ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to end global hunger. Every 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.

In emergencies, WFP gets food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. After an emergency, WFP uses food to help communities rebuild their shattered lives. Present in nearly 80 countries, the organization has the global footprint, deep field presence and local knowledge and relationships necessary to provide access to nutritious food and contribute to the lasting solutions, especially in many of the world’s most remote and fragile areas. We manage an operating budget of approximately $5.9 billion each year, distributing 12.6 billion rations to those most in need. We reach an average of 80 million people with food assistance in around 80 countries each year. The World Food Programme office in Johannesburg is a Regional Office coordinating and supporting the delivery of humanitarian assistance to 11 Southern Africa countries including, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Malawi, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazaville.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The World Food Programme has developed and is continuing to enhance and maintain a set of digital solutions to help in managing:

• the identities and entitlements of its beneficiaries,

• the operational parameters of the programmes that transfer benefits to them, and

• the assurances and insights to ensure related risks are properly managed.

This includes SCOPE, WFP’s beneficiary and transfer management platform that supports the WFP programme intervention cycle from a technical perspective. The SCOPE platform is a web-based application used for beneficiary registration, intervention setup, distribution planning, transfer and distribution reporting. While there is a current focus and scale-up/enhancement related to cash-based transfers, SCOPE is intended and being developed to fully support all WFP transfer modalities: in-kind, voucher and cash for a variety of project activities. As an extension and over the next couple of years, WFP also plans to develop a broad array of Digital Assistance Services (DAS) beyond those related to the current SCOPE capabilities.

Under the overall responsibility of the lead Regional Digital Assistance Services Officer (DASO), the incumbent will be part of the Digital Assistance Services team in the Regional Office, responsible for; defining a regional demand management process for SCOPE, working with other business units to identify opportunities, challenges and bottlenecks in the planning and deployment process, and supporting the Regional Bureau and Country Offices to implement solutions.

The incumbent will also be responsible for supporting the successful release and coordination of new functionalities or processes to Country Offices (COs) in the Region. This will be in close coordination with team members and other colleagues in the Regional Bureau (RB), Headquarters (HQ) and Country Offices. The incumbent should expect frequent missions to countries of implementation.

ACCOUNTABILITIES / RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the lead of the regional DASO, coordinate a process improvement initiative through engagement with other functional units involved in DAS/SCOPE implementations, identifying critical success factors, as well as current bottlenecks and challenges
Development of cross-functional roadmap for demand management of DAS services
Coordination and support to RB and CO for implementation of roadmap
Lead the implementation of new SCOPE/DAS functionalities and processes in the region, ensuring involvement of relevant stakeholders at CO, RB and HQ
Provide direct project management support to COs in the region during the implementation and roll-out of SCOPE/DAS and its new functionalities and processes
Support learning and development efforts (e.g. on-site training, remote guidance) related to new functionalities and processes
Deploy as needed to COs to support on-ground testing, roll-out and uptake of new SCOPE/DAS functionalities and processes, as well as for related project management surge capacity
Based on field implementation, distill use cases for new requirements or change requests for SCOPE/DAS, and support the BTOs in presenting the concepts in a concise manner to relevant technical teams
Where relevant, support the CO in extending their support to partners in the implementation and use of new functionalities and processes
Ensure that guidance or recommendations are provided to COs on potential organizational and capacity changes that may arise from the application of new functionalities and processes
Perform any other duties as required

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT

SCOPE/DAS regional demand management process and roadmap
SCOPE/DAS regional plan for 6-12 months
SCOPE/DAS solutions implemented and fully leveraged to enable delivery of WFP assistance in a cost-efficient manner in the prioritized countries in the region
SCOPE/DAS solutions tailored to meet specific Country Office operational needs
Identification and appropriate resolution or escalation of any new SCOPE/DAS operational requirements in priority COs

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Education:

University degree in business management, computer science, telecommunications engineering or social sciences, or another degree with relevant work experience.

Experience:

At least three years of post-graduate progressively responsible professional experience in humanitarian aid operations, project management and/or business systems analysis, design and implementation.

Knowledge & Skills:

Knowledge of and hands-on experience in cash based transfers (CBT) programming in humanitarian contexts; Awareness of technologies used in the delivery of cash and vouchers in humanitarian contexts; Possession of a combination of broad business skills and IT experience including: General management skills in business and public sector contexts; Business analysis including creation and review of functional and non-functional business requirements for IT solutions; Knowledge and experience with project management methodologies; Ability to influence cross-functionally to manage projects within a matrix environment; Strong writing skills, ability to deliver presentations to multiple stakeholder groups in clear and concise business language. Showcase strong problem solving, analytical, and client-facing skills. Ability to work in multi-cultural and multi-ethic environments.

Language:

Fluency in written and oral English.

Intermediate knowledge of at least one other official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) will be a added advantage.

ADDITIONAL SKILLS, EXPERIENCES & QUALIFICATIONS THAT WOULD BE ADVANTAGEOUS

Experience as an IT Project Manager
Experience as an IT Business Analyst
Experience as a Business Systems Analyst
Project Management qualifications from Cranefield or FTI (Faculty Training Institute)
Project Management qualifications such as PMP or CAPM

CONTRACTUAL INFORMATION

Gross monthly salary range: R42,838-00 to R61,022-00
Benefits: Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Medical Insurance and Social Security

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS

This vacancy announcement will close on Sunday, 3 May 2020 at 11:59pm Johannesburg time

This position is only open to South African Citizens and non-South African Citizens with Permanent Residence Permits

Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply