Innovative Finance Portfolio Lead

Overview

Innovative Finance Portfolio Lead – World Food Programme, Munich, Bavaria, Germany.

Final date to receive applications: 24 December 2025, 23:59 GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Berlin).

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to equal employment opportunity for all 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. The WFP Innovation Accelerator (INNA) provides funding, hands-on support and access to WFP’s global operations to employees, entrepreneurs and start-ups, leveraging digital innovation and new business models to transform how it serves vulnerable communities.

WHY JOIN WFP: WFP offers an inclusive, diverse and multicultural environment with opportunities for development, internal mobility, and a global footprint across country, regional and global offices.

Job title: Innovative Finance Portfolio Lead

Type of contract: Consultancy

Unit/Division: WFP Innovation Accelerator (INNA)

Duty station: Munich, Germany

Duration: 6 months, extendable

The World Food Programme is the United Nations frontline agency fighting hunger. WFP reaches more than 100 million people daily by delivering food assistance in emergencies and by working with smallholder farmers, communities and governments to improve nutrition and resilience. The WFP Innovation Accelerator, based in Munich, identifies, nurtures and scales disruptive start-ups and innovations to end global hunger and supports pathways to scale through funding, hands-on support and access to WFP’s global operations.

Reporting to the Head of Innovative Finance, Frontier Innovations and Venture Launchpad, the Innovative Finance Portfolio Lead is expected to lead the development and implementation of the Accelerator’s innovative financing models. Key focus areas include building impact investing mechanisms to fund impact at scale, developing new investment mechanisms to attract funding for investable innovations, and managing processes and tools for impact investing, including impact measurement and reporting.

Responsibilities include developing a robust pipeline of investable innovations, contributing to the Innovative Finance Strategy, conducting landscape mapping to inform activities, supporting fundraising efforts and external partnerships, and guiding the adoption of an investment readiness toolkit across the Accelerator and related teams.

Additionally, the role involves leading a team of Innovative Finance Consultants, coaching staff through ideation to implementation, fostering a collaborative, high-performing culture, and supporting resource mobilisation opportunities for innovative finance ventures and instruments.

• Lead development and implementation of the Accelerator’s innovative financing models and impact investing mechanisms to fund impact at scale.
• Develop new impact investing mechanisms to attract funding for investable and scalable innovations with social impact.
• Design and manage processes and tools for impact investing, including measurement, reporting and monitoring of investments.
• Build a robust pipeline of investable innovations from market research to investment proposal; support the Innovative Finance Strategy implementation across WFP.
• Conduct landscape mapping to inform impact investing activities and support relationships with external investor partners.
• Drive adoption of the investment readiness toolkit by innovations and Accelerator teams; develop toolkit processes and documentation as appropriate.
• Provide investment readiness advisory, lead toolkit refinement, and offer capital raising guidance to secure funding through internal mechanisms or external partners.
• Share knowledge and best practices…