UNOPS Procurement Intern Career in Nairobi, Kenya

Vacancy Code: VA/2014/B5303/6006
 

Position Title: Procurement Intern
 

Department / Office: AFO, KEOH, Kenya
 

Duty Station: Nairobi, Kenya 

Background Information - UNOPS
UNOPS mission is to serve people in need by expanding the ability of the United Nations, governments and other partners to manage projects, infrastructure and procurement in a sustainable and efficient manner.

Within these three core areas of expertise, UNOPS provides its partners with advisory, implementation and transactional services, with projects ranging from building schools and hospitals, to procuring goods and services and training local personnel. 

UNOPS works closely with governments and communities to ensure increased economic, social and environmental sustainability for the projects we support, with a focus on developing national capacity.
 

Working in some of the world’s most challenging environments, our vision is to advance sustainable implementation practices in development, humanitarian and peacebuilding contexts, always satisfying or surpassing partner expectations.

We employ more than 6,000 personnel and on behalf of our partners create thousands more work opportunities in local communities. Through our headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark and a network of offices, we oversee activities in more than 80 countries.
  
Background information - AFO

Africa Regional Office

Based in between Copenhagen, Denmark, the Africa Regional Office supports UNOPS country offices in the Africa region, providing financial oversight of projects, procuring goods and services and managing human resources.

AFO helps ensure that projects are executed to the highest standards, providing a shared knowledge base and ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are disseminated between projects across the entire region.
 

Functional Responsibilities

UNOPS is currently looking for one intern to join the Africa Regional sub-Office (AFO) in Nairobi, Kenya. AFO manages a geographically-defined portfolio of engagements, including leading strategy and business development for the region, overseeing management of operations, and ensuring appropriate risk management. 

Joining UNOPS at our office in Nairobi will provide you with a unique opportunity to obtain first-hand experience of what sustainable development is about.

The Africa Region currently consists of Operational Hubs (a cluster of neighbouring countries) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya and Ethiopia. 

In addition to this, there is an Operations Centre in South Sudan and a Project Centre in Tunisia.

At UNOPS, interns join our teams as equal members and are offered a good mix of support work and independent assignments with stronger responsibility. 

The functional responsibilities of management support interns are defined by the actual needs during the period of an internship. 

Overall, interns are expected to engage in the support of management tasks and to selectively drive particular work items on their own responsibilities comprising, but not limited to, the following:

• Conduct data collection, research, analysis and evaluation on specific topics of interest for UNOPS and the respective unit, such as donor priorities, aid dynamics, UNOPS business opportunities in Africa, ongoing projects, supplier or market intelligence, trends in the humanitarian sector etc.;
• Data analysis to support the management and oversight function of the Regional Office;
• Support the identification and documentation of best practices and lessons learnt, including design, coordination and organization-wide implementation of knowledge sharing and documentation methodologies;
• Contribute to reports and briefing papers, where appropriate;
• Support the management and development of work planning tools such as work plans, action lists and other relevant tools to structure work packages, assign responsibilities as well as follow-up on the implementation of action items;
• Assist with checking  data and visualization quality in internal and external communications such as presentations, flyers and brochures and coordinate with graphics and design service providers to implement such recommendations;
• Support the preparation of meetings, as well as providing logistical support to the practice management in organizing conferences, workshops and other relevant events;
• Reach out to internal and external partners, e.g. different UN agencies and other units, for the purpose of driving projects, data gathering, meeting preparation and documentation.

Education / Experience / Language requirements

• Studying towards a Bachelors or a Master’s degree or have completed a University degree within the past 3 years.
• Fluency in English mandatory, knowledge of French is an asset.

Competencies

• UNOPS Values – Takes ownership for all responsibilities and honours commitments; has the ability to work in a multicultural environment.
• Teamwork Skills – Strong interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations with people in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.
• Ability to Learn – Willingness to keep abreast of new developments.
• Communication Skill – Strong spoken and written communication skills, suited to a wide range of target groups.
• Organising and Quality Orientation – Ability to manage, organize, plan and implement work assignments, juggle competing demands and work under pressure of frequent and tight deadlines.
• Problem Solving – Strong analytical and solution orientated skills and ability to handle a range of management and coordination issues.
• Decision Making – Demonstrated ability to apply good judgment and decision making skills.
• Experience in project-related work in a dynamic environment;
• A good understanding of the public sector, namely of national administrations or international organisations;
• Attention to details and determination to meet deadlines

Contract type, level and duration

• Contract type: Internship
• Contract duration: 2 Months

For more details about UNOPS internships, please follow this link:
http://www.unops.org/english/whoweneed/Pages/Internships.aspx 

Additional Considerations

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time (CET)
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• For staff positions UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS. 

CLICK HERE to apply online

Deadline: 15th Nov 2014

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.

Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.