Generic Vacancy Announcement – Warehouse Associate, G6, Kyiv, Ukraine – Open to Ukraine Nationals Only

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

UNICEF Ukraine

For every child, hope

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Job Organizational Context & Purpose for the job

The Warehouse Associate performs highly skilled work on UNICEF supply chains, and manages the more complex cases and client requests, which frequently requires the evaluation of difficult situations and adaptation of procedures and processes to resolve such cases. This is the GS level for specialized supply chain work and requires advanced specialized knowledge acquired through formal training and experience.

The function is characterized as highly independent and provides opportunities for Warehouse Associate to lead and carry out responsibility for end to end supply chain management from the beginning to the end of the process and provide input into the design and development of improved supply chain services and delivery mechanisms.

How can you make a difference?

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

Supply Chain Service Delivery and Response

 Planning:

• In consultation with supervisor, provide input to the Country Programme Action Planning and advise on Supply requirements for the Plan of Operations and Annual Work Plans. Participate in the forecasting, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the warehouse operations, including establishment of performance indicators, and assessment of fit for purpose of products and services.
• Support supply emergency preparedness and response activities including establishment of warehousing Long Term Arrangements (LTAs), Logistics Capacity Assessment and Contingency Plan update, and pre-positioning of stock.

Warehousing and inventory management:

 Manage UNICEF warehouse facilities and operations in line with UNICEF policies and procedures. Assess warehousing capacity including facilities, conditions of equipment, manpower, and processes. Propose corrective actions to supervisor. Assess new warehouse facilities when required. If necessary, implement and organize new warehouse facilities which may include installation and assembly of temporary warehouse structures (e.g. Wiik-Halls/Rub Halls).

• Maintain appropriate warehousing and inventory management processes in support of the country programme implementation. Ensure accurate and complete accounting, reporting and internal control systems are in place, and relevant records are properly maintained.
• Assess availability of space and prepare stacking and storage plans to ensure appropriate storage and optimize use of space. Advise on budget requirements for warehouse requirements and ensure establishment of budget with clients.
• Supervise receipt of consignments and dispatch of supplies and manage documentation processing for execution of logistics operations (e.g. warehousing invoice verification), and take appropriate actions to resolve operational issues, escalating complex issues to the supervisor.
• Prepare stock reports. Monitor inventory to track trends and account for the inventory status from source to beneficiary. Carry out regular physical counts of inventory in the warehouse. Prepare documentation for commodity disposal through Property Survey Board committee.
• Liaise with supply colleagues as well as clients and using supply dashboards to ensure pipeline monitoring and establishment of appropriate warehouse capacity. Monitor progress of offshore and/or regional procurement and take action to ensure appropriate warehousing of supplies entering the country.

Other duties/responsibilities:

• Participate in events/meetings that build partnerships and collaborative relations with UN organizations to support harmonized and collaborative logistics arrangements.
• In collaboration with supervisor, Supply Division, Regional Office and the global supply community, provide input to help ensure knowledge exchange and learning is prioritized to continuously build capacity of individuals and the team. Develop and facilitate training of newcomers, establish processes or manuals to support effective workflows.
• Periodical Supply End User Monitoring of UNICEF Supplies and equipment to the field for timely feedback on their quality and confirm if fit for the intended purposes.

Impact of Results

The Warehouse Associate impact is founded on the provision of input into the design and development of improved services, systems and delivery processes. The impact directly affects the quality and timeliness of the delivery of a range of different specialized services for which the unit is accountable. Working with a high degree of operational independence, Warehouse Associate is accountable for the achievement of overall service delivery results to clients.

Their client interface focuses on handling of specialized and complex supply chain processes and delivery of services with clients. They liaise with concerned clients and with suppliers to solve issues on purchase orders, contracts, delivery and payments. These relationships are important to ensure that service standards and deadlines are met and that proposals and actions adhere to policies and rules. The Warehouse Associate’s work relationships require skills to promote understanding and acceptance of regulations, rules and procedures and/or otherwise improve client services.

External contacts involve liaising with similar organizations for collaboration, research and data/information gathering to compile and assess best practices. Furthermore, extensive external contact with suppliers is required, including to negotiate or clarify unique, complex issues or processes. Collaboration with partners and Governments is also applicable.

Skills

• Thorough knowledge of a range of specialized topics, including the relevant supply chain policies, partnership mechanisms, rules and regulations.
• High level of proficiency or skill is required in the interpretation and application of specialized rules and regulations to the particular circumstances of complex individual cases.
• Experience using MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other UNICEF office tools.
• Demonstrated understanding of the relevant supply chain processes and ability to consistently apply relevant policies, procedures and good practices in the daily work. Good judgement in order to handle complex cases including considerations for exceptions.
• Ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships with clients, suppliers and colleagues and gain the assistance and cooperation of others in a team endeavor.
• Ability to use supply related modules within UNICEF ERP system.
• Ability to establish priorities and plan his/her own work and plan, coordinate and monitor the work of those under his/her supervision.
• Ability to draft clear and concise reports or rationale for supply related decisions on key issues.

Recruitment Qualifications

Education:

Completion of secondary education is required, preferably supplemented by technical or university courses related to supply chain, logistics, business administration, contract/commercial law, or another relevant technical field.

For this position, a bachelor’s degree from a recognized academic institution in a relevant field may replace three years of related work experience. A master’s degree may replace additional two years.

Experience:

A minimum of 6 years of relevant administrative experience in supply chain management related to, preferably, warehouse and inventory management in humanitarian mission or a commercial context is required. Understanding of development and humanitarian work is an advantage.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness(3)Drive to achieve results for impact(4)Innovates and embraces change(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity(6)Thinks and acts strategically(7)Works collaboratively with others.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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.

Remarks:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable women are encouraged to apply.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

This position is based in Kyiv and the incumbent will be expected be work on-site. However, depending on the security conditions and advisory, s/he will be required to relocate within Ukraine.

Please note, this position is for Nationals of Ukraine only.