The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. We are currently seeking to fill an Innovation Scaling Venture Project Manager position in the INKA Division, which will be based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

 

Brief description of WFP Innovation Accelerator, INKA:

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 one of the 10 organizations worldwide among the Best Workplaces for Innovators 2020 as well as Innovation Team of the Year 2020 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 WFP’s global operations. Through the Innovation Accelerator, WFP is leveraging unprecedented advances in digital innovation - such as mobile technology, artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain - and new business models to transform the way it serves vulnerable communities across the world. In 2020 alone, Accelerator supported innovations that positively impacted the lives of 3.7 million people globally. Most recently, the Accelerator runs programmes for external partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others.

 

More information here: http://innovation.wfp.org and https://youtu.be/OnKkQlRdh2c.

 

The Scaleup Project Manager position has been designed as part of scaleup enablement investment with the financial support of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The primary objective of this investment is to enable the strategic development and scale-up of fit innovations to address the short-term impact of COVID on access to fortified foods amongst the most vulnerable populations, while advancing R&D and building successful market expansion models for sustainability in the long term. This service, starting with the selection of innovation projects, will be provided through the individually tailored Innovation Accelerator Scale-up Enablement program. The two innovative enterprises, currently in the application process, are Sanku and BioAnalyt.

Sanku adds micronutrients that are scientifically proven to improve health and vitality into the food Africans eat the most. The Innovation Scaling Venture Project Manager will support Sanku’s vision to reach 100 million people by 2030. Specifically during the next 2 years, this will mean reaching an additional 100-200 millers, expanding operations to neighbouring countries, develop fortification tools for other commodities, work on a national milling census to map out capacity and fortification potential of small and medium size mills throughout Tanzania, and design a national promotion strategy to boost demand for fortified products. WFP successfully completed a pilot with Sanku in 2020, in which the company managed to reach an additional 22 millers in the region of Kigoma. You can learn more about Sanku here: https://projecthealthychildren.com/

 

General Information

• Title of Post: Innovation Scaling Venture Project Manager - Sanku
• Unit: Innovation Accelerator, Innovation and Knowledge Management Division (INKA)
• Country:  United Republic of Tanzania
• Duty Station: Dar-es-Salaam
• Initial contract duration: 5 months
• Expected Start Date: 1.04.21
   

Duties and responsibilities

The incumbent, reporting to the Head of Field Operations is expected to:

1. Drive forward the Sanku venture and vision towards a world with zero hunger:

1. Act as overall entrepreneurial team member/” temporary startup team member” for the Sanku project
2. Coordinate a variety of partners and stakeholders in this investment including Sanku team, the Innovation Accelerator, WFP Tanzania CO and other interested COs, WFP Regional Bureaus and HQ, BMGF, SUN and GAIN movements, University of Illinois and other strategic and research partners.
3. Support and coach Sanku team during the critical scale up and expansion phase through support in further product development (R&D) as well as national (Tanzania) and regional expansion (East and Central Africa, Asia, and other regions).
4. Assure implementation and reporting against key performance indicators and milestones agreed among the key stakeholders including Sanku team, the Innovation Accelerator, and BMGF.
5. Participate and carry out discussions with other key stakeholders and partners to align on project scope and objectives to the overall scaleup vision of Sanku team. 
6. Advise and support Sanku team on key decisions regarding product features, technology options, business and scaleup models.
7. Provide project management support, including supporting the development of key communication materials including articles, blogs and other visibility materials while supporting also fundraising efforts of the Sanku team.
8. Execute any other task as required.

 

2. Work out-loud and create connections - build recognition and acceptance of Sanku:

1. Support building strong partnerships within the nutrition and fortification ecosystems, as it serves the development of Sanku
2. Engage external innovation community, as strategic and needed, to act as partners and drive forward Sanku’s vision towards a world with zero hunger.
3. Support the design and implementation of workshops and events that increase Sanku’s visibility at national, regional and international levels.
4. Support building an internal innovation network to share best practices and create a peer support system for the benefit of Sanku’s scaleup phase.
    

3. Support the overall innovation accelerator operations:

1. Provide analysis & content preparation (data on the Sanku project, PowerPoint presentations, briefs, etc.) for corporate priority topics and management meetings.
2. Participate and carry out discussions with colleagues in other divisions or external stakeholders on topics related to Sanku.
3. 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.
4. Support the Head of the Innovation Accelerator and the Director of INK with any other activities as required.

 

Required qualifications and experience

 

Education:

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

Experience:

At least 4 years of progressively responsible national or international experience in a start-up, innovations in private businesses or innovations in the humanitarian or international development sector. 2 years of experience working with startups/innovations in developing countries (WFP or external) preferred.

 

 

Required soft skills/WFP Competencies:

• Entrepreneurial spirit and approach to work; a self-driven person who sets a high bar of expectations for self and others, while managing to stay positive and be a source of purpose despite challenges.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills: ability to bring others behind objectives and drive projects to meet targets despite competing priorities and additional challenges, planned or unplanned
• Proven track record of driving projects to success - effectively delivering impactful elements of projects in 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
• 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
• Knowledge of Tanzania and the region would be considered a strong asset.
• Passion and deep understanding of technology innovations (e.g. mobile apps, blockchain, artificial intelligence) and business model innovations (e.g. innovative finance, crowdsourcing)
• Sound understanding of HCD and Lean Startup methodologies, as well as WFP processes and systems is a plus.   
• Prior experience or exposure to commodity trading or logistics is a plus
• Knowledge of or work experience in the field of nutrition and/or behaviour change.
• Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the UN World Food Programme.
   

Language requirements

• Fluency in oral and written English mandatory. An intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) is desirable.

 

Terms and Conditions:

WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualifications and experience. 

Please visit the following website for detailed information on working with WFP: http://www.wfp.org 

Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.

Please note that candidates applying for this position might also be considered for other suitable roles.

VA Reference no: 140463

 Closing Date: 31 March 2021

 

Female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply.  WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

 

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.