Un Women: Procurement Specialist ? Policy Support - New York

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The Division of Management and Administration (DMA) is responsible for the planning, allocation and management of financial, human and administrative resources including information communications and technology, the effective and efficient delivery of essential operations services in UN Women, continuous development and improvement in operations, policies and methods to align with UN Women and stakeholders’ evolving business needs and advisory support to the Executive Director in the formulation and implementation of the UN Women overall mission, strategy and plans of actions.

Under the overall guidance of Deputy Director of DMA and under the Procurement Specialist (P4), the Procurement Specialist for Policy Support will be responsible for the review and development of new or existing policies and procedures in line with business requirements. The Procurement Specialist will act as advisory body and provide strategic and authoritative advises to UN-Women personal on the interpretation and application of procurement manual, policies and procedures. The Procurement Specialist function is a comprehension of capacity development activities to support the Organization and procurement reform, creating benchmark with other UN Agencies. The Procurement Specialist is expected to provide solutions to a wide spectrum of complex issues related to procurement, promote a collaborative, client-focused, quality and results-oriented approach in the section, work in close collaboration with internal and external stakeholders both at Headquarters and field levels for the successful delivery of procurement services.

Duties And Responsibilities

Ensure the development and implementation of operational strategies:

• Deliver on cost reduction through the identification, development, and execution of strategic sourcing initiatives;
• Lead internal consultation prior to the policy proposals and organize peer reviews to ensure relevance of the proposed policies and procedures;
• Act as advisory body to provide strategic advice to UN-Women personnel on the interpretation and application of procurement policies and procedures.
• Formulate organization wide system requirements for reporting, oversight and other business requirements;
• Develop new policies and ensure benchmarking with other UN system agencies looking for innovative approaches among international organizations;
• Ensure oversight of existing policies affecting procurement and assess business needs related to their implementation;
• Develop appropriate contract management / internal procurement tools or guiding materials for standardization and knowledge sharing purposes;
• Assist headquarters and Regional/ Multi-Country and Country Offices in the development of procurement strategies in collaboration with supply chain stakeholders;
• Ensure review and development of new or existing policies in line with UN-Women’s Strategic Plan and business requirements and as supported by related operations strategies;

Conduct reviews the standardization of the procurement management processes:

• Review procurement plans received from business units to ensure that responsibilities are adequately designated; time and resources estimates are adequate;
• Establish and implement control systems for procurement processes including organization of Invitation to Bid/Request For Proposal/Request For Quotations (RFQ, ITB, or RFP) throughout the procurement processes. Take action where standards or regulations are not met;
• Provide quality management support to headquarters and Regional/ Multi-Country and Country Offices in regard to the establishment of solicitation document e.g. review of solicitation document and relevant annexes for quality purpose, when required;
• Harmonize procurement services where relevant in relation to joint procurement with other UN agencies in line with the UN reform.
• Management of procurement plans –organization wide- coordinate and consolidate the organization’s requirement to identify the need for the establishment of Long Term Agreements (LTAs);
• Reinforce the procurement processes by creating benchmarks and review of supply chain cycles and micro-processes;

Review and develop new or existing policies, procedures, systems and tools in line with business requirements:

• Identify the needs and establish strategic agreement with parties which result in efficiencies in line with financial and forecasting requirements;
• Ensure compliance with UN-Women regulations, rules, policies, and procedures. Implement an effective internal control framework.
• Ensure processes, tools and templates are available in a user friendly and timely manner and posted in the procurement intranet;
• Create models, matrices, tools, and workflows for all common procurement functions with intense collaboration with all stakeholders;
• Simplify and streamline the procedures and processes while maintaining compliance with regulations and rules;
• Ensure that activities for knowledge management; thematic groups, websites and other tools, which support the group, are current and sufficiently robust for the intended purpose;
• Ensure that policies and processes are supported by appropriate tools, templates and learning activities;
• Facilitate the review and design of all procurement processes, in relation to existing and newly adopted policies;

Build effective management relationship with internal and external stakeholders:

• Take the lead in dealing with questionnaires the section receives frequently from internal UN-Women stakeholders, other UN Agencies, donors and member states;
• Coordinate access to information and follow up on all audit activities and observation for headquarters and Regional/ Multi-Country and Country Offices for the procurement function organization wide;
• Propose and/or initiate changes and improvements on policies and procedures based on information and recommendations received from relevant stakeholders;
• Work closely with team members ensuring performance and alignment of individual and team goals are align with the procurement objectives, and providing the appropriate coaching enabling a productive, innovative, and challenging working environment.

Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing:

• Provide leadership in the establishment of a reputation as the “Centre of Excellence”, which shares best procurement practices with other business unit;
• Provide specific support and trainings to UN-Women at headquarters and Regional/ Multi-Country and Country Offices;
• Make regular contributions to the Procurement Community Network and other learning networks;
• Elaborate and carry out a training plan for the section, focusing on collective as well as individual activities according to the necessities of the section and available resources;
• Ensure a compendium of learning programs available to staff that includes recognized certification programs and programs customized to UN-Women procurement training needs (i.e.: contract management, e-procurement, etc.);
• Ensure that the learning program leverages e-learning tools and other distance learning modalities that are cost effective and appropriate for the learning needs and outreach of the Procurement Section organization wide;
• Ensure timely reporting on all training and outreach activities are captured and reported;
• Synthesize lessons learned and best practices in the procurement of global and specialized goods and services;
• Supplement the operational capacity of Procurement Operations Support Section (as and when required).

Key Performance Indicators:

The key results have an impact on the overall organization’s efficiency in procurement and administration and success in the implementation of operations strategies.

• Timely and accurate analysis and presentation of information;
• Timely information sharing to facilitate decision making of the management, learning capacity building, and development of standardization of tools, systems, templates including policies and procedures.
• Timely delivery of well-organized and transparent procurement and administration processes to ensure client satisfaction and delivery of UN-Women programmes/projects.

Competencies

Core values:

• Respect for Diversity.
• Professionalism;
• Integrity;

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Leading by Example.
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Effective Communication;

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

• Strong IT skills.
• Ability to provide policy advice and support;
• Ability to handle confidential information;
• Proven ability to support the development of high quality knowledge and training materials, and to train technical teams;
• Ability to process, analyze and synthesize complex, technical information;
• Good negotiating skills;
• Strong knowledge of procurement systems and processes, particularly in the UN system is an asset;

Required Skills And Experience

Education:

• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree;
• Procurement Certification from International recognized institutions (e.g., CIPS-Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply) is an asset.
• Master’s Degree or equivalent in Business Administration, Public Administration, Operations, Supply Chain Management, Public Policies, or related field;

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience in procurement and supply chain management with a focus on development of procurement and/or public policies, including supply chain cycles and microprocesses, or related area is required;
• 3 years of progressive supervisory or managerial responsibilities is required;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) is required;
• Experience in ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system (Oracle Cloud or equivalent) and IPSAS is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in oral and written English is required;
• Knowledge of French and/or Spanish is an asset. Working knowledge of another UN official language is an asset.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc . Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

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