HR Consultant

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

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.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website:  and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok.

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: HR Talent Management Consultant

TYPE OF CONTRACT: Regular Consultancy

UNIT/DIVISION: School Meals Accelerator

DUTY STATION (City, Country): Rome, Italy

ABOUT SCHOOL MEALS ACCELERATOR

The School Meals Accelerator (SMA) is a new independent initiative with a mandate to support governments in scaling up sustainable, national school meal programmes. It contributes to the goals of the School Meals Coalition, a network of over 100 governments committed to expanding and improving school meal programmes.  The initiative will be hosted by WFP.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

SMA is in its start up phase. The immediate priority is recruiting a talented and diverse team to deliver the mandate. The consultant will therefore focus primarily on recruitment for international professionals and consultants, ensuring timely and high quality selection processes that are inclusive and compliant with WFP HR policies and procedures. As SMA operations mature, the portfolio may expand to include selected contracting tasks and other HR projects that strengthen SMA's people operations. Familiarity with WFP HR processes is essential. Experience with contracting is a strong asset.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Recruitment delivery and advisory

• Lead end to end planning and recruitment for SMA positions across multiple functions and duty stations, including international professional levels P1 to P5 and consultants.
• Act as a trusted talent acquisition adviser to SMA leadership, hiring managers and staffing coordinators, providing guidance on workforce planning, role design, job profiling and market insights.
• Ensure each recruitment adheres to WFP procedures and integrity standards, including planning, attraction, screening, assessment, interviews, reference checks and offer management.
• Draft clear and compelling vacancy announcements that reflect role requirements and SMA mission.

Sourcing and talent pipelines

• Design and execute targeted sourcing strategies to attract qualified and diverse candidates, using professional networks, communities of practice, talent pools, referrals and digital platforms including LinkedIn Recruiter and the applicant tracking system.
• Build and nurture proactive pipelines for critical and scarce profiles, maintaining accurate pipeline data for future hiring needs.

Diversity and inclusion

• Review the composition of longlists and shortlists at key stages, applying corrective measures to maintain balance in gender and geographic representation in line with organizational targets.
• Promote equitable assessment methods and accessible candidate experiences throughout the selection process.

Candidate management and experience

• Manage candidate communication with professionalism and timeliness, ensuring transparency on timelines, steps and outcomes.
• Coordinate logistics for assessments and interviews, and provide clear feedback where appropriate.

Contracting and HR operations

• As the initiative scales, progressively support selected contracting activities for consultants and short term personnel, including document preparation, data accuracy checks and liaison with relevant WFP HR and administrative units to ensure compliance and timely processing.
• Maintain organized records and documentation required for audit readiness.

Data, insights and continuous improvement

• Track and report recruitment metrics such as time to fill, pipeline diversity and candidate conversion, and use data to propose process improvements.

Other HR projects

• Support additional HR initiatives as needed, for example onboarding design, induction and orientation, HR process mapping, vendor management for talent tools, and HR analytics dashboards.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

• Successful completion of assigned recruitments within agreed timelines, with documented adherence to WFP HR procedures.
• Shortlists that demonstrate quality and diversity, including representation by gender and geography for priority roles.
• Candidate and hiring manager feedback evidencing a professional and timely process.
• Organized recruitment and, where applicable, contracting files that meet compliance and audit standards.
• Periodic recruitment reports with insights and recommendations that inform SMA workforce planning. 

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

University degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, Social Sciences or other relevant area. 

Experience:

• At least three years of hands on recruitment or talent acquisition experience in an international context, covering a variety of functions and specializations.
• Experience working within or alongside WFP HR processes is essential for success in this role.
• Experience with contracting of consultants or short term personnel is a strong asset.

Knowledge and skills

• Strong ability to design and execute sourcing strategies, and to engage passive candidates.
• Proficiency with applicant tracking systems, LinkedIn Recruiter and other attraction and selection tools.
• Excellent written and oral communication in English, with the ability to tailor messages to different audiences.
• Ability to draft clear vacancy announcements based on job requirements and competency profiles.
• Solid interviewing capability, including competency based and behavioral techniques.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, including the ability to navigate complex scenarios with senior managers.
• Project management discipline, with the ability to manage multiple requisitions and timelines, and to prioritize under time pressure.
• Data literacy for monitoring pipelines and process efficiency, and for producing actionable insights.
• Demonstrated understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion principles and how to apply them in recruitment.
• Problem solving orientation, collaboration and a continuous improvement mindset.
• Ability to work effectively in a multicultural environment and across virtual teams.

Languages

• Fluency in English is required.
• Intermediate knowledge of another UN language French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Arabic or Portuguese is desirable.

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: 

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

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.