Principal Procurement Operations Officer, COEG at African Development Bank - AfDB

The Complex

• The Senior Vice-Presidency (SNVP) is responsible for supporting the President in the day-to-day management of the Bank Group to achieve its strategic objective and drive performance culture that will align all processes and systems to deliver high impact results.
• The SNVP will provide effective leadership and exceptional coordination to ensure implementation and monitoring of key corporate decisions as well as the identification of necessary corrective measures and actions.
• The SNVP will lead Senior Management discussions, decision-making processes and the implementation of key Board and Management decisions.

The Hiring Department

• The SVP supervises the Fiduciary and Inspection Department (SNFI), which acts as the custodian of the procurement (including procurement for private and public partnership) and financial management (FM) profession, and has the following responsibilities for its functions:
  • Developing and interpreting policy, strategy and related guidance notes and manuals;
  • Preparing annual post review reports on the Bank’s FM and procurement operations for the Board;
  • Developing training strategy for internal and external clients and;
  • Dialoguing with external and global partners with a view to building partnerships and fostering harmonization;
  • Providing the secretariat for the Procurement Review Committee (PRC); and
  • Inspecting and reporting on the performance of procurement and FM activities undertaken by the regions.
• The Principal Procurement Operations Officer is responsible to ensure that the project procurement activities financed by the Bank are compliant with the Bank’s procurement policy.  This is done by advising on procurement arrangements and reviewing procurement decisions within the project/program operations cycle from the identification to completion stages.
• The incumbent also contributes to the preparation of the Bank’s Country Strategy Paper, and to building procurement capacity of Borrowers which includes training of Borrower staff, advising on project-related procurement matters, and assessing and strengthening the Borrower’s procurement systems.
• The Principal Procurement Operations Officer reports administratively to the Regional Operations Manager for Implementation Support (ROM-IS) and functionally to the Division Manager - Procurement (SNFI)/ Regional Procurement Coordinator (RPC).

Duties and responsibilities
In collaboration with the Regional Procurement Coordinator who is his direct technical supervisor, the Principal Procurement Operations Officer is responsible for execution of the following activities:

• Advise the various Sector Divisions involved in the supervision of Borrowers project implementation activities as required by the relevant Presidential Instructions;
• Advice Borrowers, Suppliers, entrepreneurs, Consultants, Contractors and other Entrepreneurs on all aspects related to the procurement of goods and services under Bank Group funded project;
• Participate in Preparation and Appraisal missions for projects with complex procurement components with a view to assisting Borrowers and Sector Divisions Staff to define the most appropriate modalities for procurement;
• Prepare the procurement chapter in the Project Appraisal Report;
• During the project/program preparation cycle missions, assessing the adequacy and effectiveness of the procurement capacity at the Executing Agencies and Project Implementation Unit as well as provide advisory technical support to the project/program team on matters of procurement as an input to a new project;
• Participate in the project/program Launching Mission to assist the project/program team in developing capacity building of the Executing Agency in the area of procurement;
• Review, provide comments and participate in working group meetings of lending and non-lending activities reports;
• Receive, review and clear all tender related documents requiring the Bank’s “No Objection”, “Approval” or “Action” under the Procurement Policy of the Bank in accordance with the Delegation of Authority Matrix; monitor practical aspects by assisting the Projects’ Task Managers to supervise the procurement activities carried out by Borrowers throughout the project cycle;
• Conduct the assessment of country procurement systems and prepare relevant reports using MAPS indicators for approval by the Manager and Director of SNFI; assist regional member countries (RMCs) for their procurement reforms and mobilize financial resources for this assistance;
• Undertake Assessment of Executing Agencies (EA) procurement capacity for each project – With the increasing emphasis on post-review of contracts for improved project implementation this activity, which can only be undertaken by Procurement Specialists, will increase in content;
• Maintaining an on-going system of monitoring the compliance with the Bank’s Procurement Policy by the Borrowers and actions taken by project management to implement internal and external audit recommendations and reporting on the status of implementation;
• Facilitate and undertake training seminars /workshops for Borrowers and Bank Staff as well as certification of Bank’s procurement staff;
• Ensure that procurement information and data entering in SAP by sector experts are effective, correct and accurate;
• Undertaking Annual Post Procurement Review Report on on-going projects with a view to advising management on lessons learnt;
• Contribute to the efficient use of Information Management Systems for processing procurement requests and generating accurate procurement data for SNFI reports.

Selection Criteria

• Hold at least a Master's degree or its equivalent in Engineering, Public / Business Administration, Law, Procurement, Economics or related fields.
• A minimum of 6 years of relevant professional experience in providing procurement support and advice to the preparation and implementation of programs and projects financed by the Bank or any other similar institution in developing countries.
• Proven familiarity with and solid experience in the practice of procurement of goods and works and the acquisition of consultancy services under donor-funded development projects/programs; it would be desirable to have knowledge of Bank Procurement policy.
• Experience in supervising and effectively managing implementation of developments projects and programs.
• Having private sector experience (e.g. PPP operations etc.) will be an added advantage.
• Ability to be flexible, open-minded with integrity, client and results oriented for achieving both Bank’s and Borrowers’ objectives.
• Effective consulting and advisory skills that enable Sector Staff and Borrowers to build their confidence and skills to deal with procurement issues.
• Good networking skills and judgment are required while working within teams and when building professional relationships with procurement specialists and sector specialists working in the Region.
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English with preferably a working knowledge of the French language. It will be an added advantage to have fluency in Arabic.
• Competence with standard MS Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), preferably combined with knowledge and experience of SAP operations.

Note

• To apply for this position, you need to be national of one of AfDB member countries.
• Applicants who fully meet the Bank's requirements and are considered for interview will be contacted. Only online applications submitted with a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae (CV) and copies of the required degrees will be considered.
• The President, AfDB, reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level. The African Development Bank is an equal opportunities employer. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) does not ask for payments of any kind from applicants throughout the recruitment process (job application, CV review, interview meeting, and final processing of applications). In addition, the Bank does not request information on applicants’ bank accounts. The African Development Bank Group declines all responsibility for the fraudulent publications of job offers in its name or, in general, for the fraudulent use of its name in any way whatsoever.