Background

UNDP’s Istanbul Regional Hub (IRH) is an advisory hub for the Europe and CIS region tasked with providing policy and programmatic support to UNDP´s development activities in the region. Throughout UNDP´s focus areas, it works towards increasing the impact of UNDP´s activities in the region by assisting Country Offices in the development of country-level initiatives through advisory services and technical support and by implementing regional-level projects in partnership with a wide range of partners support to a global network of expertise. Under the leadership of the Hub Manager, the IRH employs a multi-disciplinary team of specialists and advisors, project managers, operations, and programme support staff.

Duties and Responsibilities

The purpose of this internship is to provide an opportunity for graduate-level degree students, where their educational experience can be enhanced through practical work and they can get familiar with administrative and operations processes. The selected candidate will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Assisting with the procurement process IRH under the guidance of procurement procedures.
• Communicating with designated suppliers.
• Creating categorization and documentation for all procurement submissions.
• Organizing and maintaining digital records and documents related to procurement activities.
• Contributing to the completion of daily office duties and tasks.
• Providing support for any other additional procurement-related activities, as assigned.

Intern will obtain practical experience in procurement, and administrative procedures and work in an international organization.

Competencies

• Team-player
• Good planning, coordination skills,
• Ability to work under pressure,
• Attention to critical details
• Ability to review data, identify and adjust discrepancies
• Strong client orientation
• Good communication skills
• Cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education:

Applicants to the UNDP internship programme must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements:

1. be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher); or
2. be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent); or
3. have graduated with a university degree (as defined in (a) and (b) above) in a degree programme in a relevant discipline (Procurement, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Finance, Business Administration, Social Sciences) and, if selected, must start the internship within one-year of graduation.
4. Be enrolled in a postgraduate professional traineeship program and undertake the internship as part of this program.

Experience:

• Working experience in procurement and/or finance is an asset, but not required.
• Proficient with managing Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, databases and any ERP systems.
• A desire to work with and gain the confidence and respect of people with different language, national and cultural backgrounds.

Language skills:

• Written and spoken proficiency in English and Turkish is required.
• Any Other UN Language would be an asset.

Additional Information:

Financial Issues:
Internships within the UN system are unpaid and subject to conditions the applicant must get familiar with before signing his/her internship agreement.

The costs associated with the internship must be borne by the nominating institution, related institution or government, which may provide the required financial assistance to its students; or by the student, who will have to obtain financing for subsistence and make his or her own arrangements for travel, accommodation etc.

Selected candidates must submit the following documents:

• Official letter from the University confirming enrolment in a graduate-level degree programme;
• Proof of medical and life/accident insurance valid for the location in which the internship will be carried out. Selected interns must have medical and life insurance.

Conditions:
UNDP only accepts interns for a minimum of 6 weeks and a maximum of 6 months;
UNDP accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents, illness or death during the internship;
Interns are not staff members and may not represent UNDP in any official capacity;
Interns are responsible for arranging for their own visa and residence documents, and need to plan for these well in advance;

The purpose of the internship is not to lead to further employment with UNDP but to complement an intern’s studies; therefore, there should be no expectation of employment at the end of an internship;
More information is available at: http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/rbec/en/home/about_us/jobs/internships.html