Acquisition Planning Assistant

About the role

The Acquisition Planning Assistant (FS-5) works in the Acquisition Management Unit of the Supply Chain Management Section of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia (UNVMC), based in Bogota and reporting to the Chief Acquisition Management Unit. The post supports the mission mandate by helping plan the supply chain of services and commodities such as IT and communications equipment, vehicles, medical supplies, food rations, fuel, construction materials, furniture, stationery and accommodation equipment, in line with the Mission Supply Chain Plan.

Key responsibilities

• Help prepare the mission's 24-month demand forecast in Umoja or an equivalent tool, and validate the system-generated forecast and source plan with technical units.
• Coordinate with technical units and procurement to update the acquisition plan, and monitor its implementation and progress.
• Monitor requisitions, initiate system requisitions when needed and alert supervisors to discrepancies.
• Forecast logistics requirements for the near and medium term and share them with stakeholders.
• Check stock availability in strategic reserves or surplus with UNGSC and other missions before new acquisitions.
• Support planning of transportation, consolidation of deliveries and service contracts, coordinating with transport stakeholders such as MOVCON.
• Extract and analyse data and expenditure reports from systems such as Umoja, and highlight areas of concern to the Acquisition Planning Officer.
• Review acquisition actions, coordinate transportation and maintenance plans, and prepare quarterly progress reports on the acquisition plan.
• Follow mission policies, SOPs and guidelines, maintain a contract tracking system, and supervise junior assistants and national GS staff.

Required profile

• At least 8 years of progressively responsible experience in supply chain, inventory management, logistics, procurement, administration or a related field, including at least 2 years at international level.
• Mandatory experience with Umoja or similar ERPs in scheduling, inventory control, procurement and logistics, including 24-month demand forecasting, category management and Source-to-Acquire processes.
• Experience supporting supply chain management in a field operation or similar international organisation.
• English at UN Level II (reading, writing, listening, speaking); Spanish at UN Level II is desirable.
• Desirable: project management certification (PMP, PGMP, PRINCE2), Supply Chain certification (SCOR-P, CSCP) and data analytics certification (Power BI).

Required skills

• Supply chain planning, procurement and logistics processes.
• Data consolidation, analysis and visualization tools.
• Knowledge of UN procurement rules, regulations and policies.