General
Description of assignment title
PROCUREMENT AND LOGISTICS SPECIALIST

Assignment country
Cameroon

Expected start date
01/01/2026

Sustainable Development Goal
4. Quality education

Volunteer category
International UN Volunteer Specialist

Host entity
UNICEF

Type
Onsite

Duration
12 months

Number of assignments
1

Duty stations
Yaounde

Details
Mission and objectives
UNICEF is an international humanitarian agency for children created by the United Nations Charter in 1946. The organization is present in more than 192 countries and works in the areas of health, education, water and sanitation, child protection, HIV and AIDS, nutrition, policy, and social protection. UNICEF operates in both humanitarian and development contexts, responding to the needs of children and women, particularly girls and the most vulnerable.UNICEF has been present in Cameroon since 1975. The organization works in the areas of education, water and sanitation, child protection, and HIV and AIDS. Its upstream efforts focus on advocacy and lobbying for budgetary conditions favorable to children and women and on formulating policies to promote their growth and development. At the operational level, UNICEF Cameroon focuses on strengthening the capacity of stakeholders, service delivery, and creating partnerships to improve services for children and women.

The Child Protection Program aims to ensure that children, particularly adolescent girls in vulnerable areas, are better protected against violence, exploitation, and harmful practices, including in humanitarian emergencies. The program contributes to strengthening government and community child protection systems in order to more effectively identify and combat violations of children's rights. Particular attention is paid to birth registration, prevention and response to physical and sexual violence, and the elimination of child marriage, based on evidence.



Context
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.

Supplies are essential to fulfill children's rights. Supporting child survival and development programmes around the world, UNICEF-procured supplies are critical in providing for children's health, education and protecting them from abuse, exploitation, and neglect and rapidly respond to emergencies.

UNICEF also procures and supplies essential commodities on behalf of governments and other partners in their efforts. These procurement services can also include in-country logistics, capacity building, and project management.

With projection of the procurement and contracting workload in WASH and Education, and the high expectation in managing complex and demanding requests from partners, this job profile complement the current staffing issues in the supply and logistics unit to support program implementation.

The impact of work directly affects the perceived professionalism of the incumbent and the overall reputation of the Supply and Logistics Section for high quality work for mitigating the public procurement principles of integrity, fairness, transparency and value for money. This in turn contributes to the effective and efficient management of UNICEF CCO programmes and maintaining/enhancing the credibility of UNICEF as an effective and responsible manager of funds entrusted to the organization and to furthering UNICEF image as a competent organization for delivering cost effective and sustainable program results for children.

Task description
Under the direct supervision of Supply & Logistics Manager, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

 Ensures all procurement activities are in compliance with the UNICEF Financial Rules and Regulations, Supply Divisio Manual, and all other applicable procurement procedures.
 Works closely with programmes and partners on project/TOR design, work plan and coordination, issues of long term forecasting of procurement plan and funding availability.
 Ensure and coordinated planning of procurement and demand of the required supplies and services, including coordination on Local Procurement Authorization (LPA) if it is required.
 Review the requirements for supplies and services, such as specification, TOR, evaluation criteria, pricing structure, taxation and appropriateness of supply requests (Purchase Requisitions - PO and Supply Orders - SO). Ensure terms and conditions are well understood by bidders / proposers. To take preventative measure to secure value for money, efficiency and timely completion of the project.
 Issues UNICEF tender invitations to acceptable suppliers, evaluates quotations, clarifies offers, and negotiates with suppliers as appropriate.
 Makes recommendations for finalization of contracts, adjudicates offers in consultation with technical unit.
 Prepares and defends submissions to Contract Review Committee (CRC). Oversight for quality contract / PO and Long Term Arrangements (LTAs). Scope of work, deliverables and payment schedule should be clearly described in these documents. Ensure integrity with solicitation.
 Monitor and identify issues related to ongoing contract. It includes to ensure monitoring the execution of contract as per terms and conditions stated in contract, appropriate timing (e.g. not opening after contract duration is overdue) and cost effectiveness. Work for complex cases of contract management. If it is necessary, it requires coordination with local partners, legal department, field visit etc.
 Ensure to place professional monitoring at site (for construction) / progress of deliverables.
 Maintain system for supplier / contractor performance evaluations. Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for the effectiveness and efficiency of Local Procurement.
 Define, establish and implement quality control procedures on contract documentation, storage and follow up; approve all functional group standard operating procedures.
 Ensure provision of the updated data related to contracts from established data source. The data will be used for programme meeting, Country Management Team (CMT) etc.
 Compile and analyse historical data and forecasts of programme requirements. It includes supply planning and monitoring.
 Assists with logistics planning, and arrangements through ensuring that the clearance is efficient on storage and distribution of supplies and equipment to end-users from ports to entry to UNICEF warehouses and the like.
 Establish and/or maintain logistics and Inventory Control systems for all pogramme supplies and prepares logistics reports, required for donor reports, budget reviews, programme analysis, annual reports, etc.

Eligibility criteria
Age
18 - 80

Required experience
3 years

Donor priorities
-

Nationality
Candidate must be a national of a country other than the country of assignment.

Additional eligibility criteria
This assignment is funded by the Government of Japan. Therefore, only Japanese nationals who were accepted to the Program for Global Human Resource Development for Peacebuilding and Development (HRD) will be eligible. HRD assignments are considered as assignments without family.

Assignment requirements
Relevant experience
3 years

Languages
English, Level: Native language, Required
French, Level: Working knowledge, Desirable

Required education level
Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Management, Economics, Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Procurement, Contract/Commercial Law, International Development, Health or relevant technical field.

Competencies and values
Accountability
☒ Adaptability and Flexibility
☒ Building Trust
☒ Client Orientation
☒ Commitment and Motivation
☒ Communication
☒ Ethics and Values
☒ Integrity
☒ Judgement and Decision-making
☒ Planning and Organizing
☒ Respect for Diversity
☒ Technological Awareness
☒ Working in Teams

Skills and experience
 Experience in Logistics, Inventory, Procurement, Public Administration, Operations Management or other relevant domains and how they contribute to development project delivery
 UN or other international development organization experience
 The use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.), and web-based management systems such as ERP.
Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills.

Area(s) of expertise
Logistics and Inventory, Administration, Business management

Driving license

HOW TO APPLY ?

All applications must be submitted ONLINE at : https://app.unv.org/opportunities/1784888021265236