Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through FAO’s Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agri-food systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

The Shared Services Centre (SSC) is a centre of excellence focused on the delivery of high quality and cost-effective administrative services for FAO globally. The SSC ensures the management of quality assurance activities associated with its transactional processes and service delivery; continuously improves the satisfaction of its customers, internal or external, while pursuing a continuous improvement agenda that will drive up service excellence while driving down the costs of service delivery through process standardization, process automation and self-service capabilities.

Reporting Lines

The Procurement Processing Specialist works under the overall supervision of the Vertical Integration Project Manager and SSC Finance Department.

Technical Focus

The Procurement Processing Specialist will support the Vertical Integration Procurement team in general, with specific assignments to support the procurement process of FAO field offices.

Tasks and responsibilities

•    Perform operational functions relating to the procurement process, including the review of documents related to assigned procurement actions, issuance of purchase orders, participate in meetings with suppliers and follow-up with them.
•    Attend tender opening panel, draft simple amendments and/ or renewals to contracts and service orders under the guidance of the supervisor(s), applying in-depth knowledge of the procurement applications and regulations etc.
•    Review purchase requisitions, orders, contracts, and tenders to ensure that they are technically complete and in conformity with established FAO rules and procedures.
•    Ensure that procurement actions are completed in a timely manner in accordance with the relevant rules and procedures; ensure timely information on the status of procurement activities and all related issues.
•    Maintain and monitor database records related to procurement actions undertaken, assigned tenders, and contracts.
•    Coordinate collection of statistical information on procurement actions and ensure that information maintained in the relevant systems is accurate and updated.
•    Prepare, review, and analyse periodic monitoring reports making recommendations and taking action as instructed.
•    Support knowledge building and knowledge sharing across the Service through training of staff and briefing of colleagues on the use of the Oracle Procurement Module and other IT applications utilized in the Procurement Service.
•    Review existing processes and make recommendations to improve purchasing systems and procedures.
•    Performs other related duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements    

•    National of Hungary or able to work in Hungary at the time of the application
•    University degree in finance, accounting, supply chain, business, law, agriculture or related fields
•    Minimum 1year of relevant work experience in procurement or related fields
•    Working knowledge (level C) of English, preferred additionally working knowledge (C) French

FAO Core Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    Knowledge of financial rules and regulations, accounting policies and practices in order to ensure that all processing controls are strictly adhered to; performs due diligence regarding eligibility, compliance, and transactions limits;
•    Knowledge of the processing and approval process of a variety of transactions; ensuring audit requirements are maintained regarding supporting document retention, adherence to  rules, accuracy and overall completeness;
•    Familiarity with corporate financial systems
•    Thorough knowledge of the communication and documentation standards
•    Knowledge of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) would be an asset
•    Working knowledge of the MS Office applications and knowledge of Oracle