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
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is one of the leading global institutions helping to measure and alleviate food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly in humanitarian settings and fragile contexts. Persistent nutrient gaps, rising food prices, and constrained household purchasing power continue to limit access to healthy and sustainable diets, particularly for vulnerable populations. Operating in more than 80 countries, WFP supports both emergency response and national systems to improve access to healthy, nutritious diets in women, children and the population at large. A key part of this work is the generation and use of data on food and nutrition security, dietary diversity and access to nutritious foods and nutritious diets, including food costs and expenditure to identify risks and inform nutrition interventions. A core pillar of this work is WFP’s analytical platform Enhance, developed in partnership with the Zero Hunger Lab at Tilburg University, Capgemini, and Johns Hopkins University. Using multi‑objective optimisation, Enhance assesses the cost and affordability of diets that meet nutritional, economic, and environmental objectives, and supports scenario and intervention modelling to inform evidence‑based decision‑making.
Evidence generated through analytics plays a critical role in shaping nutrition-sensitive policies, programmes and advocacy across food systems, education, and social protection. Robust standardised analytical approaches can support effective programme design, appropriate cash transfer value setting, and the nutritional adequacy of assistance across diverse food environments. WFP supports governments to conduct analysis on the cost and affordability of nutritious diets and supports stakeholders in identifying solutions to nutrient gaps through policy and programme design. In particular, WFP increasingly contributes to strengthening national capacity in nutrition analytics and evidence-based decision-making.
The Nutrition, School Meals and Social Protection Service seeks a consultant to join the multidisciplinary Systems Analysis for Nutrition team. The consultant will strengthen the capacity of government counterparts to undertake Fill the Nutrient Gap analysis, Sustainable Healthy Diet analyses and related cost and affordability assessments and support the translation of analytical findings into programme design, transfer value design, and policy‑relevant decision‑support products. The role will also contribute to the ongoing development, refinement, and institutionalisation of WFP’s analytical tools and processes, including the Enhance platform, ensuring analytical rigour, consistency, and quality across varied country contexts.
Assessment of market-based nutrition interventions and local food solutions
- Review of data related to household food expenditure, dietary intake, market functionality, food prices, locally produced complementary foods, Specially Formulated Foods and other local food solutions.
- Analysis of the feasibility of meeting nutrition need of moderate acute malnourished children and children at risk of malnutrition
- Assessment of the nutritional adequacy of cash-based transfer for nutrition, local food solutions and recipes
Strengthen capacity and application of Enhance analysis
- Contribute to the development and tailoring of training on cost and affordability analysis and intervention modelling using Enhance
- Support training of WFP Country Offices and government counterparts on cost and affordability analysis and intervention modelling using Enhance
- Support trainings of enumerators for primary data collection of food prices
- Support WFP Country Offices and government counterparts to set up cost and affordability monitoring to inform early warning and anticipatory action systems and adaptation to programme response
- Support documentation and development of guidance as needed
- Support secondary data reviews and synthesis on nutrition, dietary intake, food security, food prices, household income and expenditure, and socio‑economic indicators to inform WFP programme design, Fill the Nutrient Gap (FNG), and Sustainable Healthy Diet analyses.
- Provide technical support to WFP Country Offices and national stakeholders on cost and affordability analyses, ensuring alignment with WFP priorities, FNG objectives, and sustainable healthy diets frameworks.
- Support the identification, assessment, and modelling of intervention options across strategies, delivery modalities, and transfer values, informed by WFP analytical tools and evidence.
- Contribute to the preparation and facilitation of country‑level FNG and Sustainable Healthy Diet processes, including inception, validation, and dissemination of findings.
- Support the development of decision‑support and advocacy products, including key messages, slides, briefs, and reports, translating analytical findings into actionable programme and policy recommendations.
- Prepare topic briefs and ad hoc nutrition analytics in response to internal WFP needs and external stakeholder requests.
Market‑Based Nutrition Interventions and Local Food Solutions
- Context‑specific analyses assessing the feasibility of meeting the nutritional needs of children with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and children at risk of malnutrition through market‑based approaches, cash‑based transfers, and local food solutions.
- Technical assessments on the nutritional adequacy of cash‑based transfers for nutrition, locally available foods, and recipes, with clear implications for programme design and transfer value setting.
Strengthened Capacity and Application of Enhance Analysis
- Tailored training materials and delivery of capacity‑strengthening activities for WFP Country Offices, government counterparts, and enumerators on cost and affordability analysis, intervention modelling, and food price data collection using the Enhance platform.
- Technical support and guidance to establish and/or strengthen cost and affordability monitoring systems to inform early warning, anticipatory action, and programme adaptation.
- Secondary data reviews and analytical inputs supporting Fill the Nutrient Gap (FNG), Sustainable Healthy Diet, and country‑tailored modelling exercises.
- Contributions to country‑level analytical processes, including stakeholder consultations and dissemination events.
- Decision‑support and advocacy products, including slide decks, briefs, summaries, reports and topic briefs translating analytical findings into programme and policy recommendations.
Education
Graduate level (Masters or above) in Public Health (Epidemiology or biostatistics), Nutrition, Economics (or Econometrics), Sustainable food systems, Agronomy, Statistics or other socio-economic disciplines with a strong quantitative data analysis component.
Experience
- Between 3-5 years of relevant professional experience, including research and data analysis.
- Experience with dietary assessment, linear programming-based such as Cost of the Diet, Opti-food or other Nutrition Modelling tools, GIS and/or mapping software.
- Previous experience of working in low-middle income countries, experience in fragile contexts considered an asset.
Knowledge and Skills
- Proficient in conducting quantitative and qualitative data analysis based on secondary data required.
- Ability to use statistical software packages such as R, STATA or others.
- Solid knowledge of nutrition and food systems required.
- Knowledge of different types of programmes such as social protection, health, school feeding, livelihoods and resilience and emergency programmes is considered an asset.
- Good interpersonal skills and understanding of multicultural settings, including of different stakeholders (government, NGOs, academia, others).
- Flexibility in thinking, ability to adapt to different situations quickly and with ease.
- Capacity building and facilitation skills appreciated.
- Ability to work independently in a timely and organised manner and as part of a multidisciplinary team.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills required.
- Flexibility in thinking and ability to adapt to different situations quickly and with ease.
Languages
Professional level of written and spoken English, and aptitude to writing different types of communications.
Professional knowledge of a second UN language an asset, preferably French, Spanish or Arabic.
WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK
WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.
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.
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.