Professional Procurement Manager Interview Preparation Guide

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Failure to complete a GRN will result in invoices being unable to be matched and paid which could put us in breach of contract with our suppliers.

Market research will be led by the Procurement Service, but stakeholders often have a very good understanding of the market available and can provide information that will assist in this review.

Difficult suppliers must be approached carefully during a negotiation. The circumstances should be considered when deciding on negotiation techniques. The more suppliers available as alternatives allows the procurement department to use more “hardball” style negotiation tactics. The fewer alternatives available will require the procurement department to use more “selling” style persuasion techniques.

If this is a genuine emergency, the in hours and out of hours emergency procedures will apply. However, this process cannot be used for failure to plan.

You must ask for a receipt when the purchase is made. If a receipt has not been issued, chase the supplier and ask for an invoice to support the purchase.

UNICEF issues the Statement of Account within 30 days after the last charge has been received and processed by UNICEF (for supplies, freight and insurance). On average, this takes 3-4 months after the delivery of the final shipment of supplies at the Port of Destination.

Unless you work in the Faculty of Science and the value is less than £10,000, it is the Procurement Service’s responsibility to obtain quotations. Please attach what you have to the requisition, but for future requests, please ensure that a specification is provided so that the Procurement Service can source quotations.

Projects should always be kept track of using tools available in modern technology. Microsoft Project is an excellent project management software program that leading procurement professionals use to track their projects.

The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 stipulates that public authorities need to have reviewed the social value of the service prior to tendering it. Failure to consider this may result in a legal challenge.

This is to ensure openness and transparency, and to ensure that no supplier is given an unfair advantage over another.

Where equipment is being purchased for research purposes, the research form must be attached to all requisitions, otherwise it will be rejected.

The Procurement Service will review this in conjunction with the supplier and guidance in relation to the Freedom of Information Act.

There is no stipulation on grade to be able to hold a purchasing card; it is up to the approver to determine who needs cards in their department or college.

No, UNICEF does not make a profit from Procurement Services.

Yes, stakeholders will be included in the planning process to ensure that their needs are met and to capture any specialist knowledge they have.

There are many factors that would compel a procurement professional to search for a new supplier. These range from getting an internal customer’s request for a product or service never before purchased by the organization before to the failure of an existing supplier.

There may be an infinite number of reasons that two parties feel that they need a contract. However, in our online course “Supply Management Contract Writing,” we explore six in detail, including to formalize obligations and rights, to control and allocate risk, and to agree on how exceptions will be handled.

The tender process will be discussed with you as soon as you have highlighted the requirement to the Procurement Service. As part of this process, the specification and requirements will be discussed. Sample specifications can be provided to assist, and the Procurement Service also offer training in how to write specifications.

Standard MOU templates are available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian.

Stakeholders can and will be involved in contract management and review meetings, where appropriate.

Please ensure that you select the field for capital on the requisition screen.

A procurement professional should have a large arsenal of negotiation skills and tactics. Suppliers and circumstances can vary tremendously from negotiation to negotiation, so today’s procurement professional should be able to choose from a large array of negotiation skills and tactics to deploy based on the situation. Win-win negotiation skills and tactics are particularly important to have in this arsenal.

The tender process will be discussed with you as soon as you have highlighted the requirement to the Procurement Service. As part of this process, the specification and requirements will be discussed, and it will be agreed with you the kind of information you need to include within your specification. Sample specifications can be provided to assist, and the Procurement Service also offer training in how to write specifications.

UNICEF suppliers are carefully chosen through a competitive bidding process, which starts with a pre-qualification stage, on the basis of quality systems/organization, adherence to ethical standards, capacity and financial soundness. UNICEF continuously evaluates its suppliers. Samples of their products are approved before contracts are awarded, and quality checks can also be made before goods are shipped or received. All supplies entering the UNICEF Copenhagen warehouse are carefully inspected according to international standards.

Ask the supplier to put their queries in writing to the Procurement Service (contact details will be included within the tender document). This will then be reviewed and if necessary a response will be provided to all suppliers.