Procurement Associate (Food) SC6 Kampala

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NOTE: WFP DOES NOT SOLICIT FOR FEES OR ANY FORM OF PAYMENT FROM JOB APPLICANTS

WFP is looking for talented people who are committed to joining our efforts to eradicate hunger. It offers unlimited opportunities to grow your professionalism, talent and expertise. Start your journey to be a member of the world-wide effort to eradicate hunger. WFP has a policy of affirmative action for women.

ABOUT WFP

United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) 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. In emergencies, WFP gets food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. After an emergency, WFP uses food to help communities rebuild their lives. On average, WFP reaches more than 80 million people with food assistance in 80 countries each year. The organization has the global footprint, deep field presence and local knowledge and relationships necessary to provide access to food and contribute to lasting solutions, especially in many of the world’s most remote and fragile areas.

Brief description of WFP in Uganda

WFP delivers food assistance in emergencies and work with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. WFP provides life-saving food assistance and livelihood opportunities to refugees in Uganda. In addition, WFP assists the most vulnerable people in Karamoja with food and nutrition assistance. Finally, WFP works with smallholder farmers and links them to markets.

As Uganda strives to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030 and become a middle-income country by 2040, WFP is also assessing its relevance and repositioning its role in Uganda.

ARE YOU UP TO THE CHALLENGE?

We are seeking a qualified individual for the position of Food Procurement Associate, SC6 to be based in Kampala. The selected candidate will be employed on Service Contract

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Towards the over-arching goal of Zero Hunger, the UN World Food Programme in Uganda is implementing a new local and regional procurement policy to scale up evidence-based purchases from smallholder farmers. WFP’s local and regional food procurement provides a foreseeable demand to the markets to which smallholders are connected. WFP is applying a mixture of procurement modalities such as scaling up indirect purchases from smallholder farmers by using indirect contracts (mandate or conditional) in addition to direct purchases from smallholders. Indirect modalities enable WFP to buy from traders while ensuring that fair prices are paid to smallholders and thereby guaranteeing transparency and control with respect to the transactions between traders and farmers or farmer organizations.

JOB PURPOSE

Procurement Associate (Food Commodities) will work under the direct supervision of the Head of Procurement or his/her designate at the Kampala Country Office. He/she will collect, analyse and report on the implementation of the local and regional procurement policy and maximize the efficiency of procurement operations and activities.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (1/2)

• Lead the implementation of the regional and local food procurement policy at the Uganda Country Office while demonstrating the highest level of personal integrity and professionalism, strict compliance to WFP’s policies and procedures.

• Collect and analyze market intelligence information, be on top of the regional or local market trends, monitoring of the changes in harvest seasons, climatic patterns affecting crop harvests in the country (Uganda).

• Act as focal point with the national agro market stakeholders (e.g., farmer organisations), actively participate in forums and contribute to the development procurement plans, policies on grain trade, country reserve and others.
• Support procurement programs and operational activities (e.g., issue tenders, evaluate offers and negotiate/award contracts), following standard procedures and contributing to successful procurement of food.
• Contribute to analysis of data to provide recommendations for process improvement.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (2/2)

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• Collate data and contribute to preparation of accurate and timely reports of procurement activities, to contribute to WFP wide view that enables informed decision making and consistency of information presented to stakeholders, leading to performance optimization.
• Support auditing of procurement activities by collating the necessary information for recommendations to be responded to appropriately to ensure conformity with compliance rules.
• Work in close collaborations with internal counterparts (AMS) to align direct and indirect procurement modalities with wider programmes objectives and ensure coherent approach to meeting food assistance needs.

• Support the training of WFP staff to take a strategic and proactive approach to the procurement of food, for example, designing and reviewing training materials for smallholders.

• Collaborate with programs to ensure targeting and participation of supported smallholders in the regional and local food procurement modalities (e.g., indirect contract modalities).

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: The ideal candidate for Procurement Associate job placement should hold first degree or more in food science and technology, Agricultural science, procurement, economics, commerce, business administration or other relevant field. Additional and related professional qualifications and experience will be an added advantage

Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in the UN language in use at the duty station.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE:

• At least five (5) or more years of progressive work in procurement, particularly in food procurement, out grower aggregation or schemes, with experience in coordinating procurement activities in larger operations gained from reputable organisations.

• Experience in managing the physical purchases of commodities/products/services in complex situation.

• Experience developing procurement plans, with timelines and cost reports for suppliers (e.g., retailers, wholesalers, and traders).
• Demonstrated experience coordinating procurement process with other units/teams
• Good working knowledge and skills in MS Word, MS Excel, and MS Power point.
• General knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations, and procurement procedures is desirable.

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Has worked with technical teams (i.e., smallholder engagement, out grower scheme procurement).
• Has observed or assisted with policy discussions.
• Ability to collect and summarize programme data, including information on the status of personas engaged, beneficiaries planned and reached for all procurement modalities.
• Ability to gather, organise, and provide data on procurement outputs, processes, and outcomes.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Coaches team in the most effective ways to communicate WFP’s Strategic Objectives to WFP team and partners in the field.
• Be a force for positive change: Implements new methods or tools to improve team’s work processes and productivity.
• Make the mission inspiring to our team: Maps team’s activities and tasks to specific successes in beneficiary communities to showcase positive impact.
• Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Explains to teammates how each unit contributes to the overall WFP mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people's skills: Identifies skill development opportunities such as training modules or on-the-job experiences for self, colleagues and direct reports.
• Create an inclusive culture: Facilitates team building activities to build rapport in own unit.
• Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Facilitates the pairing of junior colleagues with coaches within own team.
• Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Proactively anticipates potential challenges and develops mitigation plans to ensure that team meets goals and targets.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Identifies opportunities to be creative in own work and to help team be more innovative and accurate in their respective tasks and areas of work.
• Focus on getting results: Monitors team’s deliverables and provides feedback to ensure outcomes are delivered consistently and accurately.
• Make commitments and make good on commitments: Provides accurate guidance to team on expected responsibilities and tasks, whilst also upholding own commitment to the team.
• Be Decisive: Sets an example and provides guidance to junior team members on when to escalate issues when faced with challenging issues in the workplace or in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Facilitates partnerships with other WFP units to accomplish missions in the field.
• Build strong external partnerships: Sets an example and provides guidance to team on how to build relationships with external partners.
• Be politically agile & adaptable: Articulates to colleagues or direct reports the value of contributing to other WFP teams and agency partnerships in fulfilling WFP’s goals and objectives.
• Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Organizes, monitors, and prioritizes own and team’s efforts to ensure that they will fulfill the needs of internal and external partners.

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

Capability Name Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level Tendering and Contracting Displays basic understanding of processes to support the contracting/tendering implementation at WFP by collecting necessary information. Vendor Management Leverages basic understanding of business needs to define vendor requirements and selection criteria. Commodity and Product/Service Intelligence Appropriately handles products/services based on an understanding of sources, technologies, properties, and public procurement principles/practices. Systems & Reporting Demonstrates strong understanding of procurement systems, Corporate operating System and tools to conduct range of analyses and generate reports to drive decision making. Ethics and Compliance Maintains accurate records of activities in line with compliance standards to increase ease of response to basic audit queries.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Friday 13th May 2022

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Female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.