Blockchain Technology Strategy & Portfolio Project Manager

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:Blockchain Technology Strategy & Portfolio Project Manager

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 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 WFPs 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 2022 Accelerator supported innovations that positively impacted the lives of 37 million people globally. Most recently the Accelerator runs programmes for external partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others.

More information here: and incumbent reporting to the Head of Innovative Finance Frontier Innovations and Venture Launchpad is expected to:

Drive the blockchain technology strategy development and project portfolio management: design the development and implementation of the blockchain strategy at the WFP Innovation Accelerator and oversee the blockchain project portfolio management addressing both internal WFP processes as well as in the context of program delivery in emerging and developing countries:

Develop a blockchain strategy and set focus areas and priorities to explore where blockchain technology can have an impact on humanitarian response and the food systems transformation.

Identify and drive the development of promising blockchain-based technical solutions addressing humanitarian use cases from idea to scaling through the core WFP Innovation Accelerator program.

Define key performance indicators and milestones for blockchain projects and overall portfolio and assure their implementation impact measurement and reporting.

Build collaborations around blockchain technology create the methods for accessing potential partnerships and work with the team of Blockchain Consultants to ensure that new blockchain solutions are developed prototyped and iterated upon quickly.

Act as a project manager to champion specific blockchain initiatives led by WFP:

This includes supporting Country Office blockchain pilots related to emergency response small-holder farmer support supply chain management and other areas.

Identifying and supporting opportunities to use blockchain for internal efficiency and effectiveness across WFP.

Champion blockchain piloting with and/or integration within WFP operations or within other organizations (as applicable) while liaising with internal units such as TEC procurement and legal as required.

Drive the development of blockchain-based software solutions from ideation to pilot implementation (Technology Readiness Level 5-6): Use available tools and expertise to drive the development of lightweight technology prototypes to test research hypotheses. Develop architecture standards templates and principles for WFP Innovation Accelerator blockchain projects in line with corporate standards. Map solution design to WFP Enterprise Architecture standards and reference architectures. Collaborate with all necessary stakeholders including business and IT roles to gather needed input to derive and document an agreed-upon solution. Support the project team in applicable procurement processes linked to the projects as needed. Provide guidance on applying agile project management methods (e.g. Scrum Kanban) in projects as required. Provide effort estimations for software development and appropriate project delivery. Liaise with the TEC Division to provide WFP Innovation Accelerator internal and external stakeholders and vendors with appropriate software-development infrastructure and access to WFP.

Provide Technical Advisory & Thought Leadership Services: present and provide technical insights linked to blockchain concepts to peers and external stakeholders to introduce and explain the technology and foster appropriate use-case adoption:

Serve as a blockchain expert & thought leader with deep insight into the blockchain industry.

Advise and support innovation teams on key decisions regarding technical product features technology elements and relevant technology vendors/partners. Coach project teams from ideation to implementation (as applicable) using methodologies such as human-centred design lean start-up project management and SCRUM. Participate and carry out discussions with WFP colleagues in other divisions or in WFP operations to showcase the potential value of blockchain to address humanitarian and food security challenges. Provide technical inputs to Frontier Innovation and WFP innovation Accelerator strategy and plans. Support the overall Innovation Accelerator operations

Provide analysis & content preparation (data on projects PowerPoint presentations briefs etc.) for corporate priority topics and management meetings.

Participate and carry out discussions with colleagues in other divisions or external stakeholders on topics related to innovation.

Support 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.

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:

• Develop a blockchain technology strategy for the WFP Innovation Accelerator to inform WFPs investments in this space.
• Generate a pipeline of external and internal blockchain projects and ensure that blockchain technologies are being used to deliver maximum value to WFP.
• Provide sound technical advice on blockchain topics to projects and initiatives.
• Ensure that the Frontier Innovations portfolio is delivered at a high quality and in-line with WFP corporate IT standards where required.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Bachelors degree in (Applied) Computer Science Applied Mathematics or related technical discipline. Masters degree is a plus.

Experience:

At least 5 years experience in a technical role such as software development of which 3 years in a blockchain product and/or project management role or equivalent.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Passionate to build and apply technology innovations (e.g. mobile apps blockchain artificial intelligence) for social impact.
• Strong conceptual thinking to develop new strategies & innovative projects.
• Experience in innovation portfolio management and project life cycle from ideation minimum viable product testing prototyping and implementation.
• Practical knowledge of data analysis and data preparation and data governance in advance of the use case selection for blockchain solutions.
• Project experience with blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) such as Hyperledger Ethereum Corda IOTA.
• Good programming skills in one or more relevant programming languages (e.g. Python Solidity NodeJS JavaScript etc.).
• Able to develop non-functional requirements for technical prototypes.
• Knowledge and experience implementing agile project management methodologies.
• Worked cross-functionally and able to get things done in an agile and hands-on way.
• Proven track record in driving projects - effectively delivering impactful elements of projects in a fast-moving environment ideally for new businesses new business models start-ups.
• Able to generate new and original solutions to complex problems and to design new products ideas.
• Strong analytical skills to assess business requirements to develop innovative projects.
• Comfortable with a variety of responsibilities we are a social impact accelerator so we all have to roll up our sleeves!
• Able to interact with a broad range of stakeholders and external audience with maturity and tact.
• Excellent communication/presentation skills with the ability to write strategy documents to develop business plans and to 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 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 required. Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic Chinese French Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFPs 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:

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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.