UN World Food Programme Senior Innovation Manager, Innovation Consultancy Services Lead Jobs in Kenya

UN World Food Programme Senior Innovation Manager, Innovation Consultancy Services Lead Jobs in Kenya

About WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

Background

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the United Nations frontline agency fighting hunger. WFP reaches more than 80 million people every day - delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with smallholder farmers, communities and governments to improve nutrition and build resilience.

As conflict and climate change drive up the number of hungry people in the world and in Kenya, finding innovative solutions to the complex humanitarian & development challenges in the region is essential, now perhaps more than ever.

WFP has a strong presence in the field and in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) counties, with a proven track record of implementing innovative solutions in the deep field and challenging environments. Its unique ability to reach the most vulnerable people and understand their needs has brought about a consolidated network in the innovation ecosystem both in Kenya and globally.

The Kenya Country Office Innovation Unit facilitates new ideas' design, testing, and implementation, with a vision to curate and scale empowering, sustainable, and innovative solutions that accelerate the achievement of Zero Hunger for WFP Kenya and beyond.

The Innovation Consultancy Services pillar was set up in late 2021, having been birthed from our new unit strategy. In this pillar, we aim to mainstream the innovation capabilities and mindset the unit has honed over the past decade with the Kenya country office as well as external partners. Our work is driven by the methodology of Human-Centered Design – an innovation framework that focuses on the needs, hopes and realities of the people affected by the challenges we aim to solve.

The Innovation Consultancy Services has grown into a well-demanded service in the past year by WFP and other UN teams and became a critical pillar of WFP Kenya Innovation Unit. We are looking for an experienced and seasoned consultant to lead the Innovation Consultancy pillar of the Innovation Unit.

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

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

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

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

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

How to Apply

For more information and job application details, see; UN World Food Programme Senior Innovation Manager, Innovation Consultancy Services Lead Jobs in Kenya

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