Procurement Senior Analyst (Sustainable Procurement) (Maternity cover)

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.

Within UNOPS, Implementation Practices and Standards (IPS) is responsible for the UNOPS delivery practices. IPS provides thought leadership, standards and oversight as support to the successful delivery of programmes and projects within UNOPS service lines (infrastructure, procurement, project management, human resources and financial management services). 

IPS comprises the Infrastructure and Project Management Group and the Procurement Group which aims to reduce organizational risks, improve project performance, and promote excellence across UNOPS projects through the Standards Management Framework; and provides organisational oversight on the application of standards. These Groups also support the positioning of UNOPS in the UN system and development sector in Infrastructure, Project Management and Procurement. 

In addition, the Portfolio Support unit aims at supporting the building up and management of the organisational readiness of UNOPS and therefore support the implementation of the UNOPS global portfolio. Last, the IPS is hosting the corporate Knowledge Management initiative.

Procurement and Supply Chain Practice Group

The Procurement Group (PG) is part of Implementation Practices and Standards (IPS) and is based at UNOPS HQ in Copenhagen. It leads the organization’s procurement practice and is responsible for: articulating strategy, policy positions and innovative solutions for procurement at UNOPS; enabling the operationalization and managerial oversight of UNOPS procurement activities through appropriate systems and reports; strengthening the knowledge, skills and career development of procurement practitioners; and leading the implementation of sustainable procurement across the organization.

As a central procurement resource for the United Nations system and its partners, UNOPS emphasizes efficient, transparent, cost-effective and sustainable delivery of goods, services and works, in line with public procurement best practices. On a yearly basis, UNOPS procures approx. USD 1 Bn worth of goods, services and works on behalf of our partners. These include a broad base of categories, including life-saving pharmaceuticals, mine action equipment, vehicles or road construction services. 

PG’s sustainable procurement initiatives are led by it’s Sustainable Procurement team, which is part of the Policy and Standards team.

• Supporting the development and inclusion of sustainability considerations in the procurement policy

• Contributes to the development of guidance documents, tools and training materials to support field offices with the inclusion of sustainability considerations in tenders

• Implementing communications and training campaigns in various formats, including remotely/online, via missions in UNOPS country offices or other relevant format to maintain awareness of sustainable procurement practices at UNOPS with various stakeholders, at various levels  

• Monitoring, measuring and reporting on sustainable procurement adoption by UNOPS and working collaboratively with internal stakeholders to improve performance gradually 

• Researching and analyzing global key trends on sustainability, gender, disability and youth, particularly as they relate to procurement 

• Supporting development of key reports on sustainable procurement including through data analysis and content writing 

• Providing technical support to field offices with the inclusion of sustainability considerations in tenders and the adoption and compliance to the Sustainable Procurement Framework.

• Supporting the development of proposals and pilots to advance sustainable procurement implementation at UNOPS

●      Organize, facilitate and/or deliver training and learning initiatives for personnel on areas of expertise.

●       Provide sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice by synthesizing lessons learnt and disseminating best practices in his/her area of work.

●       Collect feedback, ideas, and internal knowledge about processes and best practices and put to use productively.

Education

• Advanced degree (Master’s degree) in sustainability, procurement, supply chain, business administration, environmental studies, development studies or related field

• University degree in related fields with additional 2 years of relevant working experience may be considered in lieu of a Master’s degree. 

Certifications

• Professional certification in Procurement and/or Project Management will be considered an asset (e.g. CIPS, NIGP, PRINCE2).

Experience

• At least 2 years of experience in sustainability, procurement, or supply chain management is a requirement.

• Experience working in a developing country  will be considered an asset.

• Knowledge of procurement within the UN System (particularly UNOPS) or other public institutions will be considered an asset.

Language skills

• Fluency in written and oral English is a requirement

• Knowledge of French and/or Spanish is an advantage

Contract type: International ICA Contract level: IICA-1
Contract duration: 6 months.

For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:

• 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
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS.
• 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.

Work environment IPS offers a unique work environment in UNOPS headquarters, in Copenhagen, Denmark, located in the UN City building, one of Copenhagen’s landmarks. UNOPS HQ offers a safe, family-friendly lifestyle environment with multiple opportunities for networking and and active lifestyle, in a city known for its excellent urban design and planning.

The IPS team is a diverse team in terms of age, nationalities and family situations. The team is inclusive and values social and athletic activities like team breakfast, Friday evening networking or sports such as sailing, climbing, running and squash. IPS is very dynamic and welcomes agility, autonomy and self-drive. The work of IPS is oriented towards exciting opportunities which have a corporate, global impact and is in touch with the whole of UNOPS. UNOPS has a hosting agreement with the Government of Denmark, and as such both national and international candidates are eligible for HQ-based positions. UNOPS officials are exempt from Danish taxes on UN incomes. EU citizens may opt to be registered with the Danish State Administration as EU migrant worker and keep the rights associated with that status or register through UNOPS with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. EU Citizens may apply for the public Danish health insurance or special health card depending on their choice of registration, while the non-EU citizens will be registered by UNOPS under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

IPS is very respectful of the UNOPS policy on work life balance. IPS is keen on strengthening diversity in the team with a current focus on gender equality and geographic diversity.