DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

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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.

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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: Innovative Finance Senior Manager

TYPE OF CONTRACT: Consultancy – Consultant Level II

UNIT/DIVISION: CFOSI – CFO Division

DUTY STATION (City, Country): Rome, Italy

NTE: 31 December 2026

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The contemporary world faces an escalating food crisis characterized by mounting humanitarian needs resulting from climate shocks, conflicts, and soaring food and fuel prices. Traditional donor funding falls short of WFP’s funding requirements and the global funding needed to achieve SDG2.

Innovative

Finance solutions are needed to mobilize new and additional multisectoral resources, enhance financial efficiency and make financial flows more results oriented. The IF Strategy is an integral component of the WFP Resource Mobilization Strategy (2026-2029)

and focuses on creating an environment conducive to innovative finance initiatives, guided by principles of being impactful, integrated, empowering, informed and actionable. The IF Strategy aims to leverage Innovative Finance solutions to effectively address global food security challenges. By embedding the Innovative Finance Strategy across various organizational functions, WFP can unlock its full potential and drive meaningful change in addressing global hunger and food insecurity.

In accordance with WFP’s Strategic Plan (2026-2029), the Innovative Finance Strategy, as part of the WFP Resource Mobilization Strategy (2026-2029), aims to act as a key Enabler for WFP to achieve the following outcomes:

• Encourage internal innovation to broaden the toolkit for financing the Zero Hunger agenda;

• Design and catalyze new effective programmatic interventions with a focus on their longer term sustainability;

• Forge new partnerships with other UN agencies and international finance institutions (IFIs), governments and the private sector.

The Innovative Finance Steering Committee (IFSC) was formed in 2020 and has seen IF activities substantially increase since then, requiring clear strategy, mainstreaming and normative guidance for COs seeking to scale or initiate the use of IF to achieve their Country Strategic Plans (CSPs).

Based on this evolution, the Innovative Finance Strategy has been integrated into the WFP Resource Mobilization Strategy (2026-2029).

The Strategy consists of 8 Key Strategy Areas that will Enable IF through increased organizational capacity and toolkit,



efficiently Steer IF capacity and efforts towards the most impactful interventions, and effectively Execute on those IF opportunities and activities. Leadership engagement, disciplined systemization and adequate expertise will be the Key Success Factors to successfully deliver on the Key Strategy Areas and achieve the Strategic Goals.

Within this framework, the Innovative Finance Senior Manager will work alongside WFP’s Task Teams on Debt Conversions, Capital Market Solutions (including thematic bonds) and the Catastrophe (Cat) Bond Initiative, reporting to the Head of Innovative Finance Unit within the CFO Division.

Support to the Task Teams will include advice on strategic approaches/WFP positioning, process, structuring, advocacy and negotiation.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Contribute to the definition of approaches and processes for engagements with specific: creditor and debtor governments, in line with their interests, in the case of debt conversion agreements; stakeholders including impact investors, guarantors, private sector and multisectoral donors, in the case of thematic bonds, cat bonds and other capital market solutions, as well as any other Innovative Finance mechanisms.

2. Contribute to defining WFP’s strategic positioning vis-à-vis the three prioritized thematic areas, by fostering and nurturing: debt relief/conversion dialogues, with both creditor and debtor governments, considering political and other risks that may be involved in debt relief discussions; dialogues on thematic bonds, cat bonds and other capital market solutions with identified stakeholders, investors and multisectoral partners.

3. Contribute to WFP’s efforts in engaging early with multisectoral partners (with a special focus on the private sector) to assess their willingness to contribute to or to design WFP supported thematic bond, cat bond and other capital market initiatives while meeting their respective conditions.

4. Coordinate the development, review and/or adaptation of WFP’s tools and documents meant to guide, harmonize and quality-assure all activities relating to organization’s debt conversions, thematic bonds, the cat bond and other capital market initiatives, including documents supporting advocacy efforts.

5. Provide technical and strategic advice to WFP Country Offices, Global Offices and Regional Offices in the operationalization of guidance and standards relating to WFP’s participation in debt relief / debt conversion discussions, capital market solutions and any other Innovative Finance mechanisms.

6. Support WFP’s contributions to global dialogues on debt sustainability, including potential advocacy for the use of debt-to-food swaps in cases where debt and food crises co-exist; and identify opportunities to engage with potential new creditors for enhanced resource mobilization.

7. Lead the design, support to COs, due diligence process, negotiations, execution and relationship management on behalf of the CFO division for commercial debt conversion transactions.

8. Advise and contribute to the design, structuring and execution of the catastrophe (cat) bond initiative and other potential new innovative finance instruments, e.g. climate financing, Islamic financing (linked to capital market solutions), in collaboration with WFP’s cross-functional teams and external financial institutions/advisers, as may be required.

9. Contribute to WFP’s resource mobilization efforts through Innovative Finance mechanisms, in line with the WFP Resource Mobilization Strategy (2026-2029), and engagement with multisectoral stakeholders.

10. Co-manage new IF junior consultants, job shadowing, and provide guidance/mentorship as needed.

Deliverables at the end of the contract:

Project based as determined by the CFO Division, especially on securing additional funding for WFP through new Debt Conversion transactions, Thematic Bonds, the Cat Bond initiative and any other Innovative Finance instruments.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education: Advanced university degree in economics, finance, law or a related field.



A first University Degree with two additional years of relevant work experience from the minimum experience requirement stated below.

Experience: At least 15 years of progressively responsible professional experience in international debt restructuring, resource mobilization through debt swaps or a related activity is required. Experience working directly with creditor and debtor governments and/or institutional investors with history of participating in debt swaps is required.

Knowledge & Skills:

Advanced exposure and understanding of mandates and activities of UN entities, funds and programmes as well as UN’s role in debt relief dialogues, including history of its specialised agencies in negotiating and working with funding from debt swaps. Demonstrated ability to structure new financial instruments that can serve as vehicles for administering and/or achieving debt relief goals, on both creditor and debtor’s ends, e.g. debt-to-health or debt-to-nature swaps.

Knowledge of policy making processes within governments and proven ability to make high-level recommendations and influence government-level/institutional decisions. Understanding of major creditor/donor countries’ national policies on international development, geography preferences, modes of assistance, programme priorities and their historical use of debt swaps in overseas development assistance (ODA) and/or debt relief efforts.

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: [email protected]

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 [email protected]. 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.

📌 Innovative Finance Senior Manager, CFOSI (Roma)
🏢 World Food Programme
📍 Roma