UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to a Champion

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF Supply Division (SD) works to ensure equitable and inclusive access to essential supplies and services for children and their families, in development, humanitarian and fragile contexts. These supplies are critical to saving lives, supporting children’s health and education, and protecting them from abuse, exploitation, and neglect. As the UN’s largest end to end supply chain entity, UNICEF leverages its global reach, market influence, supply chain expertise and partnerships with governments, civil society, private sector, industry, and other stakeholders to meet children’s needs and protect their rights around the world.

SD focuses on three result areas to maximize impact, scale, and effectiveness: strategic procurement; supply preparedness and response in humanitarian and fragile contexts; and supply chain optimization. To facilitate and accelerate progress toward these results, SD employs three change strategies: financing for supply and services, supply chain digitalization and supply chain localization.

The position is within the Health Technology Unit in Child Survival Centre (CSC) in UNICEF Supply Division. The Centre supports UNICEF country programmes and procurement services partners through applied technical, contractual and operational expertise for procurement and supply of Point-of-Care diagnostics, vector control tools, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, WASH, oxygen equipment, and other essential health commodities.

Purpose of the Position

Join UNICEF Supply Division's Health Technology Unit and help ensure children around the world have access to essential health commodities and technologies. In this role, you will manage end-to-end procurement and contracting activities for health technology products, ensuring compliance with UNICEF policies and delivering value, quality, and timely supply to programmes and partners.

You will support the development and implementation of procurement strategies, sourcing initiatives, and Long-Term Arrangements (LTAs), while conducting market research and monitoring supplier performance. The role also contributes to the expansion of UNICEF's health commodity portfolio and the rollout of innovative digital procurement solutions, including the Dynamic Market platform.

Key function, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

Under the supervision of the Contracts Manager, the following duties and responsibilities will be met:
Ensure all procurement activities are in compliance with the UNICEF Financial Rules and Regulations, SD Manual, and all other applicable procurement procedures.
Review requirements to ensure and competitive qualities, identify priority activities and assignments; adjust priorities as required; develops clear goals and resources for completing work.
Solicit and evaluate bids/proposals/quotations to ensure overall competitiveness, quality, and conformity to specified requirements, clarifies offers and negotiates with suppliers, as appropriate.
Compile and present procurement data, prepare all relevant supporting documents and recommend approval of the Long Term Arrangements (LTA) 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 Contract Review Committee (CRC) for review and subsequent approval by the authorized official.
Review workload and coordinates placement of Purchase Orders to ensure quick response to requests received from Country Offices and Procurement Services partners. Coordinate timely delivery of consignment.
Oversee adherence to LTA terms and conditions; contribute to dispute resolution proceedings when required.
Review and provides recommendations to Team Lead or assigned supervisor on Local Procurement Authorisation (LPA) from Country Offices/Regional Offices. Advise CO/RO on the full range of contractual/procurement issues, providing support and guidance at all stage of the procurement cycle; Formulate strategies and design innovative solutions to resolve issues/conflicts.
Work in close contact with the other Business Centres in Supply Division i.e. Procurement Services, Warehouse and Logistics Centre, Quality Assurance Centre and Finance to ensure successful implementation of the procurement cycle.
In partnership with QA and Shipping, evaluates suppliers with respect to delivery performance, product acceptability and commercial acceptability.
Monitors market trends (supply/demand) and prepares forecast.
Any other duties or assignments as requested by the supervisor.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

Education: Bachelor or equivalent (First Level University Degree) in business administration, commerce, law, supply chain management, logistics, and any other related fields.
Work Experience: At least 2 years of solid, relevant work experience in contracting, tendering, and market research.
Skills: Skilled in strategic sourcing, market analysis, vendor negotiation, operational contracting, and people management, with strong knowledge of computer applications and advanced Excel skills.
Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required.

Desirables:

Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
Desirable experience includes international experience, experience in health technology procurement, experience with long-term agreements, and experience using e-procurement systems.
Experience within the UN/UNICEF system is a strong advantage.
Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships
(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
(3) Drive to achieve results for impact
(4) Innovates and embraces change
(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity
(6) Thinks and acts strategically
(7) Works collaboratively with others

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants' bank account information.

UNICEF staff members holding fixed-term, continuing, or permanent appointments who are considered to be on abolished post status may apply for this temporary position and, if selected with a start date before 31 December 2025, may take it up as a temporary assignment, in line with UNICEF guidance on separation due to the abolition of posts or staff reduction. They will retain their fixed-term entitlements but will not hold a lien to their abolished post. For other scenarios where a Temporary Assignment may be possible, please refer to Additional guidance on IP to IP temporary assignments after completion of the full TOD.pdf (accessible to UNICEF personnel only).

The conditions of a temporary assignment, including relocation entitlements, will depend on the status of the staff member's original appointment and may be limited in accordance with applicable UNICEF policies, procedures, and practices in force.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF's Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Contracts Officer, Temporary Appointment, 364 days, P-2, UNICEF Supply Division, Copenhagen, Denmark #00138120