Consultant Finance, CFOFC

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

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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.

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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: Consultant Finance

TYPE OF CONTRACT: Regular Consultant

UNIT/DIVISION: CFOFC, CFO Division

DUTY STATION (City, Country): Rome, Italy

DURATION: 6 months (1 January 2026 to 30 June Part time at 50%

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food and cash assistance to change lives and empower people to meet their essential needs. WFP does this both through direct programming as well as by supporting governments on their national pathways toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in partnership with multiple stakeholders. WFP transferred over US$2.2 billion across 75 countries in 2024. The cash transfers constituted 69% of CBT and commodity voucher portfolio which provided flexibility to choose.
In order to enhance the effectiveness of WFP's cash transfer interventions, detailed assessments are first undertaken by CFOFC in order to identify major players within the various financial sectors with an objective to contract them for cash delivery services to beneficiaries. Such FSPs can be identified and contracted at local, regional and/or global levels. One of such global agreements was signed and successfully activated in 2018. Due to increasing demand of corporate emergencies and support to Government Programmes, the use of such agreement expanded with almost US$ 1 billion being distributed since the establishment of the LTA. In 2024, the global LTA was used actively for US$ 133 million in 13 countries including service provision in Lebanon.
WFP intends to continue to leverage the use of existing LTAs and further expand its portfolio of regional or global LTAs, hence, a financial specialist with an in-depth knowledge of both, WFP procurement processes as well as financial services offered by the payments industry is required at HQ level to ensure CFOFC can deliver on its FSP engagement strategy under the Global Beneficiary Payment Solution workstream.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Consultant will be responsible for engaging and managing the strategic partnership of Global and Regional Financial Service Providers and will undertake the following tasks:

1) Manage and lead end-to-end deployment of Western Union's Global LTA which includes:

a. Act as project manager during the implementation of the solution to COs, provide training, strategic as well as technical support. Identify issues and resolve them to ensure uninterrupted operational support and services to CO.
b. Identify areas of improvement and follow-up with the relevant teams to ensure adequate support. Develop tools based on CO feedback, lesson learnt and FSPs' performance analysis.
c. Ensure a smooth user experience and cost efficiencies by automating processes such as reconciliation, automatic cancellation and real-time notification of MTCN codes.
d. Implement corporate periodic reporting mechanisms and keep "Monitoring dashboards" up to date. Build capacity of CO staff to monitor the global LTAs.
2) Support to the Corporate Strategic expansion of the Global/Regional Beneficiary Payment Solutions
a. Support CBT cross functional working group with the finalization of contractual agreements, development of SOPs and definition of best practices for the use of global and regional LTAs by COs.
b. Support other Global Solution initiatives such as PlugPAY as required by the Unit.
3) Any other duties, as assigned

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:
1. Timely support and training to COs to set up and have uninterrupted use of the Global Beneficiary Payment Solution platform that enable the effective cash assistance and/or cash transfer service delivery.
2. Quarterly Status Report of the usage of the LTA and the issues and their resolution.
3. Updated Monitoring and Reconciliation tool and dashboards for account wallets, Communication material on LTA/account wallet.
4. Finalization of agreements and onboarding of new LTAs as per tender's outcome, focusing on cost efficiencies and strong internal control of business process.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
Education: University Degree in Economics or Finance, Business Administration or related fields, or at least 8 years of relevant work experience.

Experience: In depth knowledge of WFP CBT Finance and Programme guidance and processes, and latest developments in design of Cash-based Transfer interventions.
Experience in WFP Country Office and/or Headquarters

Knowledge & Skills: Demonstrated ability to think in an innovative and strategic manner, and ability to work both independently and as part of a diverse team. Proactive to engage with relevant stakeholders at different levels and identify and resolve issues of concern. Ability to articulate and report key issues and decisions within the delegated area of responsibility.
Languages: Excellent oral and written communication in English.

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.