Learning and Development Specialist

Job Description

Staff Development Officer (P3) | World Food Programme

The Tone:
This is a full-time, international professional position at the World Food Programme, located in Rome, Italy. The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, focused on saving lives in emergencies and building pathways to peace through food assistance. This role supports global Programme Operations by enhancing staff capabilities, ensuring effective learning experiences, and aligning skills with operational priorities to strengthen programme delivery and organizational effectiveness.

The TL;DR
• Role: Full Time
• Type: Limited Fixed-Term Appointment (LFT) – one year renewable
• Location: In-person – Rome, Italy
• Team: Reports to the Staffing Coordinator within the Programme Operations Staffing Coordination and Capacity Service (POS), collaborating with the HRMTC branch.
• Mission: Provides specialized support and leads global Programme Operations learning initiatives, assuring effective learning experiences and continuous enhancement of the Programme Operations Learning & Development approach.

What You’ll Actually Do
• Learning Solutions: Lead the design, development, and implementation of appropriate learning solutions for Programme Operations staff to optimize performance and adapt to industry best practices.
• Training Oversight: Provide oversight on technical, cross-cutting, and soft skills trainings, facilitating coordination among internal experts, trainers, and vendors for a cohesive approach.
• Effectiveness Measurement: Measure and evaluate the effectiveness of learning events and products, using insights to inform Programme Operations’ integrated workforce management and decision-making processes.
• Strategic Guidance: Provide strategic advice to Programme Operations functions regarding learning and development priorities, capability gaps, and suitable interventions.
• Team Leadership: Manage and guide the work of the learning and development team, ensuring the successful delivery of agreed objectives and outputs.

The Must-Haves
• Background: University degree in Learning and Development, Adult Education, Human Resources, Instructional Design, or a related field.
• Experience: Minimum 5 years of post-graduate, professionally relevant experience, including proven experience leading and developing training events for diverse audiences in international humanitarian or development contexts.
• Skills: Strong communication and presentation abilities, capacity to work both autonomously and collaboratively within a team, and the ability to coordinate and facilitate multi-day trainings for large, multicultural groups.
• Bonus: An advanced degree; specific experience in developing and designing learning and development resources related to emergency preparedness and response; practical experience in developing humanitarian team capacities in resource-limited contexts; work experience in instructional design; experience with peer-to-peer learning and self-assessment; or knowledge of a second official UN language.