DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

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).

Context and background

The United Nations World Food Programme hereinafter referred to as the “WFP”, with its Headquarters located in Rome, Italy 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 by assisting almost 100 million people in around 83 countries each year. About 17,000 people work for the organization, most of them in remote areas, directly serving the hungry poor.

The mission of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is to provide WFP’s stakeholders assurance on the adequacy and effectiveness of WFP’s governance, risk management, and control processes aimed to detect and deter fraud, waste and abuse through the conduct of independent and objective oversight activities; to conduct inspections and investigations into allegations of wrongdoing and misconduct; and to facilitate the adoption and implementation of United Nations, humanitarian agency and private-sector best practices related to assurance and oversight.

Purpose and scope of these Terms of Reference

As part of its efforts to strengthen innovation, enhance audit and investigation coverage, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of oversight activities, OIG is seeking the services of a Senior Consultant – Data Analyst. The purpose of this consultancy is provide specialised senior-level data analytics expertise, including strategic advisory support to OIG management, formulation of recommendations, and identification of opportunities to enhance audit coverage, efficiency, and impact through data-driven approaches.

In particular, the consultancy will support OIG in:

• Extracting, cleaning, transforming, and analysing data from corporate systems and other relevant sources;
• Developing repeatable analytics and dashboards to support audit and oversight work;
• Identifying trends, patterns, anomalies, and potential risk indicators;
• Contributing to data-enabled audit planning and fieldwork;
• Providing technical leadership and guidance to data analysts, including review and quality assurance of analytical outputs;
• Formulating and presenting actionable recommendations and proposals to management on the design, prioritisation, and implementation of data pipelines, analytics solutions, and audit automation initiatives;
• Strengthening OIG’s capacity to use data analytics and digital tools in its oversight processes.

The consultant will work closely with OIG staff, including auditors, investigators, data analysts, and relevant business stakeholders, to support ongoing oversight engagements and strategic innovation initiatives. The incumbent will operate under the direct supervision of the Senior Professional Practices and Audit Innovation Officer.

Key responsibilities (not all-inclusive, nor exhaustive):

Under the overall supervision of the designated OIG manager, and in close coordination with relevant OIG staff, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

A. Strategic advisory and decision support

• Provide expert advice to OIG management on the use of data analytics in audit planning, risk assessment, and oversight strategy.
• Identify high-impact opportunities for expanding data-driven audit coverage and improving efficiency.
• Develop proposals for new analytical solutions, tools, or approaches aligned with OIG priorities.
• Contribute to the definition of OIG’s data analytics roadmap and priorities.

B. Data extraction, preparation and analysis:

• Propose approaches for data extraction from relevant enterprise systems, databases, spreadsheets, and other structured or semi-structured sources.
• Assess data quality, completeness, consistency, and reliability, and perform data cleansing and transformation as required.
• Conduct exploratory and targeted analyses to identify trends, outliers, exceptions, control weaknesses, and other issues relevant to audit or oversight engagement.
• Develop scripts, queries, and repeatable workflows for data preparation and analysis.

C. Support to audit and oversight engagements:

• Provide recommendations on audit scope, sampling strategies, and risk-focused testing approaches based on data analysis.
• Translate audit questions into data analytics procedures and test logic;
• Produce analytical outputs that support planning, scoping, testing, sampling, substantive procedures, and reporting.
• Advise auditors on interpreting analytical results and integrating them into audit conclusions and reporting.
• Document methodologies, assumptions, limitations, and results of analyses in a clear and auditable manner.
• Support ad hoc analytical requests from OIG management and oversight teams.

C. Dashboarding and visualization

• Design and develop complex visualizations, dashboards, and analytical products to support insight generation and communication of results.
• Ensure dashboards are decision-oriented and aligned with management information needs.
• Advise on key indicators and metrics to support oversight and risk monitoring.
• Present analytical findings in a concise, clear, and decision-oriented manner tailored to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Lead or drive the development of standard dashboards, indicators, and data products for recurring oversight needs.

D. Innovation and analytical capability development

• Act as a subject matter expert in data analytics within OIG.
• Lead or drive the development of OIG’s data analytics approaches, tools, templates, and methodologies.
• Define good practices, quality standards, and reusable frameworks for analytics.
• Leads automation and standardization of recurring extraction, transformation, and reporting tasks where feasible.
• Advise on good practices related to data analytics for oversight functions, including reproducibility, documentation, and quality assurance.
• Provide knowledge transfer and practical guidance to OIG staff, as needed, to strengthen internal data analytics capability.

E. Coordination and compliance

• Liaise, as required, with relevant business units, IT teams, data owners, and other stakeholders to facilitate timely access to data and clarify data structures.
• Ensure that all work is carried out in line with applicable organizational rules, confidentiality requirements, information security standards, and data protection requirements.
• Maintain strict confidentiality of sensitive operational, personal, and oversight-related information.

Deliverables

The consultant will be expected to deliver, as applicable and depending on assignment priorities, the following outputs:

• Advisory notes, recommendations, or concept papers on data analytics applications for audit and oversight.
• Proposals for new tools, pipelines, or analytical approaches
• Inputs into audit planning (e.g., risk indicators, data-driven audit topics)
• Data extraction and transformation files/scripts for identified audit and oversight needs.
• Analytical datasets prepared for use by OIG teams.
• Data analysis outputs and working papers supporting specific engagements.
• Dashboards, reports, or visualizations for audit planning and execution.
• Documentation of methodologies, logic, assumptions, and validation steps.
• Recommendations for enhancing OIG’s data analytics capability, tools, or workflows.
• Knowledge-sharing sessions or practical guidance materials for OIG staff, where requested.

A more detailed workplan with timelines and priorities will be agreed upon at the start of the assignment.

Other considerations

Locally recruited, residing in the Rome area

Qualifications, Experience and Skills

EDUCATION: University degree in one of the following disciplines: Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, or a related field.

EXPERIENCE:

• 5 to 10, or more years of relevant professional experience as a Data Analyst, Data Scientist, and/or Data Engineer, either in a professional role or in advanced academic studies with direct Data Science applications;
• Experience leading or supervising analytical workstreams or mentoring junior analysts.
• Demonstrated experience in analysing large and complex datasets from ERP and corporate systems.
• Experience designing or implementing data analytics solutions at organisational level.
• Experience in ETL design and implementation.
• Experience with writing scripts, database and data modelling.
• Experience in documenting analytical methodologies and ensuring reproducibility of results.
• Experience with WFP supply chain processes, systems and data platforms.
• Experience with WFP identity management and food/cash transfer, systems and data platforms.
• Experience with providing guidance and trainings of other data analysts.
• Experience supporting internal audit, external audit, investigation, compliance, risk management, or oversight functions is highly desirable.
• Experience in international organizations, the UN system, public sector, or other complex multi-country environments is an asset.

TECHNICAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE:

• Deep knowledge of Python and SQL.
• Familiarity with SAP ERP.
• Excellent knowledge of data visualization techniques and tools (i.e. Tableau), with strong visualization skills.
• Excellent knowledge of OLTP databases and data modelling techniques, applied to structured and unstructured sets of data.
• Experience with SAP Datasphere, Palantir and SCOPE.
• Ability to design and implement complex ETL processes.
• Familiarity with the use of AI in coding and analysing complex data sets.
• Ability to understand key risk indicators of processes, trends, and emerging risks that could impact WFP operations.
• Understanding of internal control, risk management, and audit methodology.
• Desirable: Knowledge of AWS S3, Glue and Lambda
• Desirable: Experience analysing data to support audit and oversight activities.
• Desirable: Ability to write relevant parts of audit reports, or documents, and to map processes.

COMPETENCIES:

The selected consultant is expected to demonstrate:

• Strategic thinking – ability to align analytics work with organisational priorities and oversight objectives.
• Analytical thinking – ability to interpret complex data and derive meaningful insights.
• Advisory and influencing skills – ability to translate analytical insights into actionable recommendations and influence decision-making.
• Results orientation – delivers high-quality outputs within agreed timelines.
• Attention to detail – ensures accuracy, consistency, and reliability of analytical work.
• Client orientation – understands business and oversight needs and tailors outputs accordingly.
• Communication – explains technical findings clearly to non-technical audiences.
• Collaboration – works effectively with multidisciplinary teams.
• Discretion and integrity – handles sensitive information with professionalism and confidentiality.
• Innovation – identifies practical opportunities to improve processes and increase efficiency.

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.