Jobs - 24551- UN Women: Procurement Consultant

UN Women: Procurement Consultant

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

29-Jul-2011

Application Deadline :

21-Jul-11 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 month

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women will work 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 centre of all its efforts, 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.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the OIC, Chief of Finance, Procurement and Administrative Services, UN Women, the Procurement Consultant provides operational and technical support the Procurement Unit within the Management and Administration Division in the administration and implementation of regulations, rules, policies, strategies and guidelines regarding procurement, ensuring effectiveness and efficiency, integrity, transparency and quality of service.

The Procurement Consultant collaborates with other HQ divisions/sections/units in relation to procurement and payment follow ups. The Consultant works closely with the Procurement team and staff members at Headquarters and in the Field Offices to ensure that the organization procures goods and services effectively and efficiently in conformity with UN WOMEN regulations and rules.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Procurement Associate and in close cooperation with the OIC, Chief of Finance, Budget, Procurement and Administrative Services, the Consultant will perform the following functions:

Supports implementation of UN WOMEN's procurement strategies, focusing on achieving the following results:

Full compliance of procurement activities with UNDP/UN WOMEN rules, regulations, policies, strategies and guidelines, including sourcing, supplier selection and evaluation, quality management and customer relations management.

Ensures effective and efficient provision of operations support to UN WOMEN HQ, SRO and CPO, focusing on achieving the following results:

Review vendor information and create new vendors.
Review agreements and institutional contracts in relation to procurement and other agreements.
Raise Purchase Orders (POs) in Atlas for all projects managed by headquarters (HQ).
Review PO payment requests for projects managed by HQ.
Before submitting to the hierarchy for approval, review all PO requests from UN WOMEN Sub-Regional and Project Country Offices for those POs where amount is greater than a predefined level.
Receive and review POs for payments requested by Regional Program Directors including travel costs and ensure required documents are provided before approval.

Competencies

CORE VALUES / GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

Integrity: Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity: Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

CORE COMPETENCIES:

Ethics and Values: Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity.
Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring: Self-development, initiative-taking.
Working in Teams: Acting as a team player and facilitating team work.
Communicating Information and Ideas: Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.
Self-management and Emotional intelligence: Creating synergies through self-control.
Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements: Managing conflict.
Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning: Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of other.
Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Informed and transparent decision making.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

High school degree, preferably supplemented by technical courses in the field related to management, finance or/and procurement.
Bachelor degree in the mentioned areas would be a plus.

Experience:

Good experience in procurement, logistics and/or programme support service.
Experience in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.).
Experience in handling of web-based financial management systems similar to Peoplesoft (ATLAS) is required.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English required.
Fluency in another UN language (eg Spanish), would be a significant advantage.

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.