DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

19 February 2025-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Rome)

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:

Strategic Coordination Project Manager

TYPE OF CONTRACT

CST Regular (Level I)

UNIT/DIVISION

School Meals and Social Protection Service (PPGS)

DUTY STATION (City, Country):

HQ – Rome, Italy

DURATION:

11 months

BACKGROUND

Recognizing the transformative potential of school meal programmes, a group of member states launched the School Meals Coalition at the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021. The Coalition is a government-led global platform driving actions to urgently improve and scale up school meal programmes to ensure that every child has the opportunity to receive a healthy, nutritious meal in school by 2030.

Since its creation, the membership of the School Meals Coalition (co-chaired by France, Finland and Brazil) steadily increased from 46 countries in September 2021 to over 100 countries from all regions across the world. The Coalition has resulted in governments taking a central role and moving rapidly to advance school meal programs, with the topic now globally positioned as a key priority. As of today, the Coalition has received national commitments from 49 countries.

In 2024, during the last Task Force Ministerial meeting held in Nairobi and hosted by President Ruto, a new initiative of the coalition was approved: the School Meals Impact Accelerator. The initiative will support countries with technical support that will help them meet targets for improving nutrition, climate, gender, economic development, and education outcomes. WFP has been selected as the host of this new initiative, which will be funded by philanthropies and bilateral partners, becoming an innovative public-private partnership.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

Building on the School Meal Coalition’s success in mobilizing governments towards making ambitious commitments and setting their own goals, further efforts are needed to support countries in turning these commitments into action. WFP is now preparing the ground to host this initiative and building the Core Team needed to support its development. The Project Manager will oversee project milestones, facilitate stakeholder collaboration, and ensure timely delivery of key outputs, as well as other tasks.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Working under the overall supervision of the PPGS Director, the selected candidate will be responsible for the following duties:

1. Project Management: Oversee work planning and coordinate multiple workstreams to ensure the timely delivery of milestones, escalating roadblocks as needed.

2. Support to supervision and tracking of progress: Provide support in monitoring the progress of deliverables under the School Meals Impact Accelerator implementation, working closely with relevant stakeholders.

3. Analytical support and communication: Offer analytical support and develop material to effectively communicate key insights to senior management.

4. Meeting organization: Organize regular and ad-hoc meetings at all levels to share information, facilitate decision-making, and secure endorsement of critical decisions related to SMIA implementation

5. Tracking lessons learned and coordinating progress: Monitor and document lessons learned, ensuring effective coordination of progress across the initiative.

6. Additional support to PPGS Director as required.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced university degree, or first university degree in a relevant field. Preference for a degree in engineering, or business.

Experience:

Minimum 3-5 years professional experience. Experience at the international level in management consulting, project management or advisory support to senior management. Previous experience with school meals preferred.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Proven ability to plan work, support in-time delivery of milestones, detect roadblocks and manage competing priorities.
• Excellent ability to produce high-quality presentations and notes (PowerPoint, Word) to support information-sharing and decision-making.
• Good analytical skills, including in-depth knowledge of Excel.
• Ability to perform under pressure and tight deadlines, to multi-task, and to navigate through multiple priorities and conflicting requests and deliver with a minimum of supervision.
• Strong interpersonal skills demonstrated by the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a wide range of people at all levels and across different cultures, with credibility and diplomacy.
• Demonstrated effectiveness in coordinating projects, involving several stakeholders from various units and levels.
• Resourcefulness, proactivity, adaptability, and autonomy, with ability to organize own time and follow high-level guidelines.
• Strong facilitation and presentation skills.

Languages:

• Fluency in oral and written English.
• Level B in another UN language (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian) or WFP working language of Portuguese.

Visa:

WFP supports Visa applications, and the position is based in Rome, Italy.

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 dedicated to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our recruitment process is inclusively crafted to welcome candidates of all backgrounds, celebrating diversity and ensuring a respectful environment for all. We aim for an accessible and fair recruitment journey. Should you need any reasonable accommodations or have accessibility concerns, please reach out to us confidentially at [email protected]. Our DEI team is here to ensure your full participation in our recruitment process.

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 [email protected] 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.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements