Carsten Hansen has been the Executive Director and Founder of SourcingHaus since its inception in April 2023.
Carsten is committed to reshaping the procurement landscape and envisions SourcingHaus as a trusted partner in transforming the procurement function into a key driver of change, enabling innovation and sustainability implementation within organizations. With over 20 years of experience in senior roles within United Nations (UN) international procurement and supply chain management, Carsten is keen on positioning SourcingHaus as a strategic partner in achieving organizational sustainability objectives, thus contributing to the global transition towards a zero-carbon, socially responsible, and climate-resilient economy.
Carsten is also seeking to accelerate sustainable public procurement implementation, as the part-time Lab Director of the Sustainable Public Procurement Accelerator Lab (SPP Lab) at the George Weston Centre for Sustainable Supply Chains, Schulich School of Business, York University (Canada). In this role, he collaborates with researchers, government officials, and industry leaders, on propelling the advancement and adoption of premier solutions that empower public procurement practitioners to deliver on United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.7. The SPP Lab’s initiatives range from benchmarking best practices, experimenting with innovative tools and methodologies, offering technical assistance and training, to conducting research and advocacy.
In addition, Carsten holds a Visiting Research Fellow position at the School of Management, Centre for Strategic Procurement and Supply Management at Cranfield University (UK). His academic pursuits involve research and publications centered around the optimization of global sourcing strategies, supply chain risk management, and sustainable procurement implementation.
Carsten’s international career includes 20 years in senior management positions within the United Nations (UN) in global procurement and supply chains. From 2016 to 2023, he served as the Chief of Global Procurement Services at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), overseeing the global procurement function and managing a network of global teams providing procurement and advisory services to UN and government clients across over 170 countries. Carsten also co-chaired the Inter-Agency Working Group on Sustainable Procurement for the United Nations High-level Committee on Management (HLCM) and was a pivotal member of the UN/OSCE Task Force on Human Trafficking/Forced Labour in UN Supply Chains.
Additional positions held by Carsten include Senior Global Procurement Advisor at UNDP (2011-2016), Head of the Procurement & Logistics Division at UNRWA in Lebanon (2010-11), and Head of the UNDP Procurement & Contracting Department in Somalia (2007-10). He also has military peacekeeping and humanitarian supply chain experience through his service in various UN Missions, including (UNPROFOR) in Sarajevo/Bosnia Herzegovina and (UNIKOM) in Iraq/Kuwait.
Key Publications
- Carlos Mena, Antonios Karatzas & Carsten Hansen (2021), “International Trade Resilience and the Covid-19 pandemic”, Journal of Business Research, Volume 138, January 2022, Pages 77-91.
- Carsten Hansen & Farid Yaker (2021), “Introducing A Sustainability-weighted Procurement Portfolio Model (PPM)”, One Planet Network Resource Hub, United Nations.
- Carsten Hansen (2020), “Waking the Trillion Dollar Giant: Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) and the 2030 SDG Agenda”, One Planet Network Resource Hub and Green Growth Platform, United Nations.
- Carsten Hansen, Carlos Mena & Emel Aktas (2018), “The Role of Political Risk in Service Offshoring Entry Mode Decisions”, International Journal of Production Research, p. 1-17.
- Carsten Hansen, Carlos Mena & Heather Skipworth (2017), “Exploring Political Risk in Offshoring Engagements”, International Journal of Production Research, 55:7, 2051-2067.
- Carsten Hansen (2013), “Navigating a Volatile World – Revisiting Political Risk Management in Offshore Outsourcing”, IAOP Pulse Magazine, Issue 6, July/August 2013, p. 10-13.
- Carsten Hansen, (2020), “COVID-19, Human Rights & Procurement Due Diligence”, LinkedIn Blog.
- Carsten Hansen, (2020), “COVID-19, Global Supply Chains & the Perfect Storm”, LinkedIn Blog
Acknowledged expert contributions and peer review of the following UN/OSCE publications:
- “The Sustainable Public Procurement Global Review 2022”, UNEP, 2022.
- “Inclusive Public Procurement Playbook”, UNDP , 2022.
- “Sustainable Public Procurement – How to Wake the Sleeping Giant”, UNEP, 2021.
- “Combating Human Trafficking & Labour Exploitation in Supply Chains” , OSCE, 2021.
- “Building Transparent and Open Public Procurement Systems in ASEAN”, UNDP, 2021.
Certifications
- Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA 4.1), 2025, EFFAS Academy
- UNEP Certification Programme on Sustainable Public Procurement, ITC/ILO, November 2021.
- Data Science 1, Foundations of Data Science, University of Toronto, Canada, 2020.
- Introduction to Python 3.0 Certification at Waterloo University, Canada, 2020.
- Chartered Financial Advisor (CFA) Institute, Investment Foundations Certificate, CFA ID 9149501, 2019.
- Award of Fellowship (FCIPS), Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), 2019.
- Canadian Risk Management (CRM) Designation, University of Toronto, RIMS G31000, 2016.
- International Human Resource Management Certification, Cornell University, 2007.
- Procurement Certification (MCIPS), Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), 2006.
- PRINCE2 Project Management Certification, License P2R/159876, APM Group South Africa, 2005.
- Public Procurement Policy, Strategy & Reform, International Development Law Organization (2009).
- UN Procurement and Contracting Certification, Dubai, UAE (2007).
- UN Fundamentals of Public Procurement Course, Dubai, UAE (2007).
- UN Risk Management in Contracting for Construction Services Course, Dubai, UAE (2006).
- UN Procurement Strategy Development Course, Nairobi, Kenya (2006).
- UN Conflict Early Warning and Preventive Measures Course, Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania (2002).
Languages
- Fluent: English, Danish
- Partial: French, Arabic
