Procurement Manager at Lafiya Nigeria

Position Overview

• As Lafiya transitions from a startup to a national-scale organisation, we need procurement practices that can withstand scrutiny from donors, regulators, and government partners. We're looking for a detail-driven Procurement Manager to own how Lafiya buys goods and services, from everyday purchase requests to the competitive tenders and vendor due diligence behind our larger contracts.
• Day-to-day, you'll own procurement for routine purchases: reviewing Purchase Request Forms, sourcing quotes, and securing approvals, so programme teams can move quickly without cutting corners. For larger, higher-risk purchases, you'll run competitive and restricted tenders, coordinate evaluation panels, and conduct vendor due diligence, meeting the standards our donors and government partners expect. You'll work closely with our Finance Lead, whose budget visibility will help you prioritise what to procure and when.
• This is a mid-level role, roughly 4–6 years of procurement or operations experience, for someone who can design systems and processes with the COO's guidance, then run and refine them independently day to day.

What You’ll Do

Procurement Operations

• Serve as the organisation's procurement lead: Guide staff through the procurement process at every threshold level, from direct purchase to open tender — including helping end users define specifications, participate in vendor selection, and take part in evaluations for their own purchases
• Review and process Purchase Request Forms (PRFs), route them for the correct level of approval, and source quotes or tenders in line with the threshold table
• Coordinate evaluation panels for competitive and restricted-tender procurements and document evaluation decisions
• Ensure all procurement processes comply with the applicable legal and regulatory requirements across our UK, Nigeria, and Netherlands entities
• Issue Purchase Orders and contracts once due diligence and required approvals are complete

Vendor Management

• Conduct due diligence on new vendors for procurements above internal thresholds, per policy: verify business registration, collect the vendor's TIN where applicable, review references for significant contracts, and screen against sanctions lists where required by the relevant donor
• Maintain and grow Lafiya's preferred vendor register for commonly procured goods and services, including pharmaceuticals, logistics and transport, warehousing, printing, training venues, and IT equipment, expanding coverage as Lafiya scales into new countries
• Manage vendor relationships and resolve routine delivery, quality, or payment issues directly with vendors; escalate significant disputes (e.g., contract breach, non-delivery, payment disputes) to the COO

Compliance & Documentation

• Maintain the organisation’s procurement forms and processes (PRF, evaluation/bid comparison, PO, sole source justification, due diligence checklist), updating them to meet the organization's evolving needs and changing donor requirements
• Own and maintain the electronic procurement documentation system, ensuring records are complete, correctly filed, and retained per policy 
• Track and report on sole source and emergency procurement, ensuring proper justification and approval
• Monitor donor-specific procurement requirements and flag conflicts with Lafiya's own thresholds

Training & Rollout

• Onboard new staff on procurement policy and forms
• Run periodic refreshers as the Guidelines are updated (annual review cycle)
• Act as the first point of contact for staff questions on procurement process and independently develop and maintain the guidance materials (FAQs, quick-reference guides) that support this, within the framework agreed with the COO
• Reporting
• Conduct monthly analysis of procurement performance to identify:
• PO cycle time — time from Purchase Request Form submission to PO issuance, by category or site, to flag where procurement delays are creating program delays
• Vendor delivery performance — on-time delivery rate and quality/rejection issues by vendor, to give early warning on vendors putting last-mile supply at risk
• Spend by program site/category — actual vs. budgeted spend
• Emergency/sole-source procurement trends — frequency, value, and reason codes, to surface upstream planning gaps
• Approval/compliance rate — share of purchases with complete documentation and correct sign-off, by threshold tier

Conduct quarterly analysis to identify:

• Vendor concentration and risk — reliance on a single vendor for a given commodity or route
• Unit cost trends for recurring purchases (e.g., cost per commodity, per training session)
• Preferred vendor register performance — candidates to add or remove based on delivery and quality history
• Forecast vs. actual procurement needs, to inform the next quarter's program and budget planning
• Provide regular reporting to the COO on procurement activity, spend by threshold tier, and compliance status
• Support annual review and revision of the Procurement Guidelines

Who You Are

• We are looking for someone who is comfortable balancing procedural rigour with the operational realities of a fast-moving non-profit, being proactive, and determined to get purchases done right, not just done fast. You're someone who:
• Is detail-oriented and organised — comfortable managing many purchases across thresholds, currencies, and entities, and catches errors before they become problems
• Communicates clearly, whether that's walking a field officer through their first PRF or explaining a threshold rule to a donor auditor
• Thinks in policy, acts in practice — understands why procurement principles matter and knows how to apply them when there's one viable vendor or a genuine emergency
• Runs a process end to end, from inviting bids to assembling an evaluation panel to documenting the decision
• Has integrity — discloses conflicts of interest and documents exceptions honestly
• Is driven by improvement — treats procurement as a system to strengthen, not a checklist, and is comfortable saying "I don't know" and figuring it out
• Works autonomously. You don't wait to be chased for a missing quote or a stalled approval — you take ownership of your queue and move things forward without close supervision.
• Works well under pressure. You can deliver quality work on short, realistic deadlines without letting urgency compromise the rigor or documentation the process requires.
• Is proactive about building, not just following, process. You take the initiative to improve the systems you're given, and you build for where Lafiya will be in a year or two, not just where it is today.

Education and Experience

• 4–6 years of relevant procurement or operations experience, ideally in an NGO, donor-funded, or international development context.
• Bachelor's degree in business administration, supply chain/procurement, finance, or a related field required; equivalent professional experience considered in lieu of a degree.
• Working knowledge of procurement principles (value for money, competition, transparency, conflict of interest management) and donor compliance requirements

Skills & Competencies

• Professional fluency in English is mandatory. French and Hausa are desired but not required.
• Proficiency in spreadsheet software (Excel or Google Sheets) for quote comparison, spend tracking, and basic budget reconciliation (VLOOKUP, pivot tables, data cleaning) is mandatory.
• Strong organisational skills; experience building or maintaining documentation systems (Google Drive or similar)
• Clear, professional written and verbal communication: this role trains and supports colleagues who are not procurement specialists
• Working knowledge of cloud document management systems 
• Comfort working across multiple legal entities and currencies (NGN, GBP, USD) is mandatory.
• Working knowledge of accounting or ERP software (e.g., QuickBooks, Sage, or similar) for tracking purchase orders and invoices is a plus.
• Familiarity with donor or grant compliance requirements is a plus.
• Able to manage a high volume of small, recurring purchases without letting any single one slip, while also giving the necessary time and rigor to occasional large or sensitive procurements, such as competitive tenders, multi-year contracts, or purchases with significant donor visibility or reputational exposure.