Procurement Specialist

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Portfolio Senior Manager - Transactional Projects Portfolio, the Procurement Specialist is responsible for the development and implementation of strategic and effective procurement services reflecting international public procurement best practices, compliance with UNOPS procurement policy, rules, regulations and procedures, ensuring appropriate risk management and obtaining the best value for money for the acquisition of goods, services and the contracting of works.

He/she analyzes and interprets the respective rules and regulations and provides advice and solutions to a wide spectrum of complex issues related to procurement. The role requires deep understanding of procurement policy and processes and the Procurement Specialist should be able to apply them to the appropriate situations.

In addition to responsibility for the deliverables of the work team, the incumbent’s work is focused on strategic relationship building and demand management, mainly referred to aggregation and dealing with complex organizational structures, preparation of business cases and understanding of the supply market, as well as sharing knowledge with projects in order to achieve reductions of costs and savings.

Maintaining the highest degree of personal and professional ethics, the Procurement Specialist promotes a collaborative, client-focused, quality and results-oriented approach in the Business Unit.  The Procurement Specialist works in close collaboration with the programme/project colleagues in Ethiopia Multi Country Office (EMCO) and with UNOPS HQ personnel, particularly with the Procurement Group (PG), as well as the Government officials, to successfully deliver procurement services.

1. Development and Implementation of  procurement strategies
2. Management of procurement processes
3. Implementation of sourcing strategy and e-procurement tools
4. Facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing
5. Team Management

• Appropriate application of UNOPS procurement governance framework (rules, regulations, policies and tools) in Business Unit and Project operations.
• Provision of supply-market intelligence and analysis.
• Procurement strategies, approaches and plans designed and implemented according to cost reduction and saving strategies, applying:

• Expertise in market intelligence matched to business requirements;
• Optimal Stakeholder management principles;
• Sustainability criteria;
• Appropriate work processes to individual cases.
• Oversight and supervision of the implementation and results of strategic and routine procurement work plans in Business Unit, covering Pre-Purchasing: Strategy and Planning; Requirements Definition; Sourcing; Purchasing: Solicitation; Management of Submissions; Evaluation; Review and Award; Post Purchasing: Contract finalization and issuance; Logistics; and Contract Management.

2.     Manage and guide  procurement processes for the acquisition of goods, services and the construction of works for the Business Unit, focusing on achievement of the following results, in compliance with the official procurement policies, rules, regulations and procedures:

•  Sustainability embedded in the procurement process.
•  Appropriate procurement modalities and instruments applied (e-sourcing, procurement and Rosters of Suppliers) based on individual case requirements, utilizing expert knowledge of procurement policies and instruments.
•  Creation, implementation and oversight of proper monitoring and control of procurement processes in Business Unit and projects including organization of RFQ, ITB or RFP, receipt of quotations, bids or proposals, their evaluation, negotiation of certain conditions of contracts in full compliance with UNOPS Procurement rules and regulations.
• Review and pre-clearance of solicitation documents, requests for awards and submissions to Contract and Property Committees (CPCs) in role as Procurement Reviewer (in OneUNOPS or Enterprise system).
• Procurement contracts and contractors optimally managed through supplier and contract performance management against agreed benchmarks and through agreed reporting mechanisms.
• Implementation of Internal control system.
• Elaboration of comments regarding project audit reports of the Business Units, when necessary.

3.   Ensure introduction and implementation of sourcing strategy and e-procurement tools focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Creation, development and management of rosters of suppliers, elaboration of supplier selection and evaluation, quality and performance measurement mechanisms.
• Ensures that the e-sourcing tools are used in accordance with PG goals and standards in this area.

4.     Team Management

• Facilitate the engagement and provision of high quality results and services of the team supervised through effective recruitment, work planning, performance management, coaching, and promotion of learning and development.
• Provide oversight, ensuring compliance by team members with existing policies and best practices.

5. Knowledge building and Knowledge sharing

• Organize, facilitate and/or deliver training and learning initiatives for Business Unit personnel on Procurement-related topics.
• Lead and conduct initiatives on capacity development and knowledge building for procurement personnel, including network development, plans, learning plans and activities, procurement practice information and best practice benchmarking.
• Oversee team’s contributions to Procurement knowledge networks and communities of practice including collaborative synthesis of lessons learnt and dissemination of best practices in procurement management.
• Guide team’s collection of feedback, ideas, and internal knowledge about processes and best practices and utilize productively.

• Advanced Degree preferably in Procurement and/or Supply Chain Management, Law, Commerce, Business Administration, Public Administration, Finance, Economics or related field.
• A First University degree in combination with a minimum of seven (7) years’ qualifying experience, may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• For those who do not have a degree in Procurement of Supply  Chain Management, Chartered Institute of Supply and Management (CIPS) or similar international Certification, is a distinct advantage.
• Knowledge of UN/ /UNOPS Procurement Rules and  Regulations is a distinct advantage.

• A minimum of five (5) years’ professional experience in implementation and advising on, implementing policies and procedures to deliver a range of complex procurement programmes and services is required.
• Experience in working with a range of external and internal stakeholders  is an advantage
• Personnel supervisory experience in procurement  is an advantage
• Experience in UN system organizations, preferably in a developing country, is desirable.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages is required.

•  Fluency of written and oral English is required.
•  Knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

1. Contract type: Local Individual Contract Agreement
2. Contract level: LICA-10
3. Contract duration: Ongoing ICA