Head of International Fundraising Solutions

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 extreme weather shocks.

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.

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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).

POSITION TITLE: Head of International Fundraising Solutions, Individual Fundraising

ORG UNIT: Private Partnerships Division (PSP)

DUTY STATION: Remote

CONTRACT TYPE: Regular CST Level III

DURATION: 11 months

LINE MANAGER/SUPERVISOR: Global Chief Individual Giving

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The Private Partnerships Division (PSP) is responsible for mobilizing resources from the private sector. PSP has developed an ambitious five-year strategy, and our ambition is based on need. The World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies, and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Every day 5,000 WFP-chartered trucks are on the road; 80 planes are in the air and 20 ships are at sea.

Work as hard as we might, through drought and floods, conflict and peace, disasters natural or man-made, the needs are immense and growing. 318 million people in the world are acutely food insecure. To get to a world with Zero Hunger faster, WFP has significantly increased resources in recent years from donor governments. We are now investing in and growing private sector fundraising to reach more people. WFP’s private sector strategy (2025 – 2030) proposes to dramatically increase income from individuals to help reach more people and get to Zero Hunger faster, using digital engagement tools to reach audiences across the globe in a flexible and cost-effective way.

Traditional individual fundraising in our sector was primarily conducted through offline channels and implemented through national fundraising operations. The individual fundraising market now looks vastly different, with many potential donors having a digital presence and comfort with transacting online. WFP has a unique opportunity to define its approach amid this digital change, and leapfrog peers through its creation of a digital-led fundraising strategy that engages people worldwide from one centralized team. Our digital focus elevates the importance of an agile approach to delivering opportunities to engage.

INDIVIDUAL FUNDRAISING

In the first year of the new growth strategy the IG team recruited 100k new regular givers supporters, from over 190 countries primarily through digital advertising (Social and Search). Annual income has grown from $3m in FY19 to $56m in FY25 with growth ambitions to get to $104m by 2030.

Our focus is a digital-first strategy, working through a centralized global team recruiting supporters primarily through digital channels and building an outstanding supporter experience through a multi-channel loyalty programme that delivers a best-in-class donor experience.

PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The Head of International Fundraising Solutions for Individual Fundraising (IF) will develop and implement a strategy to assess and test new areas of income from individuals or product/programme adaptations or evolutions to further accelerate current approaches. They will lead on collaborating with teams to developing solutions to bridge from our core global offerings to testing new opportunities with a particular focus on both scaling acquisition, engaging existing supporters and ensuring that our marketing funnel is optimized.
They will be able to work at the strategic level, but also hands-on to either lead the implementation of or guide colleagues to go market with new initiatives and potential income streams. They will have project management experience including at the international level working with multi-country teams.

They will work closely the Heads of the two core programmes – the Individual Giving and the ShareTheMeal app – and with the Business Intelligence Hub to ensure that data and insight are at the heart of decision-making and prioritization. They will work with the incoming Head of International Market Development who will simultaneously be developing a strategy to focus on growth market opportunities.

They will be part of the senior management team in Global Supporter Engagement working with their peers, in particular the Head of International Individual Giving and the Head of Share the Meal as well as at times Friends organizations, to optimize the revenue for WFP’s programmes through its portfolio of fundraising from individuals. They will be part of the wider management team in the PSP division and role model effective leadership and management with any team members they may manage. Initially this will be the only role in this team until its value add is demonstrated.

ACCOUNTABILITIES / RESPONSIBILITIES

Lead the development of a strategy and approach to fundraising solutions and new revenue opportunities to ensure that the UN WFP is taking advantage of opportunities to grow its sustainable income base from individual supporters in line with developments in digital products and e-commerce experiences. They will assess the opportunity to expand WFP’s digital-first approach to revisit DRTV and evolutions in this channel post-pandemic. They will be a collaborative colleague, partnering with teams across IF, and with significant agency experience having worked both client and agency side. Within the strategy, assess the contribution to the overall income target from individuals of USD163 million in 2026 increasing to USD 304 million in 2030 that could be made from new revenue opportunities. Evaluate the opportunity of additional channels as part of this strategy including DRTV which can complement a digital-first approach and recruit a higher proportion of regular monthly supporters.

• Following an immersion in the activities of the IG and STM teams and with Friends Organizations, as well as relevant insights from the BI Hub and external sources, identify priority opportunities to contribute to strategic IF income targets achieving required KPIs
• Propose a prioritization based on greatest potential to scale with an ICE framework (Impact, Confidence, Ease) to include some approaches already tried and tested by peer organisations which could be an important part of WFP’s future fundraising portfolio, or new in our sector. Create opportunities for teams to ideate and input into the ‘long list’ of opportunities for rapid review
• Based on your current knowledge from sector performance, propose to the heads IG and STM as well as the BI Hub optimization or maximization opportunities that would be ‘quick wins’ to enhance our performance and increase our returns
• Introduce to teams how innovation methodologies can be applied in a purposeful, practical and impactful way and network in the sector and regularly scan for opportunities including emerging technologies to explore with teams
• Project lead pilots or initiatives where the above opportunities are prioritized for implementation to include leading procurement processes where external agencies are required for their market experience or local capacity for effective testing and then scale up for maximization in the market OR guide and support team members in the IG or STM teams to go to market with new initiatives
• Bring best practices to bear in all projects so that we can leapfrog existing learnings and ensure effective tracking and real-time sharing across If teams
• Provide regular reports and performance reviews on progress of the above projects for senior leaders to inform regular review meetings and identify where course corrections are needed or there are opportunities to accelerate growth
• Contribute to a culture that is target-driven, uses data and insights to inform decision-making and creates a best-in-class supporter experience in line with our strategic objectives
• Ensure that risks are identified and mitigation strategies are in place in an externally evolving ecosystem including data compliance, privacy and protection standards are met working with the Strategic Projects Manager responsible for compliance in our IF programmes
• Lead on ensuring effective relationships within PSP, with key business partners in WFP and with key external partners where relevant (e.g. social media platforms, media, creative and customer care agencies, CRM and payment providers) to enable teams to work efficiently and to plan for future growth opportunities while demonstrating excellence in relationship management
• Ensure progress and plans are highlighted to key internal stakeholders, where required, including the Executive Board, senior leadership and show an understanding of the importance of communicating the impact of this work.
  

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Education

Advanced university degree in Communications, Business, Economics, Marketing, Political Science, International Development or other relevant field, or first university degree with additional years of related work experience or training/courses.

Experience

10 to 12 years progressive experience with both national and international organisations in the not-for-profit sector in fundraising from individuals. Ideally including experience:

a) at the international level in the UN (UNICEF and/or UNHCR)

b) at the national level in a competitive market

c) with a performance marketing/fundraising agency working with multiple clients

• Demonstrated experience of developing strategies and plans and achieving ambitious income growth in fundraising from individuals
• Ideally experience in or working with teams in the fastest-growing regions in IF in the world
• Experience of managing agencies including agency procurement, briefing, management of day-to-day operations and projects ensuring timely delivery of outputs with a partnership approach for effective relationships
• Experience of accelerating growth or testing opportunities in a humanitarian context with a focus on acquisition.

Technical skills

• A natural self–starter with at least 12 year’s progressive experience working in the not-for-profit sector and/or agencies to deliver income from individuals
• Experience with national and international teams ideally including UN agencies with experience working with performance marketing agencies an advantage
• Working with international and national teams and leading them through strategy development, planning and implementation with a focus on delivering to targets
• Experience across the full portfolio of fundraising from individuals including mass market single and regular donors and across a broad range of acquisition channels and media as well as digital integration in performance marketing response
• Track record of commitment to understanding the behaviour of supporters and how this drives revenue as well as to building supporter loyalty and growing sustainable income for organisations including from regular givers and generating unrestricted funds
• Demonstrated ability to use data and insights to drive performance and growth and embed this culture in teams

Soft skills

• Extensive and proven experience of working in a fast-paced international environment – delivering results across multiple countries – with demonstrable insights into regional and market opportunities and challenges
• Financial budgeting and reporting skills and experience developing business cases for investment proposals
• Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the World Food Programme
• Ability to work effectively with peers and with colleagues including r
• The ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with people in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity
• Ability to build relationships with internal stakeholders and business partners as well as with external partners and suppliers and act as an effective negotiator for WFP
• Strong presentation skills in executive and senior management environment
• Ability to think creatively and deliver on commitments
• Maintain a high level of attention to detail with exceptional planning skills

Languages

Excellent command of spoken and written English (fluency/level C knowledge)

Knowledge of another official UN language would be 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

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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.

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• 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.

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