Procurement Assistant Full-Time

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

• Education: Completion of secondary school education. A post-secondary certificate in Procurement, Logistics, Supply Chain or any other related functional area is desirable;
• Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English and Portuguese.

These jobs are found in Headquarters (HQ), Regional Bureaux (RBs) and Country Offices (COs), and report to a Head of Unit, Chief, or Procurement Officer.
Job holders at this level are responsible for completion of a range of procurement processes and activities requiring some interpretation of standard guidelines/practices. Job holders are able to recommend straightforward courses of action to staff, and may allocate tasks and technically support other staff.

To perform and apply appropriate processes, procedures and policies that support the efficient and effective procurement services.

1. Perform administrative procurement activities in a timely and efficient manner, to support Professional staff in the acquisition of goods and services for efficient field operations;
2. Compile data, prepare and distribute documents, to support successful procurement programs and operational activities, (e.g. issue tenders, evaluate offers and negotiate/award contracts), ensuring standard processes are followed;
3. Review, record and prioritise purchasing requests, ensuring all supporting documentation is received, and funding is available, in order to enable the procurement of goods and services;
4. Coordinate and monitor the delivery of procurement requisitions, verifying receipt and inspection of deliverables, and performing follow up actions to ensure supplies reach HQ and field operations;
5. Research, collate and present information in standard formats, to enable informed decision-making and consistency of information presented to the stakeholders;
6. Update, manage and maintain relevant databases and records, to ensure the information is accurate, organised, and available for others to access, and supports reporting requirements;
7. Liaise with internal counterparts to support the alignment of procurement activities with wider programmes and ensure a coherent approach to meeting food assistance needs;
8. Provide technical support and/or allocate work to other support staff, in order to assist them in completing standard tasks to agreed standards and deadlines;
9. Follow standard emergency preparedness practices to support WFP to quickly respond and deploy food and needed resources to affected areas at the onset of the crisis.

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Helps teammates articulate WFP’s Strategic Objectives.
•  Be a force for positive change: Suggests potential improvements to team’s work processes to supervisor.
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Explains the impact of WFP activities in beneficiary communities to teammates.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Articulates how own unit’s responsibilities will serve WFP’s mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Trains junior teammates on new skills and capabilities.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Seeks opportunities to work with people from different backgrounds.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Serves as a peer coach for colleagues in same area of work.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Tracks progress toward goals and shares this information on a regular basis with supervisor.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Explores ways to consistently be more efficient and accurate in own areas of work and shares new methods of work with colleagues.
•  Focus on getting results: Focuses on getting results and tracks trends in completion rates for own tasks to identify opportunities for efficiency.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Takes responsibility for own tasks and notifies supervisor as soon as possible of potential delays in meeting deadlines or commitments.
•  Be Decisive: Independently decides what action to take when faced with critical choices in the workplace or in dangerous situations in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Suggests opportunities for partnering with other units to supervisor.
•  Build strong external partnerships: Identifies opportunities to work with colleagues and partners in the field towards common goals.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Develops an understanding of the value of WFP’s teams and external partners in fulfilling team’s goals and objectives.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Aligns own activities with supervisor’s priorities to fulfill internal and external partner needs.

• Has worked on procurement activities.
• Experience conducting analyses and developing reports.
• Experience working with suppliers or other third party on day to day basis.