Engineering – June 2016

Deadline: 26 April 2016

It is once again the intention of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to recruit an Engineering Intern for the summer/autumn period 2016 in the field of civil, electrical, mechanical or energy engineering. The duration for this position will be a minimum of 3 months, beginning in June 2016 and can potentially be adjusted to meet the candidate’s availability.

WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency and United Nations frontline agency in the fight against hunger. WFP is an emergency based organisation, providing food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. After the cause of an emergency has passed, WFP use food to help communities rebuild their shattered lives and work to create longer term solutions to prevent hunger. This is achieved through programmes that use food as a means to build assets, spread knowledge and nurture stronger, more dynamic communities in turn creating food security.  WFP has developed expertise in a range of areas including Food Security Analysis, Nutrition and Food Procurement, IT, Logistics and Engineering, to ensure optimum solutions for the world’s hungry.  On average, WFP aims to reach more than 80 million people with food assistance in more than 82 countries.

WFP Engineering is a key asset in the fight against hunger and deals principally with the management of engineering projects to facilitate WFP operations worldwide.

To facilitate the recruitment of an intern, WFP is requesting that eligible candidates complete the online application to the roster for interns. WFP also request that under the ‘additional information’ section of the application, that a short description outlining the applicability of their experience to date, their particular areas of interest, skill sets they may have which could benefit WFP and the reasons to why they wish to work with WFP be included.

Please find the attached instructions for accessing and applying through the online system. Also please find attached the terms of reference for the position, and conditions governing possible internship candidates. Please note that following the short listing of selected candidates an interview process will be held.

Project Description
WFP Engineering at WFP’s Headquarters in Rome, Italy, provides engineering assistance to a host of different activities including those of civil, mechanical, electrical and energy engineering and project management for WFP projects worldwide.

General Description of Tasks and Responsibilities
Under the general supervision of the Chief Engineer, WFP Engineering for all project matters, the intern may be tasked with any of the following list of duties. All tasks shall be under the direct supervision of a professionally accredited Project Engineer within WFP Engineering:

• Undertake designs of basic project elements;
• Undertake project administration tasks, supporting the team in preparing construction contracts, documents, and design packages;
• Prepare reports on projects and team initiatives;
• Develop project tools. The team is involved in a number of specialist engineering functions. A number of these tasks are repetitive and development of a tool in Excel or the likes would benefit the team;
• Undertake research into areas of interest to the team, including eco-friendly ‘green’ technologies;
• Assist the team with its project quality assurance procedures;
• Assist the team with the WFP Engineering website, writing and editing articles if necessary;
• Assist the project team with any other tasks as assigned by the Chief Engineer.

The following points may also apply specifically to energy/electrical engineers and/or engineers with a background in energy.

• Undertake studies and designs of basic project elements in the field of alternative energy sources such as but no limited to photovoltaic and wind;
• Develop or update project budgets or preliminary, detailed cost estimations to implement these systems (feasibility studies could be required);
• Undertake design and/or participate in design reviews of electrical/mechanical/special systems;
• Develop and/or update project tools (e.g. in Excel) to monitor energy efficiency initiatives;
• Undertake research into areas of interest to the team, including green technologies.

Essential Requirements:

• Currently enrolled or have recently graduated from a Bachelors/Master’s Degree in Civil/Electrical/Mechanical/Energy engineering;
• Have completed at least two years of undergraduate study;
• Have attended courses in the last 12 months;
• Written and oral proficiency in English;
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, Project);
• Experience of using AutoCAD or other engineering software.
  Desirable Qualifications/Experience;
• Experience of working in an engineering environment, knowledge of construction and health and safety matters;
• Experience of working in the humanitarian community.
• Knowledge of energy efficiency, green technologies and the designing of alternative energy systems is desirable

Languages:

• fluent in English;
• knowledge of French, Arabic, Spanish or Portuguese is highly desirable.

Conditions of Service:

• The intern duty station shall be Rome, Italy (WFP’s Headquarters);
• The stipend to interns shall be capped at $700 per month;
• WFP is not responsible for living expenses, arrangements for accommodation, travel to and from WFP internship location, necessary visas and costs related.

Application procedures
Go to: http://www.wfp.org/careers/internships
Step 1: Create your online CV.
Step 2: Click on “Apply” button under the advertisement “Internship, Engineering, Rome, Italy” to submit your application.
Note: You must complete Step 2 in order for your application to be considered for this Internship.

Deadline for applications: 26th April 2016

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status. Qualified female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are encouraged to apply.

If you have any further questions regarding the system and the procedure, you are welcome to contact james.spinelli(at)wfp.org or visit the web page http://www.wfp.org/careers