1. Tell me why Do I Need To Complete A Grn?
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.
2. Explain me who Conducts The Market Research?
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.
3. Tell us how do you negotiate with a difficult supplier?
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.
4. Suppose I Have An Urgent Requirement, What Do I Need To Do?
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.
5. Explain me a Supplier Has Not Sent Me A Receipt For A Transaction. What Do I Do?
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.
6. Tell us when Can The Partner Expect A Statement Of Account?
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.
7. Suppose I Have Already Obtained Quotes. What Should I Do With Them?
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.
8. Please explain what tools do you use to keep track of progress on your projects?
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.
9. Explain me why Do We Need To Address Social Issues Within Tenders?
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.
10. Explain me why Must All Suppliers Is Given The Same Information?
This is to ensure openness and transparency, and to ensure that no supplier is given an unfair advantage over another.
11. Tell us what Else Do I Need To Do If I Am Buying Research Equipment?
Where equipment is being purchased for research purposes, the research form must be attached to all requisitions, otherwise it will be rejected.
12. Tell us what Information Is Deemed To Be Confidential?
The Procurement Service will review this in conjunction with the supplier and guidance in relation to the Freedom of Information Act.
13. Suppose I Am A Grade 4 Administrator In A Department. Can I Have A Card?
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.
14. Tell me does Unicef Make A Profit From Procurement Services?
No, UNICEF does not make a profit from Procurement Services.
15. Do you know Stakeholders Influence Sourcing Strategies?
Yes, stakeholders will be included in the planning process to ensure that their needs are met and to capture any specialist knowledge they have.
16. Explain me what would make you search for a new supplier?
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.
17. Explain me how do you decide if you need a contract for a purchase or not?
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.
18. Suppose I Need To Write My First Specification And I Don't Know Where To Start?
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.
19. Do you know in What Languages Are Standard Mous Available?
Standard MOU templates are available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian.
20. Tell me can I Be Involved In Contract Management?
Stakeholders can and will be involved in contract management and review meetings, where appropriate.
21. Tell me how Do I Raise A Capital Equipment Requisition In Acquire?
Please ensure that you select the field for capital on the requisition screen.
22. Explain me your negotiation skills and tactics?
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.
23. Explain me how Will I Know What To Include In The Specification?
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.
24. Explain me how Are Suppliers Selected?
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.
25. Tell me a Supplier Has Phoned For A Discussion On A Tender, What Should I Do?
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.
26. Do you know what Is A Contract Management Log?
A contract management log is a shared document between the University and the supplier that is used to capture all activities relating to the contract. Whether it is improvements, records of meetings or issues, the contract management log will help develop the current contract and also form the basis for future contracts.
27. Tell me who Decides Which Eu Process Will Be Undertaken?
The Procurement Service will make recommendations on the process, whether that will be a one stage or two stages, but the stakeholder is able to provide their own thoughts on this as part of the planning phase.
28. Tell us what are some appropriate remedies for a supplier's failure to perform?
There are a great number of remedies you can use to deal with a supplier's failure to perform. The key is to know which remedy is appropriate for each situation and to contractually apply that remedy properly. For example, two available remedies are cover damages and contract termination. Cover damages involve you collecting from your contracted supplier any premium you had to pay to another supplier to enable you to require from the contracted supplier's failure. Termination enables you to cancel a contract completely with a supplier. If there was one small failure in the middle of a massive and important five-year contract with a great supplier, would you want to completely terminate that contract? Probably not. In that case, cover damages would be a more appropriate remedy as your organization would be able to recover any financial loss without having the entire future of a project put at risk while you switch suppliers. Cover damages and termination are only two of the many remedies we teach in our online course, “Supply Management Contract Writing.”
29. Tell us can We Negotiate To Bring The Suppliers Price Down?
Negotiation or bartering on price is not ethical, however there are techniques that can be adopted to influence a change in a proposal, for example value engineering. This must be done by trained Procurement Service staff. If price is very important, it may be possible to carry out an eAuction. This must be decided in advance of the tender.
30. Tell us are There Any Advantages To Still Being Classed As A Public Body?
The advantages that we receive by complying with EU legislation are:
☛ Free advertising of requirements and therefore being alerted to other suppliers that may not have been known about otherwise.
☛ Compliance with the competition act.
☛ Assurance that a robust and fair process has been followed.
31. Tell us how can we reduce our risk through better contract language?
Poorly written contracts either don't address or don't clearly address what happens in situations that can be described as the fruition of risk. Well-written contracts reduce risk by specifying exactly what will happen in the event that certain disruptive events occur. For example, a well-written delivery article with a liquidated damages clause can provide a supplier with sufficient incentive to completely avoid the possibility of a late delivery. A well-written indemnity clause can provide legal protection in a case where damage, injury or death occurs and the cause is related to a supplier's performance. And a Force Majeure clause can help your organization avoid being penalized when its failure to perform was due to an “act of God” or other factors outside of its reasonable control.
32. Explain me your top three career accomplishments?
A candidate's accomplishments underscore not only their perceived competencies but how much value they place on key parts of the position on offer. Maybe they restructured the purchase order process and implemented three-way verification to reduce rogue spending. Perhaps they spearheaded the streamlining of the supply chain for additional cost savings, or establishing a strong, mutually beneficial relationship with a supplier. Whatever the case, their answer should make it clear how they can put the skills they've used in the past to help strengthen your purchasing organization in the future.
33. Explain me what techniques do you use to accelerate progress on your projects?
Even when a project is expertly planned using a great tool like Microsoft Project, the realities of the business world will occasionally require you to accelerate progress on your project. In our online course “Professional Purchasing Project Management,” we teach four techniques for accelerating progress on a procurement project: increasing resource units, finding ways to reduce the projected duration of tasks, adding resources and modifying working hours. These changes are implemented in real life as well as within the project plan.
34. Do you know who Decides If We Do Our Own Tender Or Use A Consortia Agreement?
It is a requirement, as identified in the Diamond Report, for University's to use collaborative agreements for 30% of their non pay spends. This is measured on an annual basis through statistical returns. The Procurement Service will always review any agreements that are available to use, and will discuss with the stakeholder if this is suitable for their needs. If they are, a mini competition will be undertaken that complies with the terms set in the framework agreement. This can substantially reduce timescales. If the agreement is not suitable, or does not closely match our requirements, we will have to do our own tender.
35. Do you know how Is Spend Analysis Conducted?
Spend information is taken from all financial systems, Oracle, acquire and Barclaycard spend. This is then reviewed to look at off-contract spend, and these are then categorised into short-term (contract needed within 12 months, perhaps where there is a legal requirement or there is likely to be an increase in spend); medium-term (contract needed within 24 months) and long-term (contract needed, but not urgent as there are other contracts available that can be used).
