Cash Transfer Payments Specialist, P4

World Food Programme; Roma; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

World Food Programme in Rome seeks a Cash Transfer Payments Specialist to design adaptive, cost-efficient cash transfer programs and digital payment services aligned with WFP’s standards. You will lead external engagements with banks and fintechs, shaping an innovation portfolio and coordinating with country offices to deliver inclusive, secure payments for emergencies and complex settings.

Fluency in English is required; the appointment is international and based in Rome with potential

Qualifications

• Advanced degree or equivalent with relevance to digital payments and financial services.
• First degree with additional years of related work experience or training.
• Minimum of 8 years in digital payments, financial services, banking, fintech or humanitarian cash.

Responsibilities

• Lead external engagement with banks, fintechs and regulatory bodies on cash assistance in emergencies.
• Design and manage a healthy portfolio of cash transfer innovations, balancing quick wins and learning.
• Represent WFP in fintech forums and coordinate with country offices to deliver inclusive cash services.
• Support cross‑agency cash delivery strategies and ensure compliance with policies and data protection.

Skills

Digital payments

Payment ecosystems

Stakeholder management

Regulatory compliance

Project leadership

Education

Advanced university degree in Finance/Economics/Management

First degree plus related experience/training

Job description

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

21 October 2026-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Rome)

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 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.

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).

ABOUT CASH TRANSFER PAYMENTS SPECIALIST AT WFP

The position is based in Rome, Italy and reports to the Global Cash Coordinator.

THE ROLE

To design and implement an adaptive and cost-efficient approach to financial products and services aligned to WFP’s excellence in cash transfers and G2P service provision with a particular focus on cash assistance in emergencies and complex settings.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Lead WFP’s external engagement with private and financial sector partners on cash assistance in emergencies, including FSPs, specialized IFI bodies such as IFC, regulators, central banks and other relevant partners.
• Lead the design of a healthy innovation portfolio for cash transfers in emergencies, that privileges innovation with high-probability operational benefits (such as cross-border payments that allow WFP to provide cash assistance to refugees and other migrants) but that also contains some learning intensive transformational longshots such as USDC Stablecoin and CBDCs, ensuring that senior management and leadership are well-versed in the potential benefits and risks of both.
• Represent WFP in external fora on fintech and payments and identify opportunities for improved cash delivery in emergencies and complex settings, with a strong focus on operational efficiency, assurance and inclusion.
• Support WFP’s external positioning on cash service provision in the interagency space (IASC, refugee and mixed settings) and with governments, helping articulate WFP’s strategic capability and value proposition.
• Act as a bridge between cash and IDM to ensure advances in IDM continue to form a strong foundation for WFP’s excellence in cash transfers and cash service provision.
• Lead knowledge creation for WFP’s FSP and fintech portfolio, generating practical insights, benchmarks and guidance to inform WFP’s positioning on cash assistance with a particular focus on emergencies and complex settings.
• In contexts characterized by economic volatility and/or regulatory constraints, support Country Offices to engage with regulators, central banks and other relevant government authorities to identify and implement enabling conditions for cash assistance, covering financial regulation, Know Your Client (KYC) and Foreign Exchange (FX) and other economic considerations.
• Advise Country Offices on new or more cost-efficient and/or more inclusive payments products and services, and support them in negotiations with financial services providers as needed, with the express intent of improving service levels to the people WFP is assisting, and bringing the cost of those services down.
• Work with internal stakeholders to ensure that external engagement with private sector partners and financial sector partners is aligned with corporate priorities, WFP’s Cash Policy, assurance standards, data protection requirements, procurement rules and country-level operational needs.
• Support the design of cross-border payments to contribute to the corporate “money follows people” initiative.
• Support the identification, contracting and roll‑out of global payment solutions, working closely with Procurement, Finance, Legal, TEC, Programme and Country Offices to ensure operational feasibility and compliance with corporate requirements.
• Support the design and implementation of cash service provision to governments, humanitarian and development partners.
• Perform any other related tasks, as required.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Education

• Advanced university degree in Finance, Economics, Management, Business Administration, International Development, Public Administration or another field relevant to digital payments and financial services OR First University degree with an additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses.

Experience

• Minimum of 8 years of progressively responsible professional experience in digital payments, financial servies, banking, fintech, payments systems, humanitarian cash assistance, government-to-person payments or related fields.

Desired Experiences

• Demonstrated experience designing, implementing or managing large-scale payment programmes in challenging contexts (conflict, disaster, economic shocks) involving multiple financial service providers, diverse payment instruments.
• Experience working with digital payment ecosystems including banks, mobile money operators, payment service providers, card schemes and fintech companies.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex stakeholder relationships across governments, financial institutions, private sector partners and international organizations.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing humanitarian cash transfers in emergencies and working within the cash coordination structures of IASC, refugee and mixed contexts.
• Experience supporting innovation and adoption of emerging payment technologies including real-time payments, digital identity, digital wallets, programmable payments or blockchain-enabled payment solutions.

Knowledge & Skills

• Strong understanding of digital payment ecosystems, payment infrastructure and financial service delivery models.
• Knowledge of humanitarian cash assistance and social protection payments systems.
• Understanding of financial inclusion principles and barriers affecting vulnerable populations.
• Knowledge of payments regulations, KYC requirements, sanctions compliance, consumer protection and data privacy considerations.
• Knowledge of payment security principles, including fraud prevention, cybersecurity, identity assurance and operational resilience.
• Understanding of interoperability, payment orchestration, API-based integration and digital financial infrastructure.
• Ability to analyse payment markets and evaluate financial service providers against operational, commercial, technical and risk criteria.
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills with the ability to translate emerging market trends into practical organizational strategies.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complete projects involving multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and partnership-building skills and problem-solving skills with a continuous improvement mindset.
• Ability to work effectively in multicultural and rapidly changing operational environments.

Language

Fluency (level C) in English language. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese (a WFP working language).

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

This is an International Professional position andis open to all nationalities.

• The selected candidate will be employed on a limited fixed-term contract of 1 year renewable.
• Limited Fixed-Term Appointment (LFT) position is a non-mobile staff appointment in the international professional category for a limited period for up to 4 years. The position is based in Rome and the selected candidate will be expected to relocate. Incumbents of LFT positions are not eligible to apply for other mobile positions advertised internally through the Reassignment.
• WFP offers an attractive compensation and benefits package, including basic salary, post adjustment, relocation entitlement, travel, visa and shipment allowances, 30 days' annual leave, home leave, an education grant for dependent children, a pension plan, and medical insurance. For more information, visit https://icsc.un.org/.

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: [e-mail]

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.