DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
20 September 2026-23:59-GMT United Kingdom Time (London)
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
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).
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
This position is part of Global Headquarters (GHQ) and reports to the Functional Director, or designate.
WFP focuses on macro insurance and insurance-linked securities to enhance preparedness and finance early action and emergency response. Its flagship initiative, ARC Replica, expands climate risk insurance coverage for millions while strengthening government capacity to respond to major climate shocks and integrate with adaptive social protection systems.
The macro insurance portfolio has grown to new regions and risk pools (CCRIF, PCRIC, SEADRIF), new market players (e.g., pilots in Syria and Afghanistan), and more catastrophic products (ARC and a World Bank Cat Bond). WFP is developing a Disaster Risk Financing (DRF) architecture to streamline this portfolio across corporate systems and to support a new UN DRF platform for inter-agency risk transfer.
WFP is a leading UN agency in this field, with over USD 102 million in pre-arranged finance for 2025 and active roles in the Insurance Development Forum and the Global Shield Coordination Hub.
Reporting to the Lead DRF Advisor in PRGR, this position sits within the DRF team, which supports micro, meso, and macro insurance initiatives and integrates innovative climate risk management tools into Country Strategies and climate adaptation projects funded by mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund.
THE ROLE
Based in the WFP London office, the role facilitates strategic partnerships with macro insurance partners (brokers, risk pools, insurance and reinsurance companies) and DRF actors (e.g., Center for Disaster Protection, the World Bank, Insurance Development Forum). The role increases WFP’s visibility with the UK government, IFIs, and the wider insurance sector, and contributes to designing and implementing the WFP DRF Architecture, the UN DRF platform, and the DRF4ASP window, including gender-responsive operational plans and a strengthened risk-layering approach.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive, within delegated authority):
Partnerships: Develop and maintain effective technical and resource partnerships with key insurance stakeholders based in London – such as the World Bank’s Crisis and DRF London hub, The Centre for Disaster Protection, the Insurance Development Forum, Start Network (consortium of NGOs), and other partners (Lloyd's syndicates, brokers…). Identify opportunities to develop new partnerships with development, humanitarian and private sector entities to support more effective and efficient approaches to climate risk finance programming.
Strategic engagement: Ensure WFP's engagement on strategic discussions in the DRF sector and advise on developments on this topic which can effectively advance resource mobilisation for WFP's risk financing portfolio and more broadly for emergency preparedness and response.
Representation: Represent WFP in UN and other multilateral bodies, including NGO and private sector fora and provide these stakeholders with information on WFP’s disaster risk financing portfolio
Resource mobilization: Identify funding opportunities and develop proposals, advocacy and communication materials to increase WFP’s profile and support resource mobilization for DRF programmes from bilateral and multilateral public and private donors.
Technical supervision: Support country offices in the design and update of the risk profile, index insurance product, risk transfer parameters, and engagement with the insurance industry. Supervise the technical work and ensure that WFP purchases the best possible products to protect its operations against climate events and other disasters, and that governments have the best possible support regarding the design and implementation of their DRF strategy.
Capacity strengthening: Advise and support the development and delivery of functional training in disaster risk financing and insurance (DRF) to enhance the capacity of WFP staff at Global HQ and CO levels to design and deliver effective risk financing programmes, and strengthen governments stakeholders' capacities
Research & Evidence generation: Lead on the research and implementation of strategies for risk layering and improved early action in the context of the macro insurance programme, as well as the wider generation of evidence for ex ante approaches to disaster response. Develop and implement the learning strategy for macro insurance. Support the risk transfer research agenda for WFP in close collaboration with the Centre for Disaster Protection and other relevant research partners.
Operations, Preparedness and Response implementation: Oversee the implementation and continued scaling of WFP's macro insurance programme in the existing countries and prepare to expand to new countries or hazards over the course of WFP's next Strategic Plan (2026-2029).
Field work: Conduct country visits to introduce COs to macro insurance and DRF, with a focus on strengthening WFP and governments' response capacities, timelines and risk financing.
DRF architecture: Contribute to the design and implementation of the DRF architecture and to increase the amount of prearranged finance, as per WFP's target.
UN DRF platform : contribute to the coordination on the development of the platform with the other UN agencies, and humanitarian organizations (IFRC, Start Network), prepare necessary documentation to structure the project, engage with relevant stakeholders (IDF, CDP) who can support this initiative. Once the platform is operational, WFP's role will be clarified.
Budget management & Reporting: Plan use of resources, ensure that technical and financial reporting to donors is consistent and timely.
Any other tasks as required
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
Education: Advanced University degree in one or more of the following disciplines: economics, environmental studies, agriculture and food security, development studies, emergency preparedness or related area or First University Degree with two additional years of related work experience.
Experience:
At least 8 years of post-graduate, progressively responsible work experience in disaster risk financing, parametric insurance, or climate risk management.
Proven experience working with sovereign / macro risk financing instruments, with regional risk pools, insurance industry players (insurers, reinsurers and brokers), specifically on product design, policy placement, preparedness, payout implementation.
Existing strong networks with key institutions in climate and disaster risk financing and insurance (CDRFI). Participation in working groups in this field.
Existing experience working with UN organizations will be an asset.
Field experience in humanitarian work.
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).
MORE ABOUT YOU
Strong expertise in climate risk financing / disaster risk financing / public finance management and operational experience in humanitarian preparedness & response to climate shocks or natural hazards.
Ability to lead high level technical discussions and advise senior partners. Experience in managing partnership and managing complex programming, including large budgets (above 5 m USD p.a)
Strong coordination and communication skills across diverse stakeholders. Excellent analytical writing and technical reporting skills.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
This is an International Professional position and is open to all nationalities.
Mobility is and continues to be a core contractual requirement in WFP. This position is however classified as “non-rotational” which means the incumbent shall not be subject to the regular reassignment process unless the position is reclassified as rotational.
The selected candidate will be employed on a fixed-term contract with a probationary period of one year.
This position is open to both internal and external candidates.
WFP offers an attractive compensation and benefits package in line with ICSC standards (http://icsc.un.org) including basic salary, post adjustment, relocation entitlement, visa, travel and shipment allowances, 30 days’ annual leave, home leave, an education grant for dependent children, a pension plan, and medical insurance.
The selected candidate will be required to relocate to Rome, Italy to take up this assignment.
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: [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.
