Consultant Innovation&Change Management

The incumbent, reporting to the Innovation Ventures Consultant is expected to:

Plan and implement core accelerator activities:

Content design, operational coordination and planning, and/or facilitation of bootcamps, workshops and other innovation support activities;

Run the start-up/innovation sourcing process (innovation challenges, pipeline sharing, active scouting, etc.) as applicable;

Match start-ups/projects with WFP Country Offices, HQ units or Regional Bureaux and vice versa - as needed;

Ensure that all innovation support activities are planned and implemented in an effective and efficient manner with all relevant internal and external stakeholders.

Actively engage with innovations/new ventures (internal and external) to potentially scale and to advance towards Zero Hunger:

Support and coach project teams from ideation to implementation (as applicable), using methodologies such as human centered design, lean start-up, project management and business modeling;

Advice and support innovation teams on key decisions regarding product features and technology elements;

Define key performance indicators and milestones for the innovation project and assure their implementation, impact measurement and reporting;

Guide the innovation team throughout the Sprint project curriculum, as required;

Support piloting with and/or integration within WFP operations or within other organizations (as applicable), while liaising with internal units such as country offices, procurement and legal, as required;

Participate and carry out discussions with WFP colleagues in other divisions or in WFP operations to align on project scope and objectives; and

Execute any other task as required.

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 INK with any other activities as required.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

• Accelerator activities effectively carried out;
• Innovation projects/start-ups effectively supported;
• Effective support of operations of the Innovation Accelerator., * 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 global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org. 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.

Education: Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree a plus.

Experience: At least 3 years of progressively responsible international experience in a start-up leadership role, start-up accelerator, innovations in private businesses or innovations in the humanitarian or international development sector.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Passion and understanding of technology innovations (e.g. mobile apps, blockchain, artificial intelligence) and business model innovations (e.g. innovative finance, sharing economy);
• Experience in innovation project life cycle - from ideation, minimum viable product, testing, prototyping and implementation;
• Worked or led cross-functionally and get things done in a scrappy and hands-on way
• Experience working in a large scale-organization or with a client/in partnership with a large-scale organization;
• Proven track record of driving projects - effectively delivering impactful elements of projects in a fast-moving environment, ideally for new businesses, new business models, start-ups etc.;
• Able to generate new and original solutions to complex problems and to design new products ideas;
• Strong conceptual thinking to develop new strategies & innovative projects;
• 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 mandatory. Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) is a plus.

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., * 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., 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. WFP’s 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 systems. In 2020, WFP was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize., 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 WFP’s 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.