Advisor, Procurement Operations

Pan American Health Organization Inc; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 77,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

PAHO, the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization, is seeking a strategic Advisor, Procurement Operations to lead procurement operations and international logistics under the PAHO Regional Revolving Funds, ensuring agile, efficient delivery of essential health supplies to countries in the Region.

PAHO is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and works with governments, partners and international agencies to strengthen health systems and response capacity.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration, industrial engineering, supply chain, commerce, economics, public administration, or related field.
• Nine years of combined national and international procurement and logistics experience, with supervisory experience.
• Fluency in English or Spanish with working knowledge of the other language; French and/or Portuguese would be an asset.
• Strong IT skills including Excel, ERP, and MS Office tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead procurement operations and international logistics strategies to ensure agile, efficient delivery of health supplies.
• Coordinate procurement and transportation strategies for vaccines, medicines, and health supplies across the Region.
• Manage supplier relationships and strategic initiatives to strengthen Procure-to-Pay (P2P) operations, logistics performance, and service quality.
• Develop and monitor dashboards, KPIs, and quality management systems to improve operational efficiency, transparency, and accountability.
• Provide technical leadership and advisory support to Member States, Country Offices, suppliers, freight forwarders, and partner organizations.

Skills

Procurement operations

International logistics

P2P (Procure-to-Pay)

Supplier relationships

KPI dashboards

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in related field

Tools

ERP systems

Excel

PowerPoint

Outlook

Teams

SharePoint

Job description

Grade: P-4 Salary - Annually: Step I - 86,027.00 USD Post Adjustment - Annually: 46,970.74 USD Contractual Agreement: Staff - Professional Post Posting: September 18, 2026 Closing Date: October 2, 2026, 11:59 PM Eastern Time Primary Location: Washington, D.C. Organization: PRO Procurement and Supply Management Schedule: Full time

Description of Duties

Advisor, Procurement Operations Join us and be the driving force behind strengthening procurement operations and supply chain performance across the Americas

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO), is seeking a strategic, results-oriented and experienced Advisor, Procurement Operations to lead procurement operations and international logistics under the PAHO Regional Revolving Funds, ensuring the agile, efficient, and quality delivery of essential health supplies to countries and territories throughout the Region. Under the general supervision of the Director of Administration (AM), and the direct supervision of the Director, Procurement and Supply Management (PRO), the selected candidate will:

• Lead procurement operations and international logistics strategies that ensure the agile, efficient, quality, and risk-informed delivery of critical health supplies to participating countries and territories.
• Coordinate and oversee procurement and transportation strategies for vaccines, medicines, and health supplies across the Region, ensuring cost-effective and efficient delivery.
• Manage supplier relationships and strategic initiatives to strengthen Procure-to-Pay (P2P) operations, logistics performance, and service quality.
• Develop and monitor operational dashboards, key performance indicators (KPIs), and quality management systems to improve operational efficiency, transparency, and accountability.
• Provide technical leadership and advisory support to Member States, Country Offices, suppliers, freight forwarders, and partner organizations to strengthen procurement, logistics, and supply chain management throughout the Region.

For a complete list of functions, please refer to the post description.

What is required for this position?

A bachelor’s and a master’s degree in business administration, industrial engineering, supply chain, commerce, economics, public administration, or any other field related to the functions of the post from a recognized university.

Nine years of combined national and international experience in procurement operations, procure-to-pay management, international logistics, delivery management or contracting in either the private or public sector, including supervisory experience.

Fluency in English or Spanish with a working knowledge of the other language. Knowledge of French and/or Portuguese would be an asset.

Demonstrated ability to effectively use current technology and software, spreadsheets and presentations, as well as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and management information systems. Other IT skills and knowledge of software programs such as Microsoft Excel, Outlook, OneDrive, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint, and Word are considered essential.

Competencies and Skills

The skills required are:

• Professional competencies and sound knowledge of end-to-end procure-to-pay (P2P) operations, international logistics and delivery management for health supplies and equipment, including pharmaceuticals, vaccines, medical products, laboratory supplies, cold chain equipment and related commodities.
• Strong professional competencies in operational planning, service management, supplier and logistics partner coordination, shared services oversight, performance monitoring and risk management.
• Mature judgment, strong technical, analytical and conceptual skills; demonstrated ability to assess, analyze, synthesize and provide recommendations on key managerial and administrative issues.
• Ability to integrate managerial and administrative inputs into recommendations for decision-making processes; ability to manage multiple issues and tasks in a complex organizational environment.
• Ability to work independently and easily adapt to change; able to take on additional managerial responsibilities when emergencies or disaster situations occur.
• Ability to effectively lead and supervise a team of procurement management resources and provide guidance and support as needed.
• Strong partnership-building, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to develop policies, guidelines and procedures.

Duration of Contract

Post of limited duration. First year probationary period.

DISCLAIMER This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade and level.

PAHO, considers official higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in one of the following databases:

• World Higher Education Database (WHED), list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
• Council for Higher Education Accreditation chea.org
• College Navigator, found on the website of the National Centre for Educational Statistics, nces.gov to support the validation process.

Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to PAHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and e-Manual.

PAHO supports an environment of mutual respect and dignity for all applicants. Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Maintaining high standards of integrity and accountability. People joining PAHO are required to maintain these standards both in their professional work and personal activities. Promoting a work environment that is free from harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and other types of abusive behavior. PAHO conducts background checks and will not hire anyone who has a substantiated history of misconduct. Providing a smoke-free environment. Protecting the people in the communities we serve. Therefore, we have zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. People who commit serious wrongdoing will be terminated and may also face criminal prosecution.

PAHO, the specialized international health agency for the Americas, works with countries throughout the region to improve and protect people's health. PAHO wears two institutional hats: it is the specialized health agency of the Inter-American System and also serves as Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO), the specialized health agency of the United Nations. PAHO engages in technical cooperation with its member countries to fight communicable and noncommunicable diseases and their causes, to strengthen health systems, and to respond to emergencies and disasters. PAHO is committed to ensuring that all people have access to the health care they need, when they need it, with quality and without fear of falling into poverty. Through its work, PAHO promotes and supports the right of everyone to good health. To advance these goals, PAHO promotes technical cooperation between countries and works in partnership with ministries of health and other government agencies, civil society organizations, other international agencies, universities, social security agencies, community groups, and other partners. PAHO promotes the inclusion of health in all public policies and the engagement of all sectors in efforts to ensure that people live longer, healthier lives, with good health as their most valuable resource. Under the leadership of its 51 member countries and territories, PAHO sets regional health priorities and mobilizes action to address health problems that respect no borders and that, in many cases, jeopardize the sustainability of health systems. From its Washington, D.C., headquarters, 27 country offices and three specialized centers in the region, PAHO promotes evidence‑based decision‑making to improve and promote health as a driver of sustainable development.