Procurement Assistant

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 Regional Center (RC) Cairo will provide integrated policy and technical support to United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs) where UN Women has no ongoing field presence to enable UNW participate more effectively in the UN Regional Directors Teams and regional coordination mechanisms.

Under the overall guidance of the Procurement Analyst in RO, the Procurement Assistant supports the execution of transparent and efficient procurement services and processes consistent with UN Women rules and regulations.  She/he also works in collaboration with programme and operations staff to successfully deliver procurement services.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Implement procurement strategies in accordance with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and strategies.

• Research and draft responses to enquiries for clearance by the Operations Manager;
• Provide inputs to the implementation of procurement management policies and strategies on cost saving and reduction;
• Implement procurement management policies and strategies;
• Contribute to the development of sourcing strategies.

2. Coordinate procurement processes for the Multi Country Office/ Country Office.

• Provide inputs to the preparation of procurement plans for programmes/projects;
• Review procurement requests and initiate procurement procedures for office and projects equipment, supplies and services, as necessary;
• Prepare Request for Quotations (RFQ), Invitation to Bids (ITBs) or Request for Proposals (RFPs) documents, receipt of quotations, bids or proposals, as necessary;
• Perform Buyer role in Atlas, prepare/close Purchase Orders (POs) and contracts in and outside Atlas;
• Organize travel including purchase of tickets, Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) calculation;
• Prepare submissions to the Procurement Review Committee (PRC), as necessary.

3. Coordinate contract management processes for the Regional Office/Multi Country Office/Country Office.

• Provide administrative support to contract management processes; maintain databases;
• Develop and update the rosters of suppliers;
• Maintain filing system.

4. Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing.

• Participate in trainings for the operations/projects staff;
• Provide support to the synthesis of lessons learnt and best practices.

Key Performance Indicators

• Timely coordination, facilitation, and implementation of procurement activities based on procurement plans and available budget;
• Proper and accurate maintenance of files and databases, documents are easily retrievable;
• Timely organization of transport and logistics activities.

Competencies

Core Values

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

Core Competencies

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

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf.

Functional Competencies

• Knowledge of procurement processes, systems, administrative rules, and regulations;
• Knowledge in the use of spreadsheets and database packages;
• Ability to work well under pressure and meet deadlines;
• Ability to administer and execute administrative processes and transactions;
• Ability to perform work of confidential nature and handle a large volume of work;
• Good IT and web-based management skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Management, Business Administration, Commerce, rural development, social sciences or related field;
• Specialized training in Procurement is an asset;
• Procurement Certification from an internationally recognized provider such as CIPS (level 1) is an asset.

Experience

• At least (3) years of progressively responsible experience in procurement is needed;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc);
• Experience in handling of web-based management systems, such as Atlas is an asset;
• Work Experience in gender equality and Women's empowerment is an advantage;
• Work experience with international organization and /or working with other United Nations Common System is desirable.

Language

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working 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: http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment.
• 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. Make sure that you provide a valid email address for future communications.

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.