Supply Chain Planner

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

14 February 2026-23:59-GMT+03:00 East Africa Time (Addis Ababa)

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 AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the United Nations frontline humanitarian agency addressing hunger and malnutrition worldwide. WFP tackles poverty and hunger through a range of interventions: saving lives and protecting livelihoods in emergencies; investing in the prevention and mitigation of disasters; restoring and rebuilding lives and livelihoods in post-conflict or post-disaster situation; and other interventions to tackle hunger. Each year, on average, WFP feeds more than 90 million people in over 80 countries.

The Supply Chain Planning & Optimization Unit (SCOO) was conceptualized to maximize and mainstream best practices developed across WFP in SC Planning.  The Service supports cross-functional collaboration, promotes end-to-end SC visibility, and leverages advanced analytics and optimization tools.  Planning equips WFP’s SC to better achieve its strategic goals of being agile, being reliable & cost efficient, supporting quality & safety, & strengthening national capacities & markets. Integrated SC Management (SCM), as facilitated by the Planning Service, supports WFP in working towards its mandate of achieving a world with Zero Hunger.

Following high demonstrated added value to the organization, the SC Planning function is being institutionalized by placing SC Planning officers in RBs and COs. ETCO, which has benefited from the support of the SCOO through remote work and missions, wants to capitalize on this impact by putting in place a Supply Chain Planning unit to induce further increases in effectiveness and efficiency of WFP operations in Ethiopia by offering an analytical service to the whole CO. This function is expected to lead this function in ETCO.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Supply chain management is at the core of WFP’s humanitarian response and therefore an area of constant strategic focus. WFP aims to continuously improve its supply chain by identifying, designing and implementing innovative supply chain solutions, systems and tools to support strategic and operational decision making.

While the Supply Chain Planner reports to the Head of Operations, its responsibilities go well beyond purely supply chain related topics. As part of those responsibilities, the SC Planner is expected to conduct cross-functional analyses, and work closely together with the heads and technical focal points of all operational units, including Programme, Nutrition, Resource Management, Security, Donor Relations, the Food Security and Logistics Clusters, etc. Moreover, there is a strong focus and frequent work related to food security and WFP’s strategic positioning in addressing acute and chronic hunger. The analyses produced will be integrated plans of all functions, including CONOPS’s and operational dashboard for the OTF, with audience being CO management, as well as heads of units.

In line with this overarching goal, the candidate will manage and provide support for the following activities, in line with the TORs of the SC Planning Unit:

Support to Complex Operational issues & emergencies: Continued support to complex operational issues such as Ethiopia Emergency Response with end-to-end visibility and anticipation, scenario planning and optimization. This includes for example, the provision of a holistic picture of the operation across all functions including a bi-weekly Operational Dashboard to the OTF and internal meetings, analyzing internal and external intel, highlight risks and opportunities, and setting up processes for data sharing and analysis for monitoring and rapid & effective decision-making. These capacities will be in place to respond to any potential future emergencies. Visibility & Planning for CO Operations: In addition to Emergency Response, the SCPU will also consolidate intel for the entire WFP operations in Ethiopia, providing regular country overviews and one consolidated picture that include the operating context (security, food insecurity overviews), WFP response plan (activities, locations, which food, funding requirements), pipeline status, Implementation of activities (e.g. beneficiaries reached vs. planned) as well as highlighting risks and bottlenecks for the effective implementation of WFP’s Programme of Work. Provision of SC Planning Expertise to Partners: Support partners in the area of Supply Chain Planning, Visibility and Optimization as a service or technical assistance. This includes for example the maintenance and expansion of a control tower in Ethiopia as well as supporting the implementation of dashboards on pipeline, transport and customs. Briefing to Management: The candidate is expected to frequently brief management, including CD and DCD, Emergency Coordinator, as required about strategic and operational issues, highlighting key take-aways of analyses, flagging potential problems in advance, and recommending actions for operations as well as engagement with stakeholders. Moreover, the responsibilities include being able to liaise with partners and donors in donor meetings or other exchanges with external stakeholders. Topics include the evolution of needs and requirements, performance, transfer modalities, funding, other topics, and ad-hoc inputs. Coordination with Other Units: The work of the SC Planner Unit is cross-functional by nature, and it is therefore expected to liaise closely with other units and facilitate collaboration between units to enable cross-functional, end-to-end, “big picture”-type of analyses, and to provide coordination services to the entire CO in effective & efficient facts-based decision making. The candidate is expected to provide support directly to other units as well as respond to requests from management. Optimization of operations: Generating cost efficiencies by optimizing the sourcing and delivery network, food baskets, in-kind vs. cash purchases, CBT vs. Food distributions, corridor usage, and other factors, using specially developed tools such as Optimus. The scope of this tool is holistic, considering all operational areas. Ad-hoc cross-functional analysis as required: Examples include scenario planning, for example contingency planning for elections, potential changes in the operational plans, as well as supporting the preparation of presentation for management, donor meetings, or other external purposes. This includes analysis at both strategic as well as operational level. Supporting core Supply Chain Analytics: Including data collection, automation, analysis, visualization, and distribution of reports relating to stock overviews, food pipelines, warehousing, supply chain strategy, port operation, corridor movement, and others as relevant. This also includes the roll-out and implementation of innovative corporate tools such as DOTS or Optimus. Close coordination with ESARO & HQ Analytics: Feeding into regional and global analyses and maintaining a strong link to other SC Planning colleagues worldwide as well as other analytical cells.

 QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in Engineering, specialization in Economics, Statistics, Operations Research, Supply Chain, and/or Management Sciences

Experience:

• Experience in supply chain related industry/research field, including business analysis, data extraction and analysis, development of analytical tools
• At least 2 years of experiencing working in the humanitarian sector, including deployments to emergency responses
• Experience in Food Security analyses
• Experience with programming languages, coding and IT system development

Knowledge & Skills:

• Excellent presentation skills, conveying complex operational and strategic issues to both senior and technical audiences in a simple yet compelling way, isolating the core issue and providing concrete recommendations.
• Strong analytical abilities, both quantitative and qualitative; ability to leverage analytical skills into advanced data models and tools
• Good knowledge of all of WFP’s operational areas and functions, in particular Programme, Resource Management, Nutrition, Security, and Donor Relations.
• Mathematical skills pertaining to statistics, forecasting, and optimization
• Ability to produce high-quality written materials, including graph-based PowerPoint presentations as well as text documents
• Strong time management skills with an ability to plan ahead, anticipate requirements, problems and obstacles, and an ability to juggle competing priorities successfully, and to work to tight deadlines
• Self-motivated and proactive, able to work with a high degree of autonomy
• Ability to interact with a wide range of stakeholders with credibility and tact
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, ability to perform in a matrix structure
• Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the World Food Programme

Languages:

• Verbal and written fluency in English
• Professional proficiency in another UN language
• Knowledge of another (UN) language is 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

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 recruitment system. We do not accept CVs or spontaneous applications by email.
• If you experience challenges while submitting your online application, please contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org for technical support only.
• Please note that applications sent to this email address cannot be considered.
• We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).
• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.
• Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter
• Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

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.