DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

26 September 2026-23:59-GMT+02:00 Central Africa Time (Lusaka)

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

In July 2023, the World Food Programme (WFP) Zambia commenced a new five-year Country Strategic Plan (CSP), informed by and aligned with national and United Nations priorities and global commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It embraces the Government’s long-term Vision 2030; aligns with 16 key strategic areas of the 8th National Development Plan (NDP8); and contributes to the joint Zambia-United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF).

WFP Zambia’s integrated and pragmatic CSP shifts away from unsustainable localized and micro-level interventions, to embrace more effective advocacy and engagement with national policies, systems, and programmes to achieve national impact on SDG2. Given the Government’s commitment to budgetary support for nutrition, social protection, and agriculture, constraints in the country’s fiscal position still exist. WFP’s overarching strategy seeks to strengthen the government’s capacities to meet its national priorities through stronger systems, expertise, and resources for implementation. This means a decisive shift of WFP’s country positioning towards the provision of innovative, sustainable, upstream technical assistance to support nationally owned solutions.

Advancing the global WFP Strategic Plan (2022-2025), the CSP addresses both SDG2 and SDG17, and WFP’s Strategic Results 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. WFP will implement seven activities to achieve five Strategic Outcomes (SO) under the CSP. These SOs include: (SO1) responding to crises and shocks ensuring that crisis-affected people, including refugees, are able to meet their urgent food and nutrition needs; (SO2) addressing the root causes of malnutrition; (SO3) building the resilience, enabling environment and market access for smallholder farmers, especially women; (SO4) supporting government institutions to provide social protection systems (including home grown school meals) and disaster preparedness and response; and (SO5) improving access to supply chain services for humanitarian and development actors.

JOB PURPOSE AND REPORTING

Reporting to the Country Director (CD), the Head of Resource Management and Compliance will lead and coordinate the strategic and operational aspects of resource management and compliance across the Country Office (CO), ensuring effective financial oversight, risk management, management services support, and compliance with internal and external standards. The role supports the delivery of humanitarian assistance through robust financial planning, resource optimization, and governance mechanisms.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive, within delegated authority):

1. Strategic Resource Management
   • Contribute to corporate finance and resource management strategies by developing and implementing action plans aligned to corporate policies and the CO strategic outcomes while embedding value-for-money principles in programmatic initiatives.
   • Lead the implementation of finance, budgeting, and resource management operations to support timely and effective humanitarian response and resilience activities.
   • Assist in ensuring that the use of all WFP resources is in conformity with approved CO strategic plans and donor agreements, including resources transferred to all partners.
2. Financial Oversight and Reporting
   • Ensure accurate financial reporting in compliance with IPSAS and WFP standards.
   • Design, implement, and monitor budgets for new and ongoing projects.
   • Analyse financial data to identify trends, anomalies, and risks, and provide strategic recommendations.
3. Budget and Programming
   • Lead the development and clearance of funding proposals and budget revisions.
   • Monitor performance against budgets and advise on adjustments for optimal resource utilization.
   • Coordinate with stakeholders to align commodity pipelines with sourcing strategies and funding availability.
4. Risk Management and Compliance
   • Conduct periodic risk assessments and internal control reviews.
   • Develop and monitor risk appetite metrics and maintain updated risk registers.
   • Promote anti-fraud and anti-corruption standards, supporting investigations and training initiatives.
5. Governance and Assurance
   • Coordinate the Executive Director’s Assurance process and contribute to oversight reporting.
   • Facilitate management accountability by summarizing compliance status and oversight themes.
   • Coordinate the CO governance and assurance activities which includes leading the coordination of internal and eternal audits in line with the assurance framework.
   • Support the Resource Management Committee (RMC) in prioritizing resources against implementation plans.
6. Management services and Facility Management
   • Oversee management services, including contracts management, assets management, third-party operations and service delivery, and facility operations, aiming at efficiency, cost-effectiveness and timeliness of operations and services.
   • Responsible for environmental sustainability initiatives and ensure compliance.
   • Ensure compliance with Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) standards provide recommendations to management on a wide range of improvements/changes.
   • Contribute to emergency preparedness, Business continuity and response planning.
7. Leadership and Capacity Building
   • Lead and mentor a multidisciplinary team, setting priorities and ensuring high performance.
   • Develop SOPs, training materials, and onboarding programs for resource management functions.
   • Foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation in service delivery.
8. Others as required. Represent unit/CO at internal meetings, external meetings and events with other UN agencies, banks and other financial institutions, or other partners and entities as required.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE:

Experience: At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in finance, compliance, and administration, with at least 3+ years in a leadership role in humanitarian or development settings.

Knowledge: Strong understanding of donor regulations (e.g., USAID, ECHO, UN), IPSAS, and enterprise risk management frameworks.

STANDARD MINIMUM ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:

Education: Advanced university degree in Finance, Business Administration, Public administration, Accounting, Banking and Finance, Public Finance, Development Finance, or related field. First degree in any of the above mentioned with 2 years additional relevant work experience.

Skills and Competencies:

• Strategic and analytical thinking
• Strong leadership and team management
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement
• High integrity and ethical standards
• Proficiency in ERP systems and financial software
• Ability to prioritize work and handle multiple tasks at the same time.

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.

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.