Blog

WFP is an Agency of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger globally.  Every single day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.  At WFP, we are driven and defined by our mission to fight world hunger, save lives, feed people’s dreams of a brighter future, reduce risk and help enable people, communities and countries meet their food and nutrition needs. WFP goes anywhere it’s needed and does what it takes to get the job done.

More than 17,000 people are working in WFP world-wide reflecting the rich diversity of the world in which we work. The vital importance of our shared mission underpins a remarkably close community of purpose.

WFP offers life-changing job opportunities you are unlikely to find in other organizations. Working at WFP will allow you to work beyond your expectations, to be enriched by truly meaningful work and enhance your professional expertise.

For additional information, visit: www.wfp.org

The Future International Talent Pool (FIT Pool) is an excellent opportunity for a professional international career within WFP.  WFP is looking to build a pool of highly qualified and dynamic talents interested in serving in any of the 80 countries where WFP operates.  Qualifying for the Human Resources FIT Pool gives you priority to be considered for vacant Fixed Term positions anywhere in the world and consequently to commence your global journey in the humanitarian world, often at the forefront of world affairs (https://www.wfp.org/countries).

For more information: http://www1.wfp.org/fit-pool

You will hold a position either in Country Offices (COs), Regional Bureaux (RBs) or Headquarters (HQ).  You will report to the Division/Regional/Country Director, Chief or designate. You will lead a team of HR practitioners to deliver services that support larger COs or Regions or perform a senior role within a specialist team in HQ. You have the technical knowledge and experience required to identify, analyse and resolve complex people issues. You provide technical expertise, advice and solutions which support strategic results, and formulate new strategies and technical approaches where appropriate.

Your purpose is to lead the planning and delivery of professional, client-focused HR services and/or provide technical advice and support in HQ/RBs, partnering with senior managers to implement HR solutions in line with WFP corporate priorities.

You will:

• Be responsible for the design of country/regional/functional plans and processes, and the planning and implementation of HR operational activities or projects to meet local objectives and support WFP strategic goals.
• Partner effectively with senior managers to understand their priorities and provide advice and solutions on all aspects of human resources, as well as on strategic and policy issues.
• Lead the effective management of the employment relationship between WFP and its staff, determining conditions of service, contracts and appropriate entitlements, and resolving complex employee relations issues.
• Plan and monitor capability building, partnering with managers to understand individual skills and business requirements, and designing/delivering development solutions which equip people with the skills and knowledge required to meet current and future challenges.
• Guide and update the onboarding process, to ensure new staff have a positive experience of WFP and are successfully integrated into their new role and the organization.
• Build and manage talent within WFP, understanding business needs and designing and delivering solutions to recruit, retain, manage and develop a high calibre workforce to deliver business objectives.
• Plan and deliver organizational design activities that enable senior management to define and organize structures and jobs and allocate people to the right places to improve efficiency.
• Guide and motivate a team of HR staff, monitoring performance, providing coaching, training and guidance to ensure appropriate development and enable high performance.

• Oversee compliant data integrity; consolidate and analyse data, identifying trends/potential issues, presenting recommendations and influencing managers to tackle complex problems.
• Maintain and share knowledge of external industry developments, and where appropriate amend/design new HR policies, procedures and systems to drive a culture of improvement and support WFP effectively.
• Take responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives in all areas of work, to ensure equal participation of women and men.
• Other as required.

Education:

• You hold an advanced university degree in Human Resource Management, Public or Business Administration, Industrial Psychology or other relevant fields, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience or training/courses.

Experience:

• You have at least eight years or more of postgraduate progressively responsible professional experience in Human Resources with an interest in international humanitarian development, of which at least three with an international organization and/or outside your home country.
• You have experience supervising teams of HR staff with varied areas of expertise.

 Language:

• You are fluent in oral and written English;
• You have Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages).

Mobility:

• You are able and motivated to work in any of WFP’s Offices throughout the world, including hardship locations.

• You have sound knowledge of HR concepts and trends with a broad knowledge of best practices, techniques and processes and specialised knowledge in one or more specific areas within HR.
• You can lead, coach and motivate a large team.
• You are flexible, adaptable and resilient in a changing and/or difficult environment.
• You have good communication skills with the ability to persuade, influence, negotiate with the wide range of key stakeholders and adapt your communication style to different situations.
• You have a good knowledge of common business principles and processes and the ability to quickly assimilate UN/WFP specific processes and systems.
• You are a creative and enthusiastic initiative-taker and you have demonstrated the ability to take independent decisions.
• You have planning and organizational skills and the ability to solve problems and exercise sound reasoning in uncertain situations.
• You can establish and maintain effective relationships with clients, peers and counterparts and provide client-oriented service.

Building the pool is a comprehensive process and it will take approximately 8 months.

The recruitment steps are an Online Test > Video Interview > Language Test > Panel Interview > Background Verification.

If you are looking for a career with WFP, it is important to understand that mobility is the essence of WFP and continues to be a core contractual requirement. The majority of positions within WFP are “rotational” meaning that staff members are subject to regular mobility processes and depending on the classification of the assigned duty station, may transfer to any other location every  2 to 4 years.

If you are selected, you will be placed in the Future International Talent Pool for a period of up to 2 years. You may be contacted as the needs arise for fixed-term international positions in any of the countries in which WFP operates, including hardship duty stations, which may be classified as “non-family”, for example, Afghanistan, Nigeria, DRC, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.  All Fixed Term positions are generally between two to four years duration and following this initial assignment you will be eligible to apply as an internal candidate to other assignments within WFP.   However, once qualified for the Fit Pool, you will be expected to accept the first proposal.

You may learn more about the process and this initiative at http://www1.wfp.org/fit-pool.

WFP offers an attractive compensation and benefits package, including basic salary, post adjustment, dependency allowances, relocation entitlement, travel and shipment allowances, 30 working days’ annual leave, home leave/travel, education grant for dependent children, pension plan and medical insurance. For more information, visit https://icsc.un.org/

10 February (midnight Rome time).

Applications must be submitted in English.