Procurement at UNOPS

Public procurement can play a powerful role in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It has the potential to create jobs, drive equality and reduce carbon emissions. More sustainable and resilient procurement models can strengthen supply chains, enhance transparency and achieve greater impact for populations. At UNOPS, we work with our partners to drive transparent, sustainable and resilient procurement practices that lay the foundations for a better future.

Effective public procurement underpins nearly all sustainable development activity. Every Global Goal, every mission, every operation. Without the efficient and sustainable purchasing of goods and services, addressing the world’s problems would be impossible.

Public procurement can also be an agent of change, with transformational potential to drive sustainable, resilient and inclusive development. It offers an opportunity to maximize the impact of spending and is a vehicle to promote social inclusion, fairness and value for money.

As reflected in the restated UNOPS Strategic Plan 2022-2025, we aim to help governments and other partners plan and implement transparent, cost-effective public procurement for sustainable, equitable and gender-sensitive impact. As a central United Nations resource for procurement, we harness efforts for economic, social and environmental effect through sustainable procurement and capacity development of local supply chains and public institutions, responding to all Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 12. Institutional capacity development for sustainable, transparent and fair public procurement practices can expand the resources available for countries to accelerate achievement of the SDGs and combat climate change.

We help our partners purchase for impact by:

Realizing potential through sustainable procurement: UNOPS ensures sustainable and resilient procurement that can strengthen supply chains, enhance transparency and facilitate inclusive choices. Diversifying supply chains can give businesses owned by women, young people, people with disabilities and ethnic minorities a chance to prosper.

Ensuring more effective public spending to empower institutions: UNOPS helps public procurement be more efficient, with greater levels of transparency, greater value for money, a greater impact for governments and better public services for the people they serve.

Supporting local economies: Around half of our procurement is from local suppliers, which can help lessen environmental impacts by reducing emissions and directly support local economies.

Optimizing public procurement for impact: UNOPS strives to free up resources by realizing efficiencies, avoiding loss from fraud, corruption and lack of transparency, and increasing effectiveness through choices that enable sustainable, resilient and inclusive development.

In 2022, UNOPS procured $1.8bn of goods and services, across 828 projects in 101 countries. Health was the largest category of procurement, closely followed by infrastructure, operations and administrations and other goods and services. 97.4% of procurement was conducted by local procurement teams globally. UNOPS has a diverse, global supply base procuring from 5,613 different suppliers across 161 countries in 2022.

Procurement Group

The Procurement Group (PG) is based at UNOPS HQ in Copenhagen. It leads the organization’s sustainable 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 supply chains across the organization.

Background information – Job-specific

The Procurement Specialist will be part of the Policy and Standards team at PG which is mainly responsible for:

• Developing UNOPS procurement policy, guidelines, templates, and other knowledge products, assuring alignment with best practices and business needs;
• Establishing UNOPS Procurement Learning Strategy and plan to strengthen and upskill the function globally.
• Content development and delivery of training courses for UNOPS personnel;
• Coordinating eProcurement initiatives, including the development and implementation of the UNOPS eSourcing system and ERP modules such as supplier performance evaluation and contract management;
• Hosting the secretariat of the Vendor Review Committee (VRC);

Addressing and implementing procurement recommendations from internal and external audits, as well as for procurement assessments and certifications.

Working in the Procurement Group (PG), the successful incumbent objectives will be to design, develop, and implement training programs and capacity-building initiatives to enhance procurement knowledge and skills across our UNOPS offices across the globe. The specialist will collaborate with relevant stakeholders at HQ and the regions to identify training needs, develop a curriculum, deliver training sessions, evaluate the effectiveness of training initiatives, and be primarily responsible for the following areas of work:

Trainings and Learning Initiatives:

• In cooperation with the Regional and country offices, assess functional learning needs and gaps in procurement knowledge and skills globally across UNOPS personnel.
• Design the training curriculum with adult learning principles in mind and follow the ADDIE (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate) framework.
• Develop comprehensive training programs and materials tailored to meet the identified functional learning needs.
• Collaborate with stakeholders and experts to ensure training content is accurate, up-to-date, and aligned with organizational policies and best practices.
• Deliver procurement training courses such as the Procurement Operations Training in HQ and field locations as required.
• Deliver Procurement training to UNOPS personnel and external partners and clients, through diverse methods, including on-site to large audiences (20-25 participants), online methods (webinars, teleconferences, chat rooms), and other modern adult learning methods. Note: most UNOPS internal and external clients are located outside Denmark, hence the Training Specialist will be required to travel.
• Advise new and innovative approaches to enhance the effectiveness of existing training programs and materials.
• Coordinate the delivery of training sessions through various modalities, including face-to-face training and in-person workshops, webinars, e-learning platforms, microlearning, gamification, and other innovative approaches.
• Provide guidance and support to regional procurement teams in implementing training initiatives and integrating learning objectives into trainings delivered in the regions
• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of training programs through feedback mechanisms, assessments, and performance metrics.
• Continuously review and update training materials and curriculum to reflect changes in procurement regulations, technology, and organizational priorities.
• Collaborate with UNOPS Learning team and other relevant departments to ensure the integration of procurement training into personnel induction and global offer of functional training programmes.
• In collaboration UNOPS Learning & Development unit, secure and manage the central budget allocated for procurement related trainings globally.

Responsible for the overall content development for Procurement Guidelines, or training content as assigned, carried out by the Standards team which includes being

• Responsible for identifying needs for new materials (Guidelines,..etc) and defining the objectives of content development and its scope
• Responsible for coordinating delivery, drafting, and consolidating content
• Responsible for liaising with UNOPS stakeholders to develop policy, standards, guidance, tools, templates, and gathering inputs
• Responsible for carrying out required research and desk review
• Responsible for collecting, consolidating, processing, and providing feedback to stakeholders,
• Responsible for ensuring content is consistent with existing organizational strategies, policies, practices, rules and regulations and is tailored to the organizational needs to enable project implementation.

Knowledge building and knowledge sharing

• Identify areas for improvement and provide on-going maintenance and updates of the UNOPS Intranet space with the most current information, relevant to project management activities.
• Provide sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice by synthesizing lessons learned and disseminating best practices in his/her area of work.
• Collect feedback, ideas, and internal knowledge about processes and best practices and put them to use productively.
• Support the Knowledgement Management team in implementing other training and professionalization initiatives.

Education

• Master’s Degree or equivalent preferably in the supply chain, procurement, business, law, audit, economics, or other related disciplines.
• Applicants with Bachelor’s Degree in related fields with additional 2 years of relevant working experience may be considered in lieu of a Master’s degree.

Work Experience

• At least 5 years of demonstrated experience in procurement is required.
• At least 2 years of experience in delivering procurement training is required.
• Experience in developing and designing procurement training would be a great asset.
• Experience working in organizations following public procurement rules and regulations and experience working in field offices would be an asset.
• Familiarity with UNOPS processes, policies, procedures, and use of UNOPS systems is an advantage.

Certifications

• Certification related to CIPS is considered an asset.

Languages

• Fluency in English is required.
• Fluency in French and/or Spanish is highly desired.

Contract type: International ICA
Contract level: IICA2, ICS10
Contract duration: Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.

For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:
https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements.aspx

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce.
• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.
• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions

• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.