On 24 February 2022, the military of the Russian Federation launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with strikes across the territory of Ukraine. Since then, Russia’s invasion imposes a severe humanitarian and socio-economic toll, global energy and food crisis, large-scale destruction of the country's infrastructure, and disruptions in the provision of critical services and degradation of social fabrics and communities’ ties, triggering one of the world’s most significant forced displacements.
As the war in Ukraine enters its fourth year since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, humanitarian needs remain critical. The ongoing conflict continues to devastate civilian lives and infrastructure, causing large-scale displacement and destruction. In 2025, 12.7 million people – 36 per cent of the population – require humanitarian assistance.Relentless attacks in the eastern, southern and northeastern front-line regions have intensified. Damage to essential infrastructure remains widespread. This devastation has compounded vulnerabilities across the country, especially in areas that have endured years of hostilities.
Humanitarian needs across Ukraine continue to deepen as intensified attacks on populated areas result in increased civilian casualties and widespread damage to critical civilian infrastructure—particularly in front-line areas.
UNOPS support to partners spans the humanitarian-development nexus from emergency response to building back better, across the housing, health, education, transport, energy and mine action sectors, through infrastructure, procurement and technical assistance / project management interventions, with the ultimate aim of supporting the country on its EU accession and in its achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Background Information - Job-specific
The Procurement Advisor reports directly to the Head of Support Services, with a secondary reporting line to the Head of Programmes, ensuring alignment with strategic procurement goals. S/he is responsible for the management and oversight of all Procurement services and support to the portfolio of all projects with portfolio components in UEMCO (100%). The Procurement Advisor ensures the proactive and timely planning and securing of resources to ensure that the team has the required and adequate personnel and capabilities to deliver responsive, compliant, efficient and quality Procurement services to the functions and client projects within UEMCO as well as to other UNOPS entities that receive support from the UEMCO Support Services Unit (SSU).
S/he ensures consistency in the delivery of Procurement services in all countries under UEMCO and to all recipients of UEMCO Procurement support, ensuring development and implementation of strategic and effective procurement services reflecting international public procurement best practices and compliance with UNOPS procurement policy, rules, regulations and procedures which enable appropriate risk management and obtain the best value for money for the acquisition of goods, services and the contracting of works.
S/he 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 a deep understanding of procurement policy and processes, including their application to the appropriate situations. Leveraging such deep understanding and expertise, the Procurement Advisor anticipates challenges, systematically identifies risks, understands the operating context and the contexts of requests received, and leads the identification and implementation of effective solutions. S/he is also responsible for ensuring Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) considerations are mainstreamed in all procurement processes, with guidance and support from UEMCO, regional and global GEDI experts.
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.
The Procurement Advisor contributes to strategic procurement advisory, oversight, tailored solutions, and effective risk management by preparing briefing materials and participating in relevant meetings with stakeholders and clients.
Maintaining the highest degree of personal and professional ethics, the Procurement Advisor contributes to a collaborative, client-focused, quality and results-oriented approach in UEMCO and the wider ECR. The Procurement Advisor should maintain strict independence from political or client pressure and operate solely within UNOPS rules and regulations.
The Procurement Advisor works in close collaboration with the key internal stakeholder groups and functions across UEMCO, ECR, Global Portfolios Office (GPO), Peace and Security Cluster (PSC) and HQ, including the Procurement Group (PG) to successfully deliver procurement services,, particularly with the Procurement Group (PG) to successfully deliver procurement services.
The role is based in Moldova, with frequent travel to Ukraine and Poland to ensure that procurement oversight and advisory services are effectively implemented across UEMCO.