GEMS Product Manager

        WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principle. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance

Job Title: GEMS Product Manager 
Type of Contract: Consultant Level II
Division: Digital Services (TECD), Information Technology Division (TEC)  
Duty Station: Remote working

Duration: 11 months 

 

WHO WE ARE
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), a highly prestigious, reputable & world’s largest humanitarian organization, operating in more than 120 countries and territories, bringing life-saving assistance in emergencies, building pathways to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change and supporting sustainable and resilient livelihoods for a world with zero hunger.
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 envi-ronment, 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: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. 
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and chil-dren, can access the nutritious food they need.

 

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT:
Digital technology and data are rapidly reaching some of the most vulnerable people and places affected by crisis, while also expanding operational approach to those same crises. As one of the main humanitarian actors, WFP has the opportunity and obligation to leverage data and technology to better know and serve those in need by digitally transforming the way it works. Such ambition has led to the developing a new WFP IT Strategy whose core elements inform the end-to-end business processes of the organization. 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT: 
The Technology Division of WFP partners with units across the organization to digitally transform WFP. We design, develop, enhance, and maintain a variety of digital products. The Digital Services Branch (TECD) oversees solution delivery activities, covering both the introduction of new products as well as the evolution of existing ones. Each product being delivered has a Product Manager.
Reporting to the ERP Products Business Analysts Lead, the Product Manager is the custodian of the vision of the product, accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Product Team. The Product Manager aims for an IT solution which achieves the highest quality in terms of technical usability, user acceptability, and domain suitability.

 

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES: 
•    Apply strong knowledge of Business processes for supporting, maintaining, and optimizing the SAP Asset Management, MM, PM and SD modules to develop IT solutions in line with User needs by identifying new op-portunities, evolution or integrations across the different IT systems and tools   
•    Proactively engage the TEC and Business Stakeholders to propose and prioritise process optimisations with the aim to improve Asset, Material Master Data, Purchasing and Equipment Management processes through Digital Technology  
•    Communicate business objectives, user needs and processes, to ensure common understanding and prioriti-zation between stakeholders ensuring availability and sharing timely information with both internal and ex-ternal parties.   
o    Act as GEMS Product Manager:  
o    Create and maintain the Improvement Canvas outlining the vision of the product.
o    Create and maintain the Product Roadmap outlining the evolution of the product.
o    Prepare the Product Roadmap for endorsement by the TEC Demand Assessment Board (DAB).  
•    Perform the role of Scrum Product Owner:  
o    Develop and explicitly communicate the Product Goal.  
o    Gather and validate requirements following a HCD approach.  
o    Ensure that the Product Backlog is transparent, visible, and understood.  
o    Communicate requirements inwards to the Product Team:  
    Identify and categorize stakeholders/customers/users/subject-matter experts.
    Give the Product Team clear guidance on which features to deliver next.  
o    Communication outwards to Stakeholders:  
    Communicate estimates, dependencies, and technical issues after grooming sessions, informing and negotiating with the Stakeholders.  
    Make decisions, in consultation with Stakeholders, regarding the priority of PBIs.  
o    Decide when to deploy the product with the predisposition towards frequent releases.  
o    Take care of Backlog Grooming: regularly review items on the backlog to ensure the backlog contains the appropriate items, that they are prioritized, and that the items at the top of the backlog are ready for delivery.  
o    Participate in the Sprint Planning session; a team planning meeting that determines what to complete in the coming Sprint.  
o    Chair the Sprint Demo session and participate in the Sprint Retrospective session
o    Manage the product budget (including support & maintenance costs) and prepare cost esti-mates based on the IT Solution Architect’s high-level effort estimates.
o    Keep track of the consumption of purchased time-and-materials quotas.
o    Approve consumption reports for the insertion the corresponding Service Entry Sheets; and
o    Report periodically on progress to the project management office, informing them of any is-sues/risks requiring attention. Identify and escalate issues that could affect the product out-comes, timeline, or budget.

 

DELIVERABLES: 
•    Product Roadmap.  
•    Product Backlog well-structured in Epics, Features, and User Stories, with User Stories that pass the “Defini-tion of Ready” as per the INVEST criteria.   
•    Improvement canvas.

 

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: 

Education:
•    University degree in business administration, information technology, or other related fields.
Experience: 
•    Minimum 7 years post graduate, progressively responsible professional experience as Business Analyst within an organization and proven record of accomplishment in development and implementation of IT applications.

Technical Skills & Knowledge:
•    Deep knowledge of SAP Asset Management, MM, PM and SD modules. Good understanding of SAP Solution Manager and related Change Request Management (ChaRM) processes is desirable. 
•    IT solution development: Requirements, Design, Development, Implementation Business analysis: creation and review of business, functional and non-functional requirements for IT solutions. 
•    In-depth knowledge and proficiency with product management (vision and product strategy), product backlog management (analyse, create, refine, and prioritize product backlog items), Agile Scrum and mainstream software design & development methodologies. 
•    Ability to influence cross-functionally to manage projects within a matrix environment. 
•    Experience with multivendor project and delivery coordination and management.

Language:
Fluency in oral and written English with an intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chi-nese, 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 websites for detailed information on working with WFP.
http://www.wfp.org Click on: “Our Work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION:
We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, and complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).
•    Once your profile is completed, please 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 passports, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may poten-tially be requested at a future time
•    Please contact us at wfprecruitment@wfp.org in case you face any challenges with submitting your ap-plication
•    Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

 

Deadline for applications: 20 April 2024 at 11:59pm Rome time (CET/CEST)

All employment decisions are made based on organizational needs, job requirements, 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. Qualified female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply.
 
WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate based on 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.
 
Saving lives, changing lives