Head of Innovative Finance, Frontier Innovations, and Venture Launchpad

Das ist der Job

Food insecurity is expected to remain at alarming levels as we enter 2026.

Darum lohnt es sich

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.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES: The Head of Innovative Finance, Frontier Innovations and Venture Launchpad, reporting to the Head of WFP Innovation Accelerator, is expected to: Lead the Innovative Finance team: Lead the development of the Innovation Accelerator global innovative finance strategy, including new impact investments, innovative finance ventures, towards the promotion of financial inclusion of the people WFP serves, accelerating their path to advance towards Zero Hunger and the Sustainable Development Goals; Provide thought leadership necessary to direct and manage key activities involving the team, including conducting research, preparing written reports, and moderating workshop sessions; Lead, motivate, and coach the Innovative Finance team to enable continued development and high performance; Act as advisor, provide capacity building, knowledge management, and requisite support to Headquarters, Regional Offices and Country Offices on the feasible field application of innovative finance instruments; Facilitate cross-divisional collaboration and mobilization required for the WFP Innovation Accelerator to strategically harness and leverage opportunities to advance the organization’s agenda in line with the SDGs; Secure and foster new strategic partnerships with key actors and stakeholders in the innovative finance space; Lead or contribute to the development of the innovative finance strategy across WFP and advice on key initiatives relating to innovative finance as required; Represent the Innovation Accelerator and promote collaboration and information exchange with other UN organizations on innovative finance including in global United Nations platforms as appropriate; Oversee the overall monitoring and evaluation of innovative finance function, including by setting up of relevant systems and controls to ensure accurate reporting; Lead the Frontier Innovations and Venture Launchpad function for the accelerator: Provide thought leadership on key strategic initiatives involving Frontier Innovations such as Blockchain, Web3, Artificial intelligence, Robotics and Venture Building; Lead and develop a diverse, inclusive team in the Frontier Innovations and Venture Launchpad function; Effectively navigate technology, analytical, regulatory, legal, and privacy complexities to achieve operational objectives; Advise the Head of Innovation Accelerator on multi-sector best practices for innovation products, processes, and organizational development Venture Fund, Venture platform, and Frontier Innovations as required; Participate in cross-functional collaborations with both internal and external stakeholders to build and foster strategic partnerships to improve and increase organizational outcomes; Represent the Frontier innovation portfolio or Venture Launchpad at internal or external events as required.

Support the Head of Innovation Accelerator in further development across all the leadership team and other activities: Support or lead efforts with the overall goal of making the Accelerator a more effective platform; Lead other core processes of the Innovation Accelerator as required; Provide analysis & content preparation for corporate priority topics and executive management meetings as required; Take up lead roles in running workshops and events, core processes of the WFP Innovation Accelerator as required; Support the Head of the Innovation Accelerator and the Director of Innovation and Knowledge Management with any other activities and tasks as required; Drive high-priority strategic initiatives and ad-hoc projects as required.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT: • Strategic projects effectively supported; • Innovative Finance, Frontier Innovation and Venture Platform effectively managed; • Effective management of multiple teams with leaders, senior and junior team members incl. coaching of leaders; • Ensure that all work and materials developed during the contract are well documented and available to the WFP Innovation Accelerator team.

Experience: Minimum 10 years of progressively responsible international leadership experience in a growth-stage start-up, start-up accelerator, innovations in private businesses or innovations in the humanitarian or international development sector.

Knowledge & Skills: • At least 5 years experience in leading teams of 10+ team members, including work planning, operational management, and team development. • Expert experience in strategic projects and organizational development work for growth stage start-ups with corporate linkages or similar entities - either hands-on as a leader or as an advisor/consultant. • Expertise in Innovative Finance, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), and Sustainable Finance, including the structuring of new models and platforms that use new opportunities, proposals and business models combining social and financial impact. - Proven track record of thought leadership in the innovative finance space, including the implementation of projects in multiple countries and settings. • Leadership experience with technology innovations (e.g. mobile apps, blockchain, artificial intelligence) and business model innovations (e.g. innovative finance, sharing economy). • Strong conceptual thinking to develop new business areas, new strategies and support innovative projects. • Worked or led cross-functionally and get things done in a scrappy and hands-on way. • Experience working in a large-scale organization or with a client/in partnership with a large-scale organization. • A proven track record of driving projects - effectively delivering impactful elements of projects in a fast-moving environment, ideally for new businesses, new business models, start-ups etc. • Able to interact with a broad range of executives, stakeholders and external audience with maturity and tact. • Excellent communication/presentation skills, with the ability to write strategy documents, to develop business plans and to write and deliver presentations. • Collaborative spirit, able to partner with a wide range of people at all levels and across different cultures and to act with credibility and diplomacy. • Self-motivated and able to work with a high degree of autonomy. • Sets a high-level of ambition for the project and own work to achieve impact for the hungry people we serve. • Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the UN World Food Programme.

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.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 14 August 2026-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Berlin) 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.

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).

JOB TITLE: Head of Innovative Finance, Frontier Innovations, and Venture Launchpad TYPE OF CONTRACT: Consultancy – Level III UNIT/DIVISION: WFP Innovation Accelerator (INNA) DUTY STATION (City, Country): Munich, Germany DURATION: 6 months (extendable) ABOUT WFP The World Food Programme (WFP) is the United Nations frontline agency fighting hunger.

WFP reaches more than 100 million people every day - delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with smallholder farmers, communities, and governments to improve nutrition and build resilience.

WFP does this through its presence in over 120 countries and territories globally, working with local governments, grassroots ecosystems, public and private sector donors, to save lives and change lives through food assistance and resilience building.

In countries where WFP operates and data is available, 318 million people are facing acute food insecurity – more than double pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Among them, 41.1 million people are in Emergency or worse levels of acute food insecurity (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Phase 4+), a 20 percent increase since late 2020.

As the leading humanitarian organisation delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience, WFP fosters and drives innovation.

WFP’s long history of innovation is evident in some of the major shifts it has made over the years, such as wide-scale implementation of cash-based transfers and mobile assessment systems. In 2020, WFP was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT The WFP Global Accelerator and Ventures was launched in 2015 in Munich, Germany, with support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) and the Bavarian State Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism (StMELF).

Its mission is to source, pilot and scale new innovations that could reshape the fight against food insecurity and bring us closer to SDG2: Zero Hunger.

Today, it works hand in hand with WFP’s vast global network, spanning innovation hubs, regional and country offices in over 120 countries and territories, to develop solutions that are deeply rooted in local needs and designed for real-world impact.

In 2025 alone, the WFP Global Accelerator and Ventures supported 85 innovations, reaching 132.5 million people across 90 countries and territories. These initiatives addressed critical challenges including climate change, healthcare access, gender equality and emergency response.

To fund our work, the Accelerator works with donors from the public and private sectors, and collaborates with actors across the UN and multilateral system. For the past three years, we have maintained a solid funding base of around USD 20 million in the face of significant cuts to humanitarian funding elsewhere.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Education: Advanced University degree in Business, Management, Entrepreneurship, Engineering, Computer Science, or relevant fields. Experience in Innovative Finance, Venture Investing and technologies such as web3, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence are essential for this role.

Languages: Fluency in oral and written English is mandatory. Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) is a plus.

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: global.inclusion@wfp.org 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 • All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruiting system.

We do not consider CVs or applications sent by email, LinkedIn, or any other channel. • We strongly recommend that your Workday profile is accurate and complete, and that all sections are filled in, including your employment history, academic qualifications, language skills, and UN grade (if applicable).

Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application. • If you experience technical issues while submitting your application, you may contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org.

Please note that this email is only for technical issues with an application - unsolicited applications or documents sent to this inbox will not receive a reply. • At the application stage, the only required documents are your CV and Cover Letter.

Additional documents (passport, certificates, recommendation letters, etc.) may be requested later in the process. • Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process.

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.