Procurement Assistant

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

Working under WHO's Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW 13), Outcome 4.3 (Improved financial, human, administrative resources management towards transparency, efficient use of resources and effective delivery of results), the Department of Procurement and Supply Services (SUP) aims to ensure high-quality, consistent and responsive supply services through a collaborative approach to procurement hence supporting an efficient delivery of WHO programmes.The Global Procurement and Logistics Unit (GPL), which is an integral part of SUP and is based at the WHO Global Service Centre (GSC) in Kuala Lumpur, provides a variety of administrative, operational and strategic services to WHO and partner entities related to the procurement and supply of goods and services, with a particular focus on Global Contracting and Procurement, Global Shipping, and Global Processing.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Procurement processing includes a number of high volume tasks, which nevertheless require close attention to detail. The incumbent will be responsible for the day-to-day operations related to procurement activities under supervision of Supervisor(s) and work in close collaboration with colleagues in GPL, GSC, Headquarters (HQ), Regional Offices (RO) and Country Offices (CO).

Within the delegated authority, the incumbent is assigned all or part of the following responsibilities. However, staff may be rotated and assigned to perform other duties within GPL as determined by the Unit Head, GPL which includes ad hoc assignments, reinforcing other teams or replacing other staff members as required.

General duties and responsibilities (for all teams):

- Deliver responsive services to customers and stakeholders in alignment with the GSC Service Catalogue through processing requests received in ERP workflow; requests assigned through other Corporate systems; or assigned directly by Supervisors, in accordance with established procedures, to correctly administer and implement the assigned tasks to ensure quality and accuracy are met.

- Prioritize and follow up closely on the pending tasks to resolve within response times set out in the Service Catalogue.

- Take initiative to communicate with colleagues within or across departments to seek confirmation or clarification on issues when necessary.

- Respond to enquiries and provide support, advice and guidance to clients in Headquarters, Regional Offices, Country offices.

- Assist with identification of system issues or enhancements, and in testing fixes and solutions.

- Perform ad hoc assignments, special projects and all other related duties when required.

Each team in GPL has team-specific duties over and above those described above.

Global Contracting and Procurement Team (GCP):

- Purchasing or evaluating suppliers for a vast range of commodities for WHO's technical programmes and projects.

- Providing administrative support, advice on procurement and logistic matters, market possibilities, development of specifications and delivery schedules.

- Assisting in procurement forecasting.

- Assisting in Managing Catalogues.

- Assisting in Reimbursable Procurement.

- Assisting in Requests for Price Estimates.

- Assisting in Requests for Quotation (RFQ).

- Assisting in Procurement Training to WHO staff.

- Liaising with Technical Units.

Global Processing Team (GPR):

- Carry out transactional processing of purchase requests for Goods and Services procurement.

- Validate the purchase requests received from WHO offices globally and process them to Purchase Orders. Validation by peers or supervisor is required based on validation threshold. In the event of a discrepancy during validation, the incumbent shall liaise with the requests originators for necessary clarifications and remedial actions. The incumbent may approve Purchase Orders up to the authorized limit.

- Issue Purchase Orders on timely basis to suppliers and update status in the GSM system and internal monitoring tools.

- Follow-up on the signed copy of Purchase Orders from supplier and enter receipt in the GSM system.

- Amend the Purchase Orders (when applicable) if a revision is required by the requests originators.

- Cancel and/or Finally Close the Purchase Orders upon request by originators or other valid source.

- Assist in value-added or ad-hoc tasks, e.g. report preparation, statistics extract, analysis or issues, audit queries etc.

- Contribute in a working group related to policies, standard operation procedures improvement and relevant projects when necessary.

Global Shipping Team (SHP):

- Monitoring and follow up of Global Shipments.

- Entering receipt in GSM for goods shipped by the forwarding companies.

- Create and approve Shipping and Insurance PO.

- Processing Freight Invoices and submission for payment to Finance.

- Perform freight comparison to optimise transportation cost.

- Assist in the GSM period/biennium closure procedures and reporting, as required.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential:

- Completion of secondary school education or its equivalent.
Desirable:

- Higher education.

- Certified training in procurement (such as the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply CIPS) or a related subject area.

Experience

Essential:

- At least 5 years of relevant experience (processing, transactions, service centre or other business) of which at least 2 years exposure to procurement / shipping activities or;

- 4 years with a first level university degree or;

- 3 years with an advanced university degree.
Desirable:

- Experience in the use of an ERP system such as Oracle.

Skills

Essential:

- Ability to handle and prioritize a high volume of notifications, transactions and reporting needs.

- Meticulous and detail-oriented.

- Sound judgement, integrity and tact when dealing with others.

- Demonstrated skill and proficiency in the use of computers and information technology.

- Expertise in the use of MS Office and Web-based software.

Desirable:

- Knowledge of best practices of procurement or other leading procurement entity.

- Knowledge of procurement procedures of WHO.

- Technical knowledge of types of services, supplies and goods purchased by WHO for Headquarters, Regional Offices and field projects.

WHO Competencies

1. Teamwork
2. Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
3. Communication
4. Producing results
5. Moving forward in a changing environment

Use of Language Skills

Essential:

- Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable:

- Intermediate knowledge of French.

REMUNERATION

WHO offers staff in the General Services category an attractive remuneration package, which for the above position includes an annual net base salary starting at MYR 52,497 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable) and 30 days of annual leave.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level including those of a temporary nature.

• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

• A written test may be used as a form of screening.

• In the event that your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.

• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual.

• For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.

• WHO is committed to workforce diversity.

• WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.

• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.

• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

• This post is subject to local recruitment and will be filled by persons recruited in the local commuting area of the duty station.