Project Manager, Rome

WFP - World Food Programme; Roma; Remote; EUR 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

World Food Programme seeks a Project Manager for a regular consultancy contract (CST) in a remote capacity. The role leads IT initiatives, manages budgets and schedules, and ensures delivery aligned with WFP standards.

A university degree and 5+ years PM experience are required, with fluency in English and ability to operate in a multicultural setting. The assignment spans 11 months, reporting to the TEC PM lead, and involves coordinating with external partners to deliver high-quality IT

Qualifications

• University degree in Business Administration, Economics, Information Technology or related fields.
• Fluency in English with strong written and oral communication.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary project teams and managing budgets.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate a portfolio of complex initiatives spanning one or more business lines.
• Oversee budgets, resources, schedules and risk management across projects.
• Ensure adherence to PMO standards, governance and SDLC processes.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

English proficiency

Organized and detail-oriented

Education

University degree in Business Administration, Economics, Information Technology or related fields

Tools

Project management tools

Waterfall/Agile methodologies

Job description

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 15 November 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).

Job Details

JOB TITLE: Project Manager
TYPE OF CONTRACT: Regular consultancy contract (CST)
Level II UNIT/DIVISION: Digital Services, Information Technology Division
DUTY STATION (City, Country): Remote working
DURATION: 11 months

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

Technology and connectivity are rapidly reaching some of the most vulnerable people and places affected by crisis, but they are also increasingly expanding to the services responding to those same crises. As one of the main humanitarian actors, WFP has the opportunity and the obligation to leverage data and technology to better know and serve those in need by digitally transforming the way it works. Reporting to the Project Manager lead, the Project Manager is expected to oversee relevant TEC stakeholders and external implementing partners aiming for IT solutions which achieve the highest quality in terms of technical usability, user acceptability and domain suitability. The incumbent will be responsible for leading teams to deliver projects that span across one or more business units and to manage resources, schedules, financials and adhere to deadlines throughout the whole project management cycle. This also includes the management of issues, risks and project change requests to ensure successful and on‑time project delivery.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead and coordinate a portfolio of complex initiatives/projects encompassing one or multiple business lines, including the following duties: Become business partners’ central focal point in TEC working together with the business to ‘orchestrate’ workflows across TEC teams. Liaise with Business Engagement Managers to better understand project requirements, needs, change requests and the interdependencies between technology, operations and business objectives.
• Lead the project management activities, ensuring that all documentation is in place and available for all stakeholders, and prepare for the roll‑out. Ensure the gathering and validation of requirements follows a Human‑Centered Design (HCD) approach, along with time and cost estimates related to scope implementation. Help define the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with a focus on value delivery Design and implement the project governance structure. Design and implement a communication plan. Establish a work plan for staffing, and, in coordination with the IT Solution Owner, establish a Product Team. Implement a change management plan. Ensure that the project delivery includes not only the main working IT deliverables but also all the mechanisms and processes for product maintenance, evolution and full roll‑out once the product Minimum Viable Product (MVP) has been delivered.
• Manage the project work‑plan, risks and issues, including: Monitor, track and report the project’s progress against the project baselines. Identify key success factors and potential issues and risks that threaten performance and could affect outcomes, timeline, and budget, deciding how best to implement corrective actions. Identify, track and manage divisional risks through corporate documents such as the risk register and developing a corresponding response plan. Discuss and support the resolution of issues and questions raised by the technical and functional teams of the project. Communicate clearly and manage stakeholders’ expectations about the project’s timeline, risks, quality and costs. Keep them informed of the progress of the project activities, challenges and achievements. Identify internal and external dependencies that may impact the project. Work creatively and analytically in a problem‑solving environment, demonstrating teamwork, innovation and excellence. Assess development change requests and gather feasibility and impact assessments related to the scope of requirements changes. Ensure that the technical work of the teams complies with the guidelines and procedures established by IT (e.g., SDLC, Scrum, test methodology) and that all technical documentation meets the expected quality standards.
• Manage budget and resources assigned to the projects, including: Prepare an accurate budget estimate for the project. Liaise with other technical teams to consolidate the complete project budget estimate. Ensure business agreement on the budget proposal and ensure that funds are transferred accordingly. Monitor budget availability across all project stages and collaborate with relevant stakeholders to ensure the placement of Purchase Orders. Track resource allocation and consumption against the forecasted budget and elevate any deviations.
• Be a guardian of the project management methodology established by the Project Management Office. a) Ensure projects adhere to PMO standards in areas such as definition, costing, implementation, documentation and reporting. b) Guide and contribute to the development of practices, frameworks and processes to expand and strengthen the project management methodology.
• Other duties as required.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Education: University degree in Business Administration, Economics, Information Technology or related fields. Project Management education/ certification desirable. Experience: Minimum 5 years of professional experience in project management within an organisation and proven record of management and delivery of the full cycle of projects, ideally IT‑related projects. Knowledge & Skills: Knowledge and experience with project management methodologies, for both Waterfall and Agile and project management software tools IT background or solid knowledge of IT software development and data & analytics. Experience with managing cross‑functional teams. Ability to interact comfortably with different levels of management, senior stakeholders and functional teams. Experience with multi‑vendor projects, delivery coordination and management. Initiative and drive to meet deliverables on time and within budget. Proven ability to work creatively and analytically in a problem‑solving environment demonstrating teamwork, innovation and excellence. Excellent communication skills both written and oral. Organized with attention to detail to ensure projects run efficiently. Personal Effectiveness: strategic and analytical thinking, results orientation, commitment to excellence, appropriate and transparent decision making. Ability to effectively prioritize and execute while under pressure. Strong customer service orientation. Ability to work in multi‑cultural and multi‑ethic environments. Languages: Fluency (level C) in English language. Intermediate knowledge (level B) of a second official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish and/or WFP’s working language. Portuguese is desirable.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

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]

WFP is aware of fictitious employment offers being circulated via email or originating from online job boards. Many of these schemes consist of an alleged offer of employment or contract with WFP in return for the payment of fees or providing personal or banking information.

You can read more about WFP’s history here, and WFP’s mission here Want to hear what it’s like working for WFP? Check out our newsletter highlighting the career stories of our passionate staff here: Pathway to WFP | LinkedIn Integrity, collaboration, commitment, humanity, inclusion. These values inspire everything we do every day, allowing us to work towards a world with zero hunger. You can read more about the values here. Our behaviour guides us in how we accomplish our mission. All WFP employees are expected to demonstrate the standards of behaviour described in the WFP Leadership Framework. Learn more about the WFP Leadership Framework here.