DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

16 January 2025-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Rome)

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: https://www.wfp.org 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).

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Ensuring a diverse and healthy diet for our growing world population through sustainable food systems is one of the greatest challenges of our times. This is particularly true in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where undernutrition remains a major problem due to diets that are often not diverse enough, lack adequate protein quality and micronutrients, and may also be insufficient to meet energy needs. Furthermore, climate change and shocks also affect food systems, affecting diets and requiring diverse adaptations. Food supply and demand challenges encompass the linkages between health, food, purchasing power, and the environment. Food and diets have a direct impact on human health and environmental sustainability.

Providing an increasing population with diets that address multiple urgent priorities—nutrition, affordability, adaptation to climate change as well as the need to mitigate agriculture’s contributions to greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe), biodiversity loss, soil erosion, freshwater depletion, zoonosis, antimicrobial resistance, and other areas of public health and ecological concern—will require the development of long-term and context-appropriate strategies for the different components of the entire food system. It is essential to acknowledge that transitioning to sustainable healthy diets might lead to an increase in GHG emissions in LMICs, making it crucial to balance environmental and nutritional objectives.

The Enhance project envisions the use of analytics to address the challenge of achieving an affordable healthy diet whilst limiting the environmental impacts. Enhance aspires to be an open-access platform for data-analysts and policymakers that brings together data from different domains to compare dietary scenarios for their different impacts. Multi-objective linear optimization will allow users to explore synergies and trade-offs between cost, environmental impact, dietary preferences, and nutrient adequacy of dietary scenarios, generating evidence to inform actions and policies for food systems transformation.

The Enhance platform is being developed in collaboration with Capgemini (Netherlands), the Zero Hunger Lab of Tilburg University and Johns Hopkins University. Each partner brings a combination of specific subject matter knowledge, data science and/or end-user expertise and platforms, as well as specific capacity to work on the solution.

The first version of Enhance was piloted in 2023 and a version ready for external users is under development with the objective of being rolled out in 2025. To support this exciting project, Enhance is looking for a consultant to join the product development team and support the development and integration of the solution’s optimization algorithm in collaboration with WFP, ZHL and Capgemini. The consultant will be expected to be an active member of the development team and attend sprint ceremonies. Therefore, the consultant should ensure adequate overlap of work hours between Western Europe and their location.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Support the development and rollout of the Enhance optimization algorithm, including:
• Incorporating new features to the web application and its mathematical optimization algorithm based on WFP and additional external use cases;
• Testing and validating new features to ensure quality, consistency, and the alignment with best practices on agile development;
• Developing and maintaining the data pipeline of the platform, and contributing to the development of the data infrastructure to facilitate data input and output processing for Enhance;
• Supporting the maintenance of the Enhance Tableau dashboard;
• Supporting WFP teams during analyses to ensure the outputs are correct, and to diagnose and resolve issues that may arise;
• Improving the user experience and interaction with the algorithm by supporting the development of a graphical user interface;
• Contributing to deep dives on WFP business requirements to evaluate further optimization improvements and opportunities. To the extent possible, recommend system and/or process enhancements to further improve the performance of Enhance;
• Collaborating with external developers working on Enhance to plan work, determine approach for technical aspects of software development, and troubleshoot issues;
• Producing documentation, guidance materials (user manual) and peer-reviewed publication as it relates to the optimization algorithm, platform, and its uses.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

• Updated Enhance software platform backend.
• Updated Python (or R) script to process Enhance output.
• Updated Enhance Tableau dashboard.
• Documentation and guidance on Enhance for users and developers.
• Peer reviewed article on Enhance submitted for publication.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Master in the field of Operations Research, Management Science, Business Analytics, or Data Science.

Experience:

Required

At least 3 years of work experience in the area of data science is required.

Work experience related to linear programming.

Desirable

Previous experience with consultancy-type activities (e.g., business analysis, process mapping, data extraction and analysis, presenting to senior management, etc.)

Prior experience with the development of data pipelines (e.g. ETL, APIs, etc.)

Previous experience with research and/or academic work

Prior experience working with governments, UN agencies, and/or NGOs desirable.

Knowledge & Skills:

Required

• Prior knowledge and understanding of mathematical optimization methods such as linear programming
• Strong and proven coding proficiency in Python.
• Ability to work in a team with Agile SCRUM methodologies.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to perform in a multi-functional and multi-cultural team.
• Strong analytical abilities (quantitative and qualitative), with the ability to think outside the box.
• Ability to evolve fairly independently and take initiatives where relevant.
• Committed and motivated to achieve the objectives of WFP.

Desirable

• Prior experience with the use of PuLP, Git and AWS is a plus.
• Prior experience with Tableau.
• Prior experience with R.

Languages:

Verbal and written fluency 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 dedicated to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our recruitment process is inclusively crafted to welcome candidates of all backgrounds, celebrating diversity and ensuring a respectful environment for all. We aim for an accessible and fair recruitment journey. Should you need any reasonable accommodations or have accessibility concerns, please reach out to us confidentially at [email protected]. Our DEI team is here to ensure your full participation in our recruitment process.

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 [email protected] 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.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements