Procurement Associate [Open to Tier 1 & 2 applicants]

Tiered Approach

This vacancy is open to UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments of all nationalities. Other applicants must be nationals of an EU Member State, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland.

Background

The Bureau for Management Services (BMS) supports management for development results. It provides operational solutions, strengthens the ability of UNDP to achieve programme and development results, keeps pace with the evolving needs and expectations of development partners and at the same time safeguards the organization’s accountability vis‑à‑vis United Nations member states. It is based in UNDP Headquarters, New York, with outposted locations across multiple country locations, regional hubs, and global shared service centres. It is comprised of a Directorate and a number of functional units including the Advisory Committee on Procurement (ACP).

Under the guidance and supervision of the Chief of the Advisory Committee on Procurement (ACP), the Procurement Associate provides critical support to the ACP Unit in the management of its services ensuring effectiveness, transparency and integrity. The Procurement Associate promotes a client, quality and results‑oriented approach.

The Procurement Associate works in close collaboration with the Chief of ACP, colleagues in the ACP Unit, ACP Committee Members, Country Offices, HQ Business Units and other units submitting procurement oversight cases to ACP for review.

Duties and Responsibilities

The incumbent of this position provides critical support to the ACP Unit. The role has a critical impact on the overall functioning and performance of the ACP Secretariat and ACP Unit in general. The position ensures that accurate analysis and presentation of information, well‑organized transparent processes and effective advisory support to COs results in timely and substantive reviews of submissions, the improved quality of ACP submissions and enhanced CO/BU procurement capacity.

The information provided to ACP colleagues, ACP Committee members and CO/BU clients facilitates effective decision making and ultimately ensures that high‑quality procurement processes contribute to UNDP Programme outcomes.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Ensures administration and implementation of the operational strategies relevant to the ACP Secretariat, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Full compliance of ACP procurement activities with UN/UNDP rules, regulations, policies and strategies; implementation of the effective internal control;
• ACP Secretariat business processes mapping and elaboration of the content of internal Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in managing ACP submissions; monitoring of workplan and control of the workflows in the ACP Secretariat;
• Provision of researched information as relevant background for ACP Committee in relation to precedents, common procurement requirements across COs or at interagency level, legal considerations, tendering and contract management requirements, payment conditions, sourcing strategy, supplier selection and evaluation, quality management, and the relevant application of e‑procurement tools.
• Support to Regional ACP colleagues in the five (5) regional centers as required to ensure practices are standardized.

Ensures effective and efficient functioning of the ACP Secretariat, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• ACP submissions by COs and HQ units screened to determine compliance with requirements;
• Submitting offices supported in their preparations of submissions to meet requirements including deadlines for submission;
• Compilation, preparation and distribution of background information and documentation for ACP meetings, including records of past precedents or additional references;
• ACP meeting schedules, meeting quorum, agendas properly administered.
• Review cycle for a cases handled in role of ACP Secretary, from receipt to decision by CPO, including screening, seeking clarifications, preparing minutes, members endorsement and Chairperson’s clearance with follow‑up communication and actions prepared and supported within deadlines;
• Coordination with the Regional ACPs for cases originating from their specific regions;
• Maintain a database of ACP submissions and archives of meeting records;
• Quality of submissions to ACP and reports from CAP analyzed to measure the procurement performance capacity of HQ and CO business units;
• Compilation and preparation of briefing and presentation materials, speeches, background information and documentation for meetings and missions;
• Extraction of data from various sources; research and retrieval of statistical data from internal and external sources; preparation of statistical charts, tables and reports;
• ACP website continuously managed and updated, guidelines and outcomes of ACP meetings posted.

Ensures provision of administrative and logistical support focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Travel planning and admin support to preparations including tickets, DSA, hotel reservations and requisitions in Quantum; arrangement of shipments;
• Focal point for HR matters such as leave monitoring;
• Administrative support to the ACP Chairperson in organization of appointments, meetings and other arrangements;
• Administrative support to conferences, workshops, retreats;
• Maintenance of the filing system ensuring safekeeping of confidential materials;
• Research and retrieval of statistical data from internal and external sources; preparation of statistical charts, tables and reports;
• Generation of data from Quantum/UNALL to facilitate