Chief Regional Procurement Coordinator at African Development Bank

THE POSITION:

The Chief Regional Procurement Coordinator is responsible to ensuring that the project procurement activities financed by the Bank in his/her region are compliant with the Bank’s Procurement Framework.  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 Borrowers’ procurement systems.

The Chief Regional Procurement Coordinator covering the East Region is based in the Bank’s Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya. He/She reports administratively to the Regional Operations Manager for Implementation Support (ROM-IS) and functionally to the Division Manager - Procurement covering Eastern & Southern Africa & Nigeria (SNFI.3).

KEY FUNCTIONS:

Under the direct supervision of the Division Manager - Procurement, the Chief Regional Procurement Coordinator will:

• Ensure consistent and uniform application of the Procurement Policy within the region and provide corrective actions as appropriate.
• Advise various Sector Divisions involved in the design and supervision of Borrowers’ project implementation activities on procurement matters as required by the Procurement Framework and relevant Presidential Instructions.
• Review procurement policy deviations and provide clearance for inclusion in Project Appraisal Reports (PARs) for subsequent Board approval with clearance of the manager as needed.
• Review all cases involving the use of Third-Party procurement methods and procedures and provide clearance for inclusion of those methods and procedures in the PAR for Board approval with clearance of the manager as needed.
• Review and clear procurement diagnostic assessment reports (Bank Procurement Assessment Reports (BPAR), Sector Market Assessments) for approval by the Manager and Director of SNFI, assist regional member countries with their procurement reforms, and mobilize financial resources for this assistance.
• Review and clear the assessment of borrowers’ procurement systems done by the Procurement specialists’ team and the design of adequate action plans to improve Borrowers’ procurement systems and to strengthen the institutional capacity within borrowers’ entities.
• Participate with other Multilateral Development Banks in the assessment of the Regional Member Countries procurement systems.
• Review and clear procurement cases as per the Bank’s Delegation of Authority matrix for Sovereign and Non-Sovereign projects.
• Take a proactive role in ensuring ‘Quality at Entry work’ through the supervision of a team of Procurement Specialists across the region in terms of the Fiduciary and Development mandate of the Bank.
• Lead the preparation of the region’s input to division’s work program.
• Lead the preparation of the region’s input in the Procurement Annual Report.
• Follow up with Procurement Specialists regarding complaints received from bidders, contractors or civil society.
• When required, participate in the 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.
• Facilitate and undertake training seminars/workshops for the Borrower and Bank Staff and Business Opportunity seminars for the regional and non-regional private sector.
• Prepare all Project Procurement briefs for the Senior Management when required.
• Monitor Procurement Data Entry by reviewing their quality through random checks to ensure that accurate procurement data are generated for SNFI reports.
• Maintain procurement information regarding her/his region on the Bank’s Website.
• Make sure that the objectives of the key performance indicators set up by the Procurement department are attained by developing tools.
• Prepare periodic activity reports of the region and the Bank’s Annual Procurement Reports.

COMPETENCIES (skills, experience and knowledge):

• Hold at least a master’s degree in engineering, Public/Business Administration, Law, Procurement, Economics, or related fields.
• A minimum of seven (7) 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’s Procurement Framework.
• 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 a working knowledge of the French language.
• Competence with standard MS Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), preferably combined with knowledge and experience of SAP operations.