Procurement Officer (intern)

Job Summary

The World Food Programme (WFP) is seeking an Intern (Procurement) to support the Procurement Unit in Addis Ababa. The internship will provide practical experience in procurement operations within a humanitarian context, with a focus on vendor management, procurement processing, digital systems, data analysis, reporting, and process improvement. The intern will assist with supplier onboarding, procurement tracking, data management, reporting, and stakeholder engagement while developing professional skills in procurement and supply chain management.

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.

Background

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) supports humanitarian and development operations through timely, transparent and efficient procurement. WFP Ethiopia manages a diverse procurement portfolio involving goods and services, local and international sourcing, supplier engagement, market research, contracting, data analysis and procurement planning. The Procurement Unit is strengthening Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), vendor onboarding, digital procurement workflows, data integrity and management reporting. The internship will provide structured practical experience while supporting routine procurement delivery and sustainable improvements in vendor management, tracking and reporting.

Purpose of Job

The internship is designed to provide practical exposure to procurement operations in a humanitarian context while supporting the Procurement Unit in vendor management, procurement processing, digital systems, data analysis, reporting and process improvement.

• Support accurate, timely and compliant procurement and vendor-management processes.
• Improve visibility over vendor onboarding requests, status, turnaround time, bottlenecks and pending actions.
• Contribute to procurement data management, analysis, dashboards and recurring reports.
• Develop the intern’s professional capabilities in procurement, SRM, digital tools, stakeholder engagement and management reporting.

Key Responsibilities

Vendor Onboarding and Supplier Data Management

• Support internal stakeholders and suppliers during vendor onboarding and registration through applicable corporate platforms and workflows.
• Check vendor submissions for completeness and consistency, including legal and contact information, registration and tax details, supplier categories, qualification information and supporting documentation.
• Maintain an accurate vendor-onboarding tracker showing request references, dates, stages, pending actions, responsible focal points, ageing and final status.
• Follow up on incomplete, returned or rejected cases and escalate unresolved issues to the responsible procurement or SRM focal point.
• Support orderly filing of vendor records and protect confidential or commercially sensitive information.

Procurement Operational Support

• Gather and organize market, supplier and procurement information for routine procurement actions, planning and reporting.
• Assist with preparation and quality review of standard procurement documents, correspondence, evaluation support files, tracking sheets and presentations, under supervision.
• Monitor assigned procurement actions and update status trackers, drawing attention to overdue inputs, data gaps and emerging delivery risks.
• Respond to routine queries within delegated authority and refer policy, contractual or complex issues to responsible staff.
• Maintain accurate electronic records so that procurement files are complete, accessible and audit ready.

Data Analysis, Reporting and Dashboards

• Extract, clean, reconcile and organize procurement and vendor data from authorized corporate and unit-level sources.
• Prepare basic analyses on vendor onboarding, procurement pipelines, lead times, ageing, supplier performance and other agreed indicators.
• Support monthly and quarterly procurement/SRM reports, including concise findings, identified bottlenecks and practical follow-up actions.
• Assist in developing and maintaining user-friendly Excel or SharePoint-based trackers and simple dashboards.
• Identify missing, inconsistent or duplicate data and coordinate correction with the responsible staff.

Digital Procurement and Process Improvement

• Support users and suppliers with routine navigation of authorized digital procurement processes, using approved guidance.
• Collect and document user feedback on system usability, recurring process challenges and capacity-building needs.
• Help map selected procurement or vendor-management workflows, including process stages, handovers, decision points and typical delays.
• Contribute to guidance notes, checklists, standard templates and other practical tools that improve consistency and service delivery.
• Participate in testing or enhancement activities for procurement tools when requested and appropriately authorized.

Stakeholder Engagement and Capacity Building

• Support preparation and delivery of orientation or training sessions for procurement colleagues, requesting units and suppliers.
• Maintain professional and timely communication with internal stakeholders and suppliers.
• Prepare meeting notes, action trackers and follow-up summaries for assigned procurement or SRM discussions.
• Work collaboratively with Procurement, Programme, Logistics, Finance, Legal, IT and other relevant functions, as required.

Compliance, Ethics and Risk Awareness

• Perform assigned duties in accordance with WFP rules, procurement principles, internal controls and delegated authorities.
• Immediately disclose and escalate any actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest.
• Respect confidentiality, data-protection requirements and appropriate access restrictions.
• Flag suspected irregularities, unsupported requests, control gaps or supplier-related risks to the supervisor rather than attempting independent resolution.
• Maintain impartiality, professionalism and respectful conduct in all interactions.

Eligibility

To be considered for an internship with WFP, applicants must meet one of the following requirements listed below:

• Be currently enrolled in an undergraduate programme (for example, bachelor’s degree) from a recognised university and have completed at least two years of the programme. Candidates should have attended classes in the past 12 months in Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Economics, Finance, Information Systems, Computer Science, Data Analytics, or a related field.
• Be currently enrolled in a graduate programme (for example, master's degree) from a recognised university and have attended classes in the past 12 months; graduate studies in Supply Chain, Logistics, Business Management, or a related field are relevant.
• Be a recent graduate from an undergraduate or graduate programme within six months prior to the application to the internship programme from a recognised university and have attended classes in the last 12 months of enrolment in the university.
• Be an Ethiopian National.
• Fluency in oral and written communication in English and Amharic.
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, Word and PowerPoint; familiarity with SharePoint or dashboards is an advantage.
• Be fit to travel to, and work at, the duty station of the internship.
• Not be sons, daughters, brothers or sisters of WFP employees.
• The Programme will recognize candidates’ educational credentials from recognised institutions that have been certified by competent international or national authorities such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) or Ministries of Education.

Deadline for Applications

29 September 2026 – 23:59 GMT+03:00 East Africa Time (Addis Ababa).

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 and 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.
• WFP offers an attractive compensation package. Please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of the vacancy announcement.

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.

Additional Information

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.

To learn more about WFP, visit https://www.wfp.org.