Supply Chain Officer, (P-2), East Asia Pacific Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand #128157

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For every child, deliver.

Strengthening the capacity of UNICEF, governments, and other partners in designing, implementing, and monitoring resilient and sustainable supply chains is essential in achieving equitable access to life-saving supplies for children, their families, and communities. As part of the humanitarian-development nexus, UNICEF remains a reliable partner in supporting governments to improve their supply chain maturity levels even during complex fragile, and humanitarian contexts.

The EAP Region is an emergency prone zone that includes both low- and middle-income countries and has a rapidly evolving supply function. Consequently, emergency prepositioning, development of more resilient national supply chains and requests for UNICEF to facilitate technical assistance in support of national systems are increasing. With expanding government resources, the potential for UNICEF engagement in supply chain support, usually leveraging the Procurement Services mechanism as an entry point, is a strategic opportunity in the region.

Based at the Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand under the supervision of the Regional Supply & Logistics Specialist and working closely with colleagues in the 14 Country Offices in the region and SCSC Supply Division, the incumbent will support the countries in the development and implementation of Supply Chain System Strengthening strategies and initiatives, which provide a tangible impact for delivery of services to the women and children of the East Asia and Pacific Region.

How can you make a difference?

1. Provides strategic and technical support to UNICEF Country Offices

• Support EAP country offices in the collaboration with internal UNICEF partners (Programme sections, senior management, Supply Division, Programme Group, other regional offices) and all relevant external partners (Governments, other UN agencies, donors, etc.) to develop Supply Chain System Strengthening (SCSS) strategies, and support in the implementation and scale up of associated initiatives.
• Support COs to conduct stakeholder mapping, supply chain assessments and/or review of existing documentation to identify opportunities for supply system strengthening.
• Recommend strategies and approaches to achieve measurable improvements in national supply chain maturity, performance, and delivery.
• Support the establishment and institutionalization of coordination and governance structures at national level, including national Technical Working Groups, whenever necessary and relevant
• Assess the opportunities and provide technical guidance for COs to deploy and implement effective supply chain systems strengthening tools and approaches, including the UNICEF Maturity Model assessment, TrVSt, system design, etc, as applicable considering country contexts.
• Contribute to the UNICEF Humanitarian Development Continuum strategy in terms of SCSS activities that promote greater sustainability and resilience of government supply chains and programmes.
• Provide technical support in all areas of SCSS, and associated supply chain enablers, including data analytics, network design and optimization.
• Support CO efforts in their efforts to assist Governments to develop, revise and/or update National Supply Chain strategy documents.
• Participate in field missions for specific technical assistance when required.

2. Development of partnerships and donor engagement

• Support EAP country offices in the identification, oversight, and development of Procurement Service (PS) partnerships, ensuring SCSS is closely linked into these partnership relationships.
• Identify opportunities emanating from existing Procurement Services initiatives, including Nutrition Match Window, SFF, Gavi procurement (Gavi vaccines, HSS, CCEOP, MICs) and help COs create linkages with supply system strengthening support to be provided by UNICEF.
• Identification and development of potential fund-raising avenues to provide a sustainable level of funding for SCSS activities for governments within EAP.
• Leverage existing partnerships with other global alliances and platforms (People that Delivery, UN agencies, etc) to support the collaboration of initiatives and efficiency of engagement through the East Asia and Pacific countries.

3. Capacity building of UNICEF Country office staff

• Coordinate technical support to develop regional and country office capacity in SCSS knowledge, experience, and best practices.
• Identify skills and competencies that may require enhancement in order to advance the regional Supply Chain System Strengthening efforts, including in areas/functions adjacent to core supply responsibilities. Work with relevant internal stakeholders to plan and deliver relevant capacity building activities.
• Participate in the designing, planning, and organizing of SCSS related training programmes and knowledge sharing events with UNICEF staff, and external partners including governments, UN agencies and other partners.

4. Monitoring and documentation of results

• Ensure adequate reporting by COs against CSIs or any other global strategic indicators relevant to national supply chains.
• Support COs in the EAP region to identify relevant indicators to be included in routine CO monitoring, with an aim to track the UNICEF contribution to strengthening the national supply chains, as well as the progress in attaining health outcomes.
• In liaison with relevant sections within RO and COs, prepare information materials for programme advocacy, awareness creation, establishment of partnerships/alliances and to support fundraising for programmes for national supply system strengthening.
• Contribute to the documentation and dissemination empirical case studies, best practices and lessons learned, related to implementation of SCSS strategies and initiatives in EAP countries.
• Any other duties or assignments as requested by the supervisor.

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

The following minimum requirements:

• Education: A first university degree (equivalent to a Bachelor’s) from an accredited institution is required in Supply Chain Management, Logistics Management, Operations Management, Project Management, Strategic Planning, or Health related field.
• Work Experience: At least 2 years of relevant work experience in a professional capacity in supply chain management in the public sector, preferably in the health sector. Work experience in an international setting and in the development sector is required.
• Technical Knowledge:
  • Knowledge and experience of leading SCSS in developing countries, with experience in the health sector.
  • Familiarity with supply chain assessment tools and frameworks is required.
  • Technical experience in all elements of the supply chain from forecasting, to monitoring and evaluation.
  • Good understanding of management information systems and how to undertake data analysis to provide informed decision-making using data.
  • Ability to write reports and prepare presentations for both high-level and technical audiences.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required.

The following desirables:

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.
• Language: Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language.
• Experience of undertaking network design and optimized distribution models would be an advantage.

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 is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will 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.

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’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates from programme countries are encouraged to apply. 

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

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.

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.