Risk Officer
Organizational Context
This role is situated within WFP Country Offices, reporting to the Country Director or their designate. The position receives functional guidance from the Risk Management Division. The Risk Officer will operate independently or as part of a dedicated risk team, contributing to the overall risk management framework within the country operation.
Job Purpose
The Risk Officer will provide specialized advisory and support services to Country Offices, focusing on critical areas such as donor assurance, comprehensive risk reporting, thorough risk assessments, and effective incident management. This role is instrumental in ensuring the consistent application of internal controls and adherence to established policies and procedures. A key objective is to foster risk-informed decision-making across all operational, fiduciary, programmatic, and safeguarding aspects, thereby strengthening WFP's resilience and accountability in complex humanitarian environments. The position will actively contribute to identifying, assessing, and mitigating a wide range of risks, ensuring that risk registers are up-to-date and aligned with corporate standards.
Responsibilities
The World Food Programme (WFP) is seeking a professional to provide specialized support in donor assurance, risk reporting, and compliance within its Country Offices. This role involves identifying, assessing, and monitoring operational, fiduciary, programmatic, and safeguarding risks, ensuring risk registers are up-to-date and aligned with corporate standards. The position requires developing and improving country Risk Assessment and Management Plans, including mitigation strategies and escalation mechanisms. A key responsibility is providing technical support to Country Offices in meeting donor requirements for proposal development, oversight, accountability, and transparency. The role also entails supporting the implementation of controls for beneficiary targeting, partner oversight, commodity tracking, safeguarding, and anti-fraud measures. Furthermore, the professional will assist in establishing and managing incident reporting, investigation follow-up, and corrective action tracking for various types of incidents. This includes facilitating fraud risk assessments and deploying to emergency responses to conduct rapid risk assessments and advise management. The position also involves supporting risk monitoring, assurance reviews, and implementing corrective actions from audits. Advising on integrating safeguarding, accountability to affected populations, and community feedback mechanisms into program implementation and risk management is crucial. The role contributes to inter-agency coordination and provides coaching and training to strengthen country office risk management capabilities. Experience in enterprise risk management, internal controls, compliance, and humanitarian field operations is desired, along with strong analytical and stakeholder management skills. Fluency in English and intermediate knowledge of another UN official language are required.
Work Experience
Candidates need relevant postgraduate professional experience in risk management, audit, monitoring, and/or related fields. A background and interest in international humanitarian development are also required.
Skills
Risk Management, Internal Controls, Compliance, Audit Follow-up, Assurance Functions, Humanitarian Field Operations Support, Monitoring Systems, Community Feedback Mechanisms, Incident Management, Investigations, Risk Assessments, Risk Registers, Accountability Frameworks, Cash-Based Transfers, Partner Management, Safeguarding, PSEA, Fraud Controls, Anti-Corruption Controls, Donor Compliance, Stakeholder Management, Analytical Skills, Facilitation Skills, Reporting Skills, Emergency Response Deployment, Multicultural Environments, High-Pressure Environments