

As the leading humanitarian organisation delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience WFP fosters and drives innovation. WFPs long history of innovation is evident in some of the major shifts it has made over the years such as wide-scale implementation of cash-based transfers and mobile assessment 2020 WFP was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The WFP Global Accelerator and Ventures was launched in 2015 in Munich Germany with support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) and the Bavarian State Ministry of Food Agriculture Forestry and Tourism (StMELF).

Its mission is to source pilot and scale new innovations that could reshape the fight against food insecurity and bring us closer to SDG2: Zero Hunger. Today it works hand in hand with WFPs vast global network spanning innovation hubs regional and country offices in over 120 countries and territories to develop solutions that are deeply rooted in local needs and designed for real-world impact.

In 2025 alone the WFP Global Accelerator and Ventures supported 85 innovations reaching 132.5 million people across 90 countries and territories. These initiatives addressed critical challenges including climate change healthcare access gender equality and emergency response. To fund our work the Accelerator works with donors from the public and private sectors and collaborates with actors across the UN and multilateral system. For the past three years we have maintained a solid funding base of around USD 20 million in the face of significant cuts to humanitarian funding elsewhere.

The Head of Innovation Services reporting to the Head of the WFP Innovation Accelerator is expected to:

Lead the Innovation Services activities of the Accelerator:

• Lead the delivery of new accelerator programmes (Innovation Services) for a portfolio of external partners/clients ranging from business development overall management to client handling.
• Drive strategic planning and evolution for Innovation Services as a whole including regular review of strategy and ensuring compliance with WFP policies in operations including facets such as the use of vendors and sub-contractors partnerships contracts and reporting.
• Represent Innovation Services in key meetings and drive the positioning of Innovation Services inside and outside WFP.
• Contribute to the strategic development of WFP Innovation Accelerator as part of the management team.

Manage the Innovation Services team coordinate operations and conduct high-level Innovation Services activities support:

• Supervise guide and manage a 10 person Innovation Services team (internal and external) responsible for delivering to each client delivering innovation programs including bootcamps sprints and workshops.
• Lead the impact assessment developing and monitoring the theory of change of why/how Innovation Services are helping with client objectives and the Sustainable Development Goals agendas.
• Guide team members in the development and growth of a support community/network from which we can engage experts mentors and partners for all clients.
• Work closely with other members of the Innovation Accelerator team to maintain a strong single team as we collectively undergo considerable growth.

Actively lead Accelerators development through effective management and act as a member of its management team:

• Lead efforts with the overall goal of making the Accelerator a more effective platform in mind while ensuring compliance with WFP policies in operations including facets such as the use of vendors and subcontractors partnerships contracts and reporting.
• Lead other core processes of the Innovation Accelerator (e.g. innovation sourcing; innovation bootcamps; sprint programme; thought leadership; scale-up enablement; innovation services; knowledge management) as required.
• Provide analysis & content preparation for corporate priority topics and executive management meetings.
• Take up lead roles in running workshops and events core processes of the accelerator.
• Support the Head of the Innovation Accelerator and the Director of Innovation with any other activities and tasks as required.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

• Lead innovation services team and structure for the relevant period;
• Team members and teams under supervision effectively managed;
• Efficient and effective processes in place and working;
• Ensure that all work and materials developed during the contract are well documented and available to the WFP Innovation Accelerator team

Education: Must have a bachelors degree preferably in design business technology entrepreneurship and/or international development. Masters degree is a plus.

Experience: 8 years or more of progressively responsible experience in innovation function or accelerator product management in a tech. company start-up founder or similar.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Experience in leading teams incl. work planning operational management and team development.
• Experience in project management human-centered design innovation project life cycle and/or technology innovations within a global organization and start-up experience required.
• Demonstrated experience in cultural diversity and how it influences the design needs of the technical solutions to meet local requirements.
• Strong conceptual thinking to develop new business areas new strategies and support innovative projects.
• Passion and understanding of technology innovations (e.g. mobile apps blockchain artificial intelligence) and business model innovations (e.g. innovative finance sharing economy).
• Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously and to cope with fast pace and changing priorities.
• Excellent communication/presentation skills with strong empathy for other team members clients and stakeholders.
• Strong time management skills with an ability to plan ahead anticipate requirements problems and obstacles and an ability to juggle competing priorities successfully and to work to tight deadlines.
• Experience working cross-functionally and getting things done in a scrappy and hands-on way.
• Worked in a large-scale organization or with a client/in partnership with a large-scale organization.
• Able to interact with a broad range of stakeholders and external audience with maturity and tact.
• 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 hungry 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 mandatory. Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic Chinese French Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFPs working languages) is considered advantageous.

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:

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

• All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruiting system. We do not consider CVs or applications sent by email LinkedIn or any other channel.

• We strongly recommend that your Workday profile is accurate and complete and that all sections are filled in including your employment history academic qualifications language skills and UN grade (if applicable). Once your profile is completed please apply and submit your application.

• If you experience technical issues while submitting your application you may contact us at . Please note that this email is only for technical issues with an application - unsolicited applications or documents sent to this inbox will not receive a reply.

• At the application stage the only required documents are your CV and Cover Letter. Additional documents (passport certificates recommendation letters etc.) may be requested later in the process.

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process.

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.