DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS11 March 2025-23:59-GMT+03:00 Eastern European Time (Damascus)
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 worldโs 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).
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT:
WFP Syria is in a period of transition from large, blanket, in-kind GFA programmes to tightly targeted, multi-modality emergency assistance and increasing portfolio of nutrition, livelihoods, and early recovering programming. But donor funds are declining. Fewer staff need to collaborate with greater agility across multiple business units and functions to plan and implement operations more efficiently and effectively.
Meanwhile WFP is progressively digitizing more and more core business processes across all functions โ finance, funds management, supply chain management, beneficiary Identity management, programme distribution management, VAM and M&E, CP management, HR, Risk Management, etc. With support from TEC, WFP Syria is finalizing its data warehouse โMDPโModern data platformโ to aggregate and store all business transaction data generated by all these different digitized processes to power rapid and granular analyses and data-driven insights into WFP operations.
WFP classifies Syria as โhigh riskโ of inefficiency, error, fraud, and corruption. WFPโs risk strategy is essentially to ensure segregations of duty, digitize business processes, and leverage data analytics to detect and then mitigate large-scale or systematic risks.
The Operations Planning, Assurance and Coordination (OPAC) leads internal calibration of all the workstreams set in place to address the above considerations. The OPAC is essentially the โsingle source of truthโ to plan, assure, and coordinate optimal and risk-assured implementation of operations in the field. OPAC being a forward looking & scenario planning office that will ensure that current emergency response and possible future emergency scenario are integrated in the planning to best manage implementation of programmes and in continuity of operations at any given time.
The OPAC is comprised of four fluid and mutually reinforcing teams โ Budget and Programming (BPU), Business Analytics and Assurance (BAA), Operation Information Management (OIM) and Operations Coordination.
JOB PURPOSE:
The Data Engineer will lead the ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) process from the Modern Data Platform (MDP) and integrate additional relevant data sources to enrich datasets. By ensuring data pipelines are robust, scalable, and optimized, the engineer will provide analysts with ready-to-consume datasets that enable timely and data-driven decision-making. This role is critical in establishing a solid data foundation that supports operational performance tracking, optimization, and strategic planning.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES (not all-inclusive):
ETL Pipeline Management: In coordination with OPAC data analysts, Develop, maintain, and optimize Extraction Transformation and Loading (ETL) workflows from the MDP to power various data models required for a growing set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Data Integration & Augmentation: Identify, collate and compile metadata from multiple operation data sources to enrich MDP datasets and enhance its analytical capabilities.
Database & Data Warehouse Management: Monitor MDP data ingestion schedules, liaise with TEC on discrepancies and log troubleshooting tickets.
Performance Optimization: Improve query performance and ensure datasets are efficiently structured for analysis.
Collaboration with Analysts: Work closely with data analysts to understand reporting needs and ensure datasets are aligned with business objectives.
Documentation & Governance: Maintain clear documentation of data workflows, schemas, and business rules while enforcing data quality standards.
Any other duties as required.
DELIVERABLES:
- Fully operational ETL pipelines processing data from the MDP and other relevant sources.
- Cleaned and structured datasets ready for analysts to use.
- Optimized data warehouse with well-documented schemas and metadata.
- Periodic performance reports on data processing efficiency and system health.
- Established governance framework and ontology for MDP data
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
Education:
- Completion of secondary school education.
- A university degree in information technology, economics, statistics, applied mathematics, data science or similar fields is desirable.
Experience:
- At least six (6) years of progressively responsible work experience composed of a minimum of Four (4) years in Database Administration and Data Engineering and Two (2) years in any other field but preferably in the field of the position or related.
- Hands-on experience with business analytics, database and scripting and code repository platforms and their IDEs including but not limited to Tableau Suite (Desktop, Prep, Server), PowerBI, R, Python, PostgreSQL, MSSQL, AWS Athena, R Studio, DBeaver, Git-Hub.
- Experience working with business analysts, data engineers, and data analysts to develop high-quality reports that generate actionable insights.
- Experience in the humanitarian sector (UN/ INGOs) and complex operational environments, including emergencies in an added value.
Knowledge & Skills:
- Ability to work with diverse teams, promoting a positive work environment.
- Ability to work respectfully and collegially with managers and staff across multiple business units to achieve shared objectives.
- Demonstrated flexibility and adaptability to changing priorities and context.
Languages:
- Fluency in both oral and written communication in both English and Arabic.
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
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.
Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language
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
Please contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org in case you face any challenges with submitting your application
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.
- Fluency in both oral and written communication in both English and Arabic.