Procurement Assistant SC5, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

9 August 2026-23:59-GMT+06:00 Kyrgyzstan Time (Bishkek)

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP
The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.
To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok.

WHY JOIN WFP?

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.
• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.
• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.
• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

BACKGROUND

WFP’s vision is that the Kyrgyz Republic has resilient, inclusive, and shock‑responsive food and social protection systems that enable all people, especially the most vulnerable, to access healthy diets, sustain livelihoods, withstand climate and crisis shocks, and realize their full human potential, leaving no one behind. Derived from the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework , WFP Country Strategic Plan (2023-27 EN|RU) focuses its human capital development, capacity building and productive asset creation activities to enhance the resilience and livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable, with a focus on food systems strengthening across three core pillars: (i) Social Protection; (ii) Climate Change Adaption, Disaster Risk Management and Emergency Preparedness; and (iii) Schools as platforms for healthy diets. In addition, a contingent emergency response outcome can be activated in case of need.

ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT:

WFP has been supporting the Kyrgyz Republic’s National Development Programme (NDP) 2030 by leveraging its strengths in food security, nutrition, resilience, and logistics through scaling up nutrition‑sensitive school meals linked to local food procurement, and supporting adaptive, shock‑responsive social protection systems. WFP has been contributing to food security and rural development by building climate‑resilient food systems, supporting smallholder farmers and cooperatives, reducing post‑harvest losses, and integrating anticipatory action and disaster risk reduction in climate‑affected regions. In addition, WFP has been adding values by enhancing emergency preparedness and logistics capacity, improving food security data and early warning systems to support evidence‑based policymaking, and helping reduce regional inequalities through targeted interventions — all closely aligned with the NDP priorities on human capital, resilience, digitalization, and inclusive growth.

PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

Under the direct supervision of the Lead Procurement Associate and with guidance from the Head of Supply Chain Unit, the Procurement Assistant provides procurement services in the WFP Kyrgyz Republic Country Office ensuring their effectiveness, transparency and integrity. The Procurement Assistant promotes a client, quality and results oriented approach in the Unit.

The Procurement Assistant works in close cooperation with Programme, Finance, Administration, Budget & Programming and other relevant units within Country Office and Sub-Office, other UN Agencies (in the framework of Common Procurement Team) and WFP Global Headquarters’ staff for resolving procurement-related issues and information delivery.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive, nor exhaustive):

1. Perform administrative procurement activities in a timely and efficient manner, to support Professional staff in the acquisition of goods and services for efficient field operations.
2. Compile data, prepare and distribute documents, to support successful procurement programs and operational activities (e.g. issue tenders, evaluate offers and negotiate/award contracts), ensuring standard processes are followed.
3. Review, record and prioritise purchasing requests, ensuring all supporting documentation is received, and funding is available, in order to enable the procurement of goods and services.
4. Coordinate and monitor the delivery of procurement requisitions, verifying receipt and inspection of deliverables, and performing follow up actions to ensure supplies reach GHQ and field operations.
5. Research, collate and present information in standard formats, to enable informed decision-making and consistency of information presented to the stakeholders.
6. Update, manage and maintain relevant databases and records, to ensure the information is accurate, organised, and available for others to access, and supports reporting requirements.
7. Liaise with internal counterparts to support the alignment of procurement activities with wider programmes and ensure a coherent approach to meeting food assistance needs.
8. Provide technical support and/or allocate work to other support staff, in order to assist them in completing standard tasks to agreed standards and deadlines.
9. Follow standard emergency preparedness practices to support WFP to quickly respond and deploy food and needed resources to affected areas at the onset of the crisis.

SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS

1. Prepare contracts and any supporting documentation for approval by the appropriate stakeholder, and approve purchases within delegated authority, to enable the swift purchase of goods and services.

2. Support and backstopping of Procurement Associate in local food procurement activities with wider programmes and ensure a coherent approach to meeting food assistance needs.

3. Ensure that UN/WFP rules, regulations, policies and strategies and WFP Food and Goods & Services Procurement Manuals and Country Office Goods & Services Procurement Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) are carefully studied and strictly followed.

4. Support in implementation of effective internal control, proper functioning of a client-oriented procurement management system.

5. Ensure proper dissemination of ITB/RFQ/RFP via WFP’s Smart Sourcing Platform among suppliers from WFP roster as well as backward communication with suppliers on any related queries, when/if appropriate.

6. Timely facilitation of bids opening, procurement analysis of the received bids, convene Local Purchase and Contract Committee (LPCC) meetings to present tender results, provide LPCC with solid justification, making prior rigid and deep analysis of the bids, market situation, follow up on LPCC recommendations, ensuring that all documentation is properly recorded and filed.

7. Identify and recommend potential suppliers and compile data/documents to support the selection of suppliers, ensuring standard processes are followed. Carry out roster update/expansion exercise for assigned categories of goods and services.

8. Brief the selected vendors on UN general rules and conditions and WFP regulations.

9. Contribute to the overall office work, including assigned focal points and tasks beyond the above-mentioned responsibilities, to jointly deliver CSP results as one WFP team and perform other duties as required.

DESIRED EXPERIENCE FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE:

• Has worked on procurement activities.
• Experience conducting analyses and developing reports.
• Experience working with suppliers or other third party on day to day basis.
• Demonstrated familiarity with locally purchased commodities/goods/services (e.g., cash based, in-kind donations) and progressively responsible procurement experience is required (national or international).
• Well organized work with accurate information/databases/reports/records.
• Sound judgment; ability to extract, interpret, analyze and format data and to resolve operational problems.
• Time management, multitasking and prioritizations.
• Ability to work with minimum of supervision; to work effectively with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Ability to work with accuracy under time constraints and pressure; to deal patiently and tactfully with staff members and others and to have a high sense of confidentiality, initiative and good judgment.
• Experience utilizing computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.), advance knowledge of automated procurement systems, experience in handling web-based management systems.
• Experience conducting supplier research and coordinating with retailers, wholesalers and traders.
• Demonstrated knowledge of procurement processes and linkages with other operations (e.g., logistics).
• General knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures governing procurement administration. Knowledge of WFP manuals, rule and guidelines in the area of procurement would be desirable.

STANDARD MINIMUM ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:

Education: Completion of secondary school education. A post-secondary certificate in the related functional area, with internationally recognized certificates in sourcing/procurement and further university education an advantage.

Experience: At least 5 (five) years of progressively responsible support experience in procurement or another related field.

Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English, Russian and Kyrgyz languages.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact: global.inclusion@wfp.org

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruiting system. We do not consider CVs or applications sent by email, LinkedIn, or any other channel.
• We strongly recommend that your Workday profile is accurate and complete, and that all sections are filled in, including your employment history, academic qualifications, language skills, and UN grade (if applicable). Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.
• If you experience technical issues while submitting your application, you may contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org. Please note that this email is only for technical issues with an application - unsolicited applications or documents sent to this inbox will not receive a reply.
• At the application stage, the only required documents are your CV and Cover Letter. Additional documents (passport, certificates, recommendation letters, etc.) may be requested later in the process.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process.

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.