Supply Officer

Before submitting an application, UNHCR staff members intending to apply to this Job Opening are requested to consult the Recruitment and Assignments Policy (RAP, UNHCR/HCP/2017/2 and the Recruitment and Assignments Administrative Instruction (RAAI), UNHCR/AI/2017/7 OF 15 August 2017.

Supply Officer

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The Supply Officer takes on the role of leading, coordinating and supervising supply activities within an office. The incumbent maintains contact with other UN agencies, NGOs, government partners and commercial contractors in the area to facilitate the operation. The incumbent directly supervises professional and general service staff in the office, and reports to the Head of Office at the same level as the Programme and Administration functions.

FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT

Accountability

- UNHCR has an effective local supply chain that enables the office to meet the needs of persons of concern.
- UNHCR delivers timely and quality goods and services to persons of concern.
- The office has a supply chain infrastructure that is robust and flexible enough to accommodate the needs of the operation and that enables timely emergency responses.
- The office has effective partners to support supply activities.
- The offices' supply chain is optimised and aligned with the operations' evolving needs and management systems.

Responsibility

Strategy

- Contribute to development of a supply chain strategy, structure and budget that is aligned with the global strategy and inserted in the operations plans.
- Prepare plans for delivery of relief items according to UNHCR's short and medium term requirements.
- Contribute to planning and development an effective procurement strategy for the geographical area of responsibility taking into account the procurement of important commodities and services in advance. Use procurement planning tools to their best effect to produce realistic procurement plans.
- Draw up plans for the disposal and replacement of old and obsolete assets.
- Ensure adequate capacity to respond to an emergency and develop contingency plans for the supply function as part of the operational plan.
- Determine the criteria and profile for the location's supply workforce.

Operational Support

- Identify partners for supply chain projects based on objectives, priorities, strengths and resources of the implementing partner and/or contractor, according to criteria consistent with UNHCR rules and regulations.
- Implement supply operations in the field based on interpretations of the situation and conclusions to how the operation can be best implemented.
- Resolve difficulties in the local supply chain by finding solutions to problems and bottlenecks, and provide regular reports on supply chain activities, the status of requests and the availability of items in the supply chain.
- Develop relevant contacts and build constructive relations with government authorities, implementing partners, UN agencies and others, to foster mutual cooperation for the timely delivery of relief items avoiding bottlenecks.
- Coordinate, manage and support all activities pertaining to the supply chain function including planning, sourcing, transport, shipping, customs clearance, warehousing, asset and fleet management in the operation. Apply distribution control techniques to optimise stock levels.
- Coordinate activities of implementing partners and/or contractors performing supply related activities, and ensure that they understand and adhere to relevant UNHCR rules and procedures.
- Maintain an up-to-date overview of the location's supply chain capacity and preparedness, as well as, that of its partners to ensure that adequate capacity exist also to cover emergencies.

Infrastructure Support

- Coordinate, manage and support the procurement process to ensure timely, cost-effective and adequate delivery of commodities and services to support operational needs.
- Identify, assess and select vendors based on their capability for delivering commodities and services. Maintain vendor and item master databases.
- Implement effective asset and fleet management that regularly monitors the asset/fleet pool, saves cost and safeguards the investment of the organisation.
- Analyse the quality of commodities and services delivered in relation to the needs of the location and established quality standards. Establish a local quality assurance process.

Business Support

- Analyse the existing infrastructure and ensure that it is optimally aligned with the operational needs.
- Disseminate, promote commitment to and monitor compliance with UNHCR's global policies, standards and guidance on supply chain management.
- Monitor the quality and accuracy of supply chain related data in relevant business systems. Compile and analyse statistical information, identify trends and developments in supply chain related matters that will assist in decision making.
- Set up and adapt standard supply chain structures to the local environment that are consistent with the operational needs. Ensure effective information flow in the supply chain and adapt process and documents to the prevailing environment.
- Establish and maintain an efficient and skilled workforce that is capable of supporting on-going operations.
- Any other responsibility deemed necessary or as delegated by the Supervisor in order to meet the level of service required by the organisation.

Authority

- Allocate resources in compliance with the resources allocation framework and determine the location's supply chain structure (including the location of warehouses, staff, trans-shipment points and other infrastructure).
- Determine shipment methods, routes and delivery schedules to meet demand in the most timely and cost-effective manner.
- Award, approve and terminate local contracts and frame-agreements in accordance with delegated authorities, as well as, relevant UNHCR regulations, rules and procedures.
- Enforce local compliance with relevant UNHCR regulations, rules and procedures related to supply chain.
- Approve the criteria and profile for the location's supply chain workforce within standards established by UNHCR.
- Appraise the performance of supervised staff.

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

- Undergraduate degree (equivalent of a BA/BS) in Social Science, Economics, Business Administration, Marketing or a related field.
- Minimum of 6 years previous relevant professional job experience.
- Fluency in English with working knowledge of another relevant UN language.

(In offices where the working language is not English, excellent knowledge of working language of duty station and working knowledge of English.)

***For National Officer positions, very good knowledge of local language and local institutions is essential.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES

- Completion of UNHCR learning programmes or specific training relevant to functions of the position such as the Supply Chain Learning Programme (SCLP).
- Other UN procurement and logistics training - such as IAPSO and UNPD.
- Knowledge and working experience of PeopleSoft/MSRP Supply Chain applications. C001L3 - Accountability Level 3
C002L3 - Teamwork & Collaboration Level 3
C003L3 - Communication Level 3
C004L3 - Commitment to Continuous Learning Level 3
C005L3 - Client & Result Orientation Level 3
C006L3 - Organizational Awareness Level 3
M001L3 - Empowering and Building Trust Level 3
M002L3 - Managing Performance Level 3
M006L3 - Managing Resources Level 3
X001L3 - Analytical Thinking Level 3
X005L3 - Planning and Organizing Level 3

Before applying to this position, we strongly encourage colleagues to read the country specific FAQs information leaflets which can be found  on the Intranet under Staff Resources > Duty of Care. The information leaflets are specifically designed to answer some of the key questions potential applicants might have before deciding to apply. 

- The Supply Officer participates, leads, coordinates and supervises procurement team and all other supply chain activities for the Syrian and Iraqi refugee operation within Jordan.  The incumbent maintains contact with UN agencies, NGO partners, government counterparts, commercial contractors and other service providers in Jordan to facilitate the operation.
- A solid procurement experience at management level, good knowledge of MSRP and Excel is required, as well as experience in warehouse management. 
- Procurement team issued 821 PO lines during 2016 with a total value of more than USD 78 million and managed 50 local frame agreements and service contracts for operational and administrative goods and services.
- A total of 49 submissions were processed through the relevant Committees on Contracts. 
- Supply handled more than 1.8 million items in its 3 warehouses in Zarqa, Azraq and Za¿atari with 6,050m2 floor space. 
- The incumbent should also be conversant with IPSAS, aware of rules and regulations pertaining to Asset Management, guide the office accordingly and ensure effective functioning in the supply section. 
- The incumbent reports  to the Senior Supply Officer and collaborates with the Programme and Administrative sections and field offices.  The position of Procurement Team Leader supervises the 3 supply staff directly, and supports supply staff across the operation in different locations and sometimes a number of seconded staff who are brought in to complement our staffing needs to meet operational demands.  The 3 staff includes one G7, one G6 and one G5. As a supervisor, the incumbent should also identify and respond to the training and development needs of the section's staff. The refugee population is a challenging one, and the incumbent must therefore exercise great diplomacy in his/her tasks, as well as enabling harmonization in assistance across the operational area. - With more than 670,000 refugees, including over 90% from Syria, Jordan is among UNHCR¿s largest operations
- Other refugee groups include refugees from Iraq (approximately 45,000) and from various countries.
- Ongoing stabilization of the operation in Jordan, and transition from emergency to protracted situation for the Syrian refugee response while emergency interventions and exercises are still ongoing at the border.
- UNHCR Jordan is mainly an urban refugee operation, with 85% of refugees living out of camps but also hosting one of the biggest refugee camps in the world.
- Key areas of the urban programme include nationwide outreach and home visits to identify vulnerable individuals.
- UNHCR Jordan developed tools to effectively assess socio-economic vulnerabilities of refugees that coupled with an enhanced identification of protection needs has strengthened the operation¿s ability to process large number of individuals in a very limited time. In four months, UNHCR Jordan processed over 24,000 individuals while maintaining close to 100% acceptance rate. Further, the Jordan operation has also developed an original tool to manage more effectively medium and large resettlement processing. 
- The UNHCR Jordan operation is complex, dynamic and innovative and often implements its programmes through original approaches, maximizing the use of advanced technology to make its programmes constantly more efficient. The operation moves at high speed and requires regular adaptability and flexibility. - The position is based in Amman, an A duty station with good accommodation, public facilities/services and availability of amenities. Road conditions are relatively good for convenient travel around the country.
- Field locations are different in governorates in the North and South (A and B category).
- Hot and dry weather conditions during summer and mild to cold winter. Most houses are equipped with diesel or electrically operated heating system. - Amman and the rest of the country is security level 1 with the exception of Zaatari camp (security level 2). It is generally a safe place.
- Road traffic accidents remain a pertinent risk to staff. Vehicle travel is difficult at certain times due to low visibility and heavy traffic. Zaatari Camp is heavily populated and there have been isolated reports of theft, pilferage, intimidation and vandalism

Please note that the closing date for all vacancies in the September 2017 Compendium is Monday 6 November 2017 (midnight Geneva time).