Assistant Procurement Officer

This position is located in the Regional Office for the Andean Region and the Southern Cone (ROCOL), Division for Operations (DO), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Bogotá, Colombia. The Assistant Procurement Officer will report to the ROCOL Operations Officer and will work under the policy guidance of the Chief, Procurement Unit (PU) of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) / United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) located in Vienna.

**Responsibilities**:
- Ensure that procurement processes are conducted in accordance with UN rules, procedures, policies, and strategies as outlined in the procurement manual and its financial rules.
- Assist in planning, developing and managing all procurement processes and contractual aspects of projects related to procurement of diverse services and commodities, or for a variety of goods and services of a general nature, taking into account local economic and other conditions.
- Compile and present procurement data; prepare all relevant supporting documents and recommend approval of the contract or purchase order; may authorize purchases in line with delegated authority, and, in cases where the amount exceeds authorized signature authority, prepare submissions to the Contracts Committee for review and subsequent approval by the authorized official.
- Assist in reviewing and analysing technical specifications to ensure completeness, accuracy, and competitive qualities, and identify optional courses of action.
- As member of a team, serve as a procurement and contracting Officer with responsibility for the procurement of a wide variety of supplies and services associated with (technically) contracts and procurement activities; assist in managing the procurement work of the Office.
- Provide support to the preparation and implementation of procurement according to the rules of the United Nations Secretariat. When applicable, assist in managing/conducting the preparation of procurement to be processed by other agencies.
- As member of a team assist in the formulation of strategies and the design of innovative solutions to resolve issues/conflicts for multifaceted procurement projects.
- Establish and handle work programme and schedule for ongoing contracts and newly-planned ones.
- Participate in the identification of contracts with other agencies to develop a plan to help reduce the flow of internal processes.
- Establish approaches for negotiations and conduct or coordinate all phases of negotiations with all concerned parties, including the negotiation of disputes arising from contracts.
- Provide assistance to ensuring the adherence to contractual agreements, recommend amendments and extensions of contracts, and inform concerned parties on contractual rights and obligations.
- Prepare a variety of procurement-related documents, contracts, communications, guidelines, instructions, etc.
- As member of a team assist in the development of strategies for pre-qualification of vendors, the identification of sources of products and the evaluation of vendors' performance in terms of quality, prices, delivery, equipment, etc.
- Solicit and evaluate, for relevant process, bids/proposals/quotations to ensure overall competitiveness, quality, and conformity to specified requirements.
- Participate in the market and supplier research.
- Supervise the work of ROCOL’s local procurement team.
- Perform other work-related duties as required.

Competencies

Planning & Organizing: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.

Accountability: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments; delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.

Managing Performance: Delegates the appropriate responsibility, accountability and decision-making authority; makes sure that roles, responsibilities and reporting lines are clear to each staff member; accurately judges the amount of time and resources needed to accomplish a task and matches task to skills; monitors progress against milestones and deadlines; regularly discusses performance and provides feedback and coaching to staff; encourages risk-taking and supports creativity and initiative; actively supports the development and career aspirations of staff; appraises performance fairly

Education
A first-level university degree in business or public administration, economics, finance, acco