Chief, Procurement and Travel Services

Background

UN Women (UNW), 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. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The Division of Management and Administration 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 direction and guidance of the Deputy Director Operations, Division of Management and Administration, the Chief of Procurement and Travel Services provides strategic and operational advice to promote and ensure effective delivery of procurement services in UN Women headquarters and Regional/Country Offices, in order to obtain best value for money and supporting programme delivery requirements. They analyze and interpret UN Women Financial Regulations and Rules and Procurement guidelines, and provide solutions to a wide spectrum of complex issues related to procurement relevant to Headquarters and Country Office environments. They promote a collaborative, client, quality and results-oriented approach. They supervise and lead all staff in the Procurement Section, and work in close collaboration with the operations, programme and projects teams in UN Women HQ and Country Offices and other stakeholders to successfully deliver procurement and travel services. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Provide strategic direction and oversight on the implementation of Procurement Operations and Services:

• Lead the development and implementation of UN Women’s Procurement Operations strategy and plan, including sourcing strategies, supplier selection and evaluation, quality management, customer relationship management, promotion of e-procurement, and performance measurement.
• Design, implement and manage offshore procurement support center.
• Establish a cost center where qualified procurement activities will be cost-neutral to the organization.
• Provide high level advice on further streamlining procurement services in UN Women, including considering different implementation modalities in line with UN reform and common back-office discussions. This includes establishment and implementation of harmonized procurement services and elaboration of proposals on common services expansion and management of joint procurement for UN Agencies.
• Provide expert procurement advice on procurement activities to UN Women officials in headquarters and country offices during all phases of the procurement cycle.
• Provide strategic advice to the Director and Deputy Director of Division of Management and Administrative (DMA) on procurement and contracting practices and innovations.
• Lead the development of institutional procurement policies and procedures; develop guidance including on: UN Women procurement through service providers in the field and HQ; standards and criteria for the evaluation of goods, services, supplier capacity, etc.
• Advise the Deputy Director on revisions to the procurement processes in order to make them more efficient and effective.
• Provide advice on gender issue related to procurement as needed
• Provide strategic advice to all personnel on procurement matters, and direct the regional procurement teams where individual and group efforts are directed to underpin the Organization’s business strategy.

Lead Procurement Planning and Monitoring within UN Women

• Lead, follow up and report on procurement activities of UN-Women globally, including the development of procurement plans, ensuring compliance with procurement guidelines, and evaluating the attainment of Value for Money for UN Women. Monitor and report any irregularities in the procurement process and propose strategic remedial measures.
• Develop and maintain an internal control system that ensures that procurement activities are carried out in adherence to UN Women’s policies, procedures, and guidelines.
• Promote and support the development and management of the rosters of suppliers, elaboration of supplier selection and evaluation, and quality and performance measurement mechanisms.
• Ensure the establishment of a culture of using LTAs within UN Women. Develop and maintain an LTA database containing UN Women and Other UN LTAs.
• As a secondary supervisor and in line with the Regional Architecture of UN Women, provides feedback on,  performance of regional procurement teams, and guide the regional procurement officers on the effective implementation of procurement strategies, including procurement planning, sourcing, supplier selection and evaluation, customer relationship management, promotion of the use of electronic procurement system/tools, and performance measurement.

Manage the Procurement Section at HQ

• Manage procurement personnel in HQ -, including providing support to personnel in the achievement of their career goals, ensuring appropriate learning, training and development, and actively participating in timely planning and assessing personnel performance.
• Manage the financial resources allocated to the Procurement Section ensuring they are properly invested in the short and long term.
• Oversee security requirements for the team

Lead and manage Procurement Operations and Services:

• Oversee the procurement of a wide variety of supplies and services for HQ, and
• -Provide technical support and monitoring of procurement at regional and Country Offices with complex (technically and legally) contracts and procurement activities.
• Oversee the analysis and evaluation HQ procurement requests and ensures appropriateness of technical specifications.
• Oversee the organization of RFQs, ITBs or RFPs, receipt of quotations, bids or proposals, their evaluation, negotiation of certain conditions of contracts in full compliance with UN- Women regulations, rules and procedures. Prepare submissions to the Contracts Committee for review and subsequent approval by the authorized official. 
• Oversee and support the PRC secretariat, and serve as the principal advisor to HQ-PRC, advising the committee on the correct interpretation and application of procurement policies, procedures, and guidelines.
• Develop and prepare contracts for procurement of non-routine and/or complex services, and goods.
• Establishes approaches for negotiations and conducts or coordinates all phases of negotiations with all concerned parties. 
• Approve Purchase Orders (as Committing Officer) within limits of delegated authority and the Internal Control Framework. 
• Manage procurement contracts as needed
• Develop and manage an UN-Women system of tracking, negotiation and resolution of contract disputes. 
• Lead and implement procurement business processes mapping and elaboration/establishment of internal Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in Procurement, control of the workflows in the Procurement Unit, harmonization of the workflows in the office
• Manage the support to audits, and implementation of audit recommendations

Provide overall operation and management oversight of the Travel Services:

• Provide overall operation and management oversight of the Travel Services;
• Establish strategic partnership and corporate agreements with suppliers for travel services;
• Design, implement and manage an offshore travel support center;
• Oversee travel-support mechanisms to ensure the team at HQ and organization as a whole addresses staff queries and monitor adherence and effectiveness of policies;
• Manage vendor contracts for travel services to ensure compliance with the terms of the contract, including the level of service to UN Women and its staff members;
• Ensure that travel policies are in place and regularly updated and effectively disseminated and communicated to all UN Women staff; Harmonize UN Women travel policies and rules with the UN and agencies
• Liaise periodically with Heads of Offices/Units to ensure that internal procedures are in place at the divisional level for reporting and monitoring travel-related matters and expenses.
• Provide guidance to Country Offices on travel-related matters.
• Provide technical support related to  UN Reforms and participate in the Inter-Agency Working Group on Travel & Travel Security
• Formulate proposals and solutions to travel-related business problems.

Facilitate of Knowledge-Building and Knowledge-Sharing:

• Oversee the Procurement Section’s support at HQ and all procurement personnel (organization-wide) to programme/project staff on procurement planning and needs;
• Enhance staff capacity and skills of the procurement practitioners through coaching, training, mentoring, and other innovative measures.
• Conduct procurement-related training, including training/support missions as necessary, to UN-Women Regional, Country Offices, and HQ programme and operations staff.
• Synthesize lessons learned and best practices in procurement.
• Provide sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

Lead and pioneer interagency initiative on Gender Responsive Procurement:

• Facilitate tools/platforms for UN agencies that, in the future, they can report on spending with Women vendors 
• Initiate and support affirmative changes in UN policies to ensure UN suppliers will no longer be able to discriminate against Women
• Training UN personnel on how to buy from Women Vendors and ensure that UN personnel will possess essential tools to empower Women Vendors 
• Raise Women vendors’ share in UN Women’s procurement spend
• Represent UN Women in interagency initiatives and take the lead in Gender Responsive Procurement initiatives in the context of  Business Operation Strategy, of UN, Procurement Harmonization activities, and other UN reform initiatives.

Key Performance Indicators

• Strategic vision and plan for procurement services in UN Women, in line with UN reforms and UN Women change management
• Full compliance of procurement activities with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and strategies.
• Proper implementation of the effective internal controls,
• Performance of personnel in procurement section, enabling work environment created
• proper design and functioning of a client-oriented procurement management system customized to UN-Women needs.
• Timely and quality travel services
• Regular capacity development sessions organized for personnel globally
• Procurement practices of UN women are up to date and in line with global best practice

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

Functional Competencies

• Ability to develop and promote strategic procurement vision, mission, and goals for UN Women in line with mandate
• Proven conceptual analytical and evaluative skills and ability to conduct independent research and analysis, identifying issues, formulating options and making conclusions and recommendations. An in-depth grasp of procurement principles and practice.
• Ability to communicate technical procurement matters in a simple and clear manner to individuals not well versed in the intricacies of procurement.
• Ability to develop innovative solutions
• Excellent networking and partnership skills
• Excellent project management, results-based management, work planning and budgeting skills
• Solution and client oriented
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice.
• Ability to lead a multicultural team effectively; ability to create an enabling work environment;
• Leads teams effectively and shows conflict-resolution skills.
• Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities; Ability to lead implementation of new systems and processes and affect staff behavioral/ attitudinal change.

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

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in business administration, public administration, commerce, engineering, law or a related field.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree
• Professional procurement certification is an asset
• Holding an internationally recognized trainer’s license/certificate to lead an externally accredited certification program, such as CIPS, is an asset. 

Experience:

• A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in procurement, contract management, administration or related area. 
• Experience managing a multicultural team
• Experience in introducing business innovation related to procurement
• Experience in developing procurement systems
• Training experience will be an asset

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in oral and written English required.
• Knowledge of another UN official language is an advantage.

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.

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.)