Director, Humanitarian Diplomacy, D1

Position description

The Humanitarian Diplomacy service is a new entity placed in the Office of the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of WFP. The aim of the service is to foster the development of a stronger awareness and better understanding across the organisation of the political context of WFP’s work. This senior level Director position, reporting to the Director of the Office of the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, will lead the service and work closely with WFP’s leadership, network of Regional Bureaux and Country Offices as well as Global Offices in key capitals around the globe.

JOB PURPOSE:

The Humanitarian Diplomacy service supports WFP’s leadership in making strategic and well-informed decisions and provides expertise to support their humanitarian diplomacy efforts with the wider UN system and Member States. It contributes to identifying and leveraging more effective opportunities for humanitarian diplomacy, particularly relating to humanitarian access, by WFP’s leadership with key stakeholders. It also provides WFP’s leadership with analyses and recommendations for course of action on key issues in the global political landscape with the potential to significantly impact WFP’s work.

ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Represent WFP vis-à-vis the UN system, Member States and/or other selected partners;
• Formulate and implement WFP’s diplomatic engagement strategy, as per WFP corporate policies and wider UN strategies, to ensure support to field operations and meet the mandate of WFP;
• Identify and build productive relationships with a broad range of relevant decision-makers, influencers and constituencies in order to advance WFP’s corporate strategies, priorities and interests, and promote transfer of knowledge, expertise and innovation;
• Demonstrate ownership when promoting and deploying corporate initiatives and ensure that WFP’s engagement is aligned with these and wider UN strategies, policies and processes;
• Disseminate WFP political analyses, studies and innovations to WFP’s leadership with a view to position WFP and inform political dialogue; Increase WFP’s capacity to attain, share and use knowledge for positioning and partnering purposes;
• Contribute to a network of peer WFP Regional Bureau, Country Office and Global Office Directors worldwide, providing analysis of political trends, opportunities and potential risks to the WFP Leadership Group and/or other appropriate WFP counterparts to facilitate integrated solutions that address hunger and the root causes of hunger;
• Propose strategies for WFP senior/executive staff engagement to reinforce political dialogue and expand political outreach; actively participate in or co-lead national, UN and other multilateral fora to generate support for Zero Hunger, advance WFP’s leadership in areas of specialisation and position WFP effectively vis-à-vis relevant decision makers and influencers;
• Hold accountability for transparent and efficient people management, staff development and coaching to expand the reach and depth of the humanitarian diplomacy function;
• Hold accountability for standards, guidance and processes within the office; Provide effective leadership to the team, enabling implementation of best practices and high performance, and ensure best use of financial resources for the achievement of set objectives;
• Take concrete actions which promote health and wellbeing within the workplace and mitigate risks related to stress, health and safety;
• Take appropriate measures to foster a safe and harmonious work environment in which employees are protected from exposure to any form of abusive conduct (harassment, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination), and act as a role model in reflecting respect towards all employees;
• Take responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives in all areas of work, to ensure equal participation of women and men;
• Other as required.

Qualifications

Education:

• Advanced University degree in Political Science, Economics, International Development, Social Sciences or other relevant area, or First University degree with additional relevant experience and/or advanced training/courses.

Experience:

• Thirteen years or more (of which six working internationally or with international organisations) of senior level experience in fields related to diplomacy and political analysis and reporting. Management role is required. Extensive experience leading multicultural teams and improving performance and motivation.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Broad understanding of diverse humanitarian assistance and/or development practices;
• Ability to lead, coach and motivate large and diverse teams and drive improving performance;
• Excellent diplomatic skills and management acumen, with the ability to leverage external partnerships;
• A track record of dealing with and politically influencing at the highest levels within and beyond the organisation;
• Ability to assimilate and analyse complex political issues and scenarios in support of strategic decisions and excellent drafting and presentation skills;
• Sound understanding of business principles and processes and the ability to quickly assimilate UN/WFP specific strategies, processes and systems.

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Experience in operating within politically complex environments in the field and a deep understanding of the operational context of international organizations, particularly within the United Nations system;
• Experience leading a collaborative, strategic and innovative approach to attract, nurture and develop strategic partnerships with Member States and/or other selected partners;
• Holistic understanding of Member State governments’ strategies, priorities and interests in a political context;
• Experience in outreach to internal and external stakeholders and forming the engagement strategy for relationship building in order to grow partnerships with Member States and/or other selected partners;
• Experience in building and maintaining a strong, active network with representatives of Member States and the UN system;
• Experience networking and influencing external stakeholders in large fora.

Language:

• Fluency (level C) in English language;
• Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, and/or Portuguese (a WFP working language).

Application instructions

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