Procurement and Administrative Associate (Local post for Nationals of Nepal and applicants with a valid work permit)

Background

UN Women, 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, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments to gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

In line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2023-2027), and the UN Women Nepal’s current Strategic Note (SN) 2023-2027, UN Women Nepal has identified “Environmental Sustainability, Climate and Disaster Resilience” as one its key priorities highlighted in Outcome 1.3 that “By 2027, more people, especially women, youth, children, and the most marginalized and poor, increasingly benefit from and contribute to building an inclusive, sustainable, climate-resilient, and green society and reduced impacts of disasters at federal, provincial, and local levels”.

Under the overall guidance of the Chief Procurement and Travel Services in Headquarters and the daily supervision of the Operations Manager, with matrix reporting to the Regional Procurement Analyst/Specialist, the Procurement Associate ensures execution of transparent and efficient procurement services and processes consistent with UN Women rules and regulations. The Procurement Associate promotes a client-focused, quality and results- oriented approach and support: (i) compliance with UN Women policies and regulations; (ii) effective systems to support programme delivery and growth; (iii) accountability to organizational values and principles; and (iv) an enabling workplace environment in which staff potential is maximized. The Procurement Associate also works in collaboration with operations staff in other UN Agencies, UN Women Regional Office (RO) and HQ staff and Government officials to successfully deliver procurement services

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Implement procurement strategies in accordance with UN Women rules, regulations, policies and strategies

• Provide substantive inputs to procurement related reports and analyses; research and draft responses to enquiries for clearance by the Operations Manager;
• Provide substantive inputs to the implementation of procurement management policies and strategies on cost saving and reduction;
• Follow up with internal and external audits;
• Contribute to the development of sourcing strategies.

1. Coordinate and organize procurement processes

• Prepare procurement plans for the office and monitor their implementation;
• Generate procurement related reports; research and draft responses to enquiries;
• Review procurement requests and initiate procurement procedures for office and project equipment, supplies and services;
• Organize procurement activities and processes, including preparation and conduct of Request for Quotations, Invitations to Bid or Requests for Proposals, the opening and evaluation of tenders;
• Coordinate contract negotiations, prepare request for award of contract for the review and approval of relevant authorities, as required;
• Prepare Purchase Orders (PO) and contracts in and outside Quantum system, create vendor profiles in Quantum system:
• Review procurement processes conducted by projects, submissions to the Procurement Review Committee.

1. Organize contract management process

• Develop and update the rosters of suppliers, and support implementation of supplier selection and evaluation.
• Review/ process contracts for the CO

1. Facilitate knowledge building and knowledge sharing

• Provide substantive input and support to the development of training materials, webinars and other education materials;
• Organize trainings for the operations/projects staff on Procurement;
• Synthesize lessons learnt and best practices.

1. Provide Administrative support as assigned by Operations Manager/Country Representative under security focal point functions:

• Maintain up-to-date lists of personnel and recognized dependents of UN Women and submit them to UNDSS.
• Maintain security filing/documents for sharing with UN Women personnel and UNDSS, such as the phone tree and security plan, as required by SRM Measures and the UN Women Safety and Security Compliance Survey (SCSS).
• Submit all mandatory reports to UNDSS in a timely manner after consulting with OM/HoO.
• Immediately report all security-related incidents involving UN Women personnel, their recognized dependents, offices, assets, and programs to UNDSS, OM/HoO, and the UN Women Regional Security Specialist (RSS).
• Assist the HoO and OM in managing daily administrative tasks for the safety and security filing system and security applications (e.g., Everbridge, BCCMA).
• Serve as an alternate security cell at the country level.
• Coordinate with UNDSS and UN Women RSS on security training courses, crisis management training, and security preparedness as per SRM Measures.
• Assist UN Women personnel in security coordination with UNDSS and the Security Focal Point (SFP) of AFPs.
• Other adhoc duties as and when required

1. Perform other administrative tasks as assigned by supervisor ensuring it is compatible with procurement role, free from conflicts of interest, and in compliance with UN Women rules, regulations, policies.

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

• Good knowledge of procurement process, systems; administrative rules and regulations;
• Ability to perform work of confidential nature and handle a large volume of work;
• Good knowledge in the use of spreadsheets and database packages;
• Ability to work well under pressure and meet deadlines;
• Strong knowledge of administrative rules and regulations;
• Strong IT and web based management skills;
• Ability to extract and interpret data

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:	Completion of secondary education is required; Specialized training in Procurement; or a Bachelor’s degree in Business or Public Administration or related fields is an asset. Procurement Certification from an internationally recognized provider such as CIPS (level 2) is an asset; Willingness to take UN Women internal procurement certifications is required.
Experience:	At least 6 years of progressively responsible experience in procurement, administration, or related at the national or international level; Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) is required; Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable. Experience working with the UN is an asset;
Language Requirements:	Fluency in English is required Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

Application Procedure (Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the complete documents will not be considered for further assessment). Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

• Motivation letter
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11), which can be downloaded from https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process

No Fee:

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) and sexual harassment (SH). Everyone is responsible for preventing sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), and all UN personnel must adhere to the standards of conduct that preserve PSEA principles (both during work hours and outside work hours). All selected candidates will, therefore, go through a safe hiring process.

UN Women retain the right to contract referees directly. UN Women is committed to achieving workforce diversity (in term of gender, nationality, minority groups, caste/ethnic groups, Person with Disability etc.) and have a policy to have a gender balance among staff at all levels. Qualified female candidates and candidates particularly from disadvantaged and socially excluded groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

Request for Disability-related Reasonable Accommodations:

It is important for UN Women to create an accessible and inclusive workplace for everyone. Reasonable accommodation will be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to be recruited and to perform essential job functions. Should you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the selection and recruitment process, please direct your request and inquiries to hr.nepal@unwomen.org. A member of the HR team responsible for reasonable accommodation will contact you to confidentially discuss your needs.

This email will only be used for any disability-related accessibility requests and not for sending the application itself.

All applications will be treated with the highest confidentiality.