Lead Mobile Engineer

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

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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.

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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: Lead Mobile Engineer

TEAM ShareTheMeal
UNIT/DIVISION: Private Partnerships (PSP) Org. Unit
DUTY STATION: Berlin Germany or Remote
CONTRACT TYPE: Short-Term Regular Consultant
DURATION: 11 months
WORK SCHEDULE: Full time Monday to Friday
LINE MANAGER: Head of ShareTheMeal Software Engineering

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. WFP 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. Around 20000 people work for the organization most of them in remote areas directly serving the hungry poor.
To reach a world with zero hunger WFP is investing in and growing private sector fundraising and partnerships. Serving as a broker between WFP and the private sector WFPs Private Partnerships and Fundraising Division (PSP) strives to mobilize funding technical assistance innovative solutions and visibility and awareness to help WFP fulfil its mission while offering companies and the wider public the opportunity to contribute to a world with zero hunger.
ShareTheMeal is WFPs fundraising and awareness-raising app. Free to download the award-winning app is a pioneering way for people to join our efforts in creating a world with zero hunger. ShareTheMeal was launched in 2015 as the first pilot of WFPs Innovation Accelerator which among other things supports start-ups and innovators in developing their ideas for zero hunger.
ShareTheMeal currently has more than 1.9 million users worldwide who have shared more than 290 million meals (US$ 200 million). WFP is pursuing an ambitious growth strategy for individual giving and ShareTheMeal is a key driver for this strategy going forward. The team located in Berlin and remotely is focused on increasing the funds raised to help get to zero hunger by further developing the app to include new and innovative features increasing the engagement of existing users and growing the user base through marketing and communication initiatives. As the user base has grown there is a significant opportunity to increase funds raised from existing users and deliver an exceptional experience to build a long-term relationship with each supporter.

PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
As the technical leader for ShareTheMeals mobile engineering function define and execute the mobile technology strategy that enables the organization to scale from 1.9M to 10M users while maintaining exceptional user experience and operational efficiency impacting an annual revenue of $30 million USD.

ACCOUNTABILITIES / RESPONSIBILITIES
The Consultant reporting to Head of ShareTheMeal Software Engineering is expected to:
1. Lead Technical Strategy
a. Own the mobile engineering vision and multi-year technical roadmap aligning with ShareTheMeals growth objectives and WFPs mission to reach zero hunger
b. Define and evangelize mobile architecture standards across iOS Android and QA ensuring scalability to support 10M active usersHold regular 1:1s with all direct reports
c. Establish engineering metrics and SLOs that drive measurable improvements in app performance reliability and user satisfaction (e.g. crash-free rate >99.9% P95 load time <2s)Drive hiring of key positions and growth of the team.
d. Champion innovation initiatives evaluating and piloting emerging mobile technologies that could differentiate ShareTheMeals user experience or operational efficiency.
e. Represent mobile engineering in cross-functional leadership forums influencing product strategy and organizational technical decisions
2. Build and lead a high-performing mobile engineering organization capable of rapid high-quality delivery
a. Drive architectural decisions with clear rationale creating decision frameworks that enable the team to move quickly while maintaining quality
b. Continuously optimize team velocity and engineering effectiveness eliminating blockers and establishing processes that scale with team growth
c. Hold regular 1:1s with all direct reports
d. Develop engineering talent through structured mentorship
e. Own the technical roadmap translating business objectives into quarterly engineering initiatives with clear success metrics
f. Lead drafting of KPIs and SLOs and project initiatives.
g. Establish engineering culture and best practices for code quality testing and operational excellence that become organizational standards
h. Build cross-functional partnerships with Product Design Backend and Data teams to ensure seamless delivery of user-facing features
i. Spearhead the design of scalable architectures for Android iOS and QA platforms.
3. Drive engineering quality and technical sustainability
a. Own the engineering quality strategy balancing feature velocity with technical health through data-driven prioritization
b. Lead technical debt reduction initiatives that measurably improve system maintainability reducing bug rates and increasing feature velocity
c. Establish quality gates and engineering standards (code review practices testing requirements performance benchmarks) that prevent quality erosion
d. Champion engineering investments in tooling automation and infrastructure that multiply team effectivenessConduct code reviews and assessments
4. Research plan and facilitate the improvement of product quality security and performance.
a. Design implement and maintain native Android and iOS solutions for ShareTheMeal using Kotlin and Swift
b. Design and implements test automation systems with the QA team
c. Conduct code reviews and assessments
5. Document architecture/code decisions and APIs
DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT
- Deliver Product features and Tech Initiatives across Android iOS and QA platforms.
- Documentation and handover to Head of ShareTheMeal Software Engineering
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
Education
University degree in computer science or related field.
Work history
At least 5 years of experience in developing and designing Android and iOS native apps designed to serve millions of active users.
Soft skills
Strong analytical abilities both quantitative and qualitative.
Ability to make technical decisions that balance platform-specific needs with cross-platform efficiency.
Excellent problem-solving skills with ability to debug complex mobile issues.
Ability to interact with managers and stakeholders with maturity and tact.
Mature judgment with strong interpersonal skills.
Collaborative spirit able to work effectively across diverse teams and cultures.
Self-motivated and able to work with a high degree of autonomy.
Adaptability to rapidly evolving mobile technology landscape.
Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the World Food Programme.

Hard skills
Proficiency in Kotlin Swift and modern Android and iOS development patterns
Strong knowledge of Android and iOS SDK and frameworks Compose and SwiftUI
Experience with Swift structured concurrency Kotlin Coroutines and modern asynchronous
programming patterns.
Experience with architecture patterns (MVVM VIPER Clean Architecture).
Experience with App Store and Play Store submission process.
Knowledge of Unit Testing UI Testing (Maestro) and Test-Driven Development.
Expert understanding mobile app performance optimization techniques.
Experience with mobile CI/CD pipelines and deployment processes.
Familiarity with mobile analytics crash reporting and monitoring tools.
Embracing principles of clean code test-driven development and clean architecture.
Experience with agile development processes and cross-functional team collaboration.

Languages:

Excellent command of spoken and written English.
Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language would be a plus (Arabic Chinese French
Russian Spanish).

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:

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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 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.