Procurement Officer

  REPUBLIC OF LEBANON   MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS   National Volunteer Service Program (NVSP)   TERMS OF REFERENCE   Procurement Officer   VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT     I- Introduction:   The Government of Lebanon has allocated a US$2 million grant attributed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), acting as administrator of funds provided by the State and Peace-Building Fund (SPF) to the Ministry of Social Affairs. The purpose of the grant is to strengthen the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA) capacity in developing a strategy to empower youth and promote civic service engagement across the country. In particular, at the central level MOSA will develop and scale up nascent volunteerism activities by developing the institutional and governance structure for volunteerism in the country; strengthening capacity of the MOSA, NGOs, universities, schools and volunteers based on public-private partnerships; and expanding opportunities for volunteerism.   II- Objectives:   The National Volunteer Service Programme (NVSP), partly funded by this grant, aims at promoting social cohesion across communities and regions through increased youth civic engagement in communities outside of their own. Over the medium term, the NVSP is expected to: (i) enhance cross-confessional understanding in Lebanon and therefore work towards building a more cohesive and stable society; (ii) provide youth with skills for better integration into the labour market and a means by which to serve communities; and (iii) strengthen the NGO sector particularly its “voluntary” role. The objective will be achieved by expanding opportunities for meaningful volunteering, developing the institutional capacity of the MOSA, NGOs, and universities to effectively utilize volunteers, and building the capacity of youth to become active volunteers and to contribute to communities.   III. Objectives of the Assignment:   The Ministry of Social Affairs will contract a Procurement Officer for an expected period of 3 years, on an annually renewable contract basis, based on satisfactory performance of the consultant. The assignment will be based at MOSA. The main objective of the assignment is to manage the flow of procurement activities in the project components as well as to the programming, acquisition, and follow-up of the usage of goods and consultants’ services supplied by the project. The Procurement Officer will report directly to the Project Manager. IV. Scope of Work: Under the supervision of the Project Manager, the incumbent is expected to undertake the following duties:  Manage the project procurement through implementing all policies and procedures related to procurement activities & ensuring that Bank procurement guidelines and grant agreement provisions are followed in transactions;  Develop procurement tools such as standard format for Terms Of Reference, Technical Specifications, customized contracts for staff and other individual consultants;  Contribute to the operational manual procurement section;  Undertake necessary advertisement on annual and periodic basis;  Undertake procurement activities, such as assisting/reviewing technical specifications for goods and terms of reference for consulting services; preparing bidding documents; writing evaluation reports; providing necessary assistance and tools for conducting evaluation processes; etc.  Conduct market research and update price lists in respect of relevant equipment;  Develop and maintain a data base of suppliers and consultants to include their contacts, areas of expertise, relevance to project components. A cross reference system would be necessary to facilitate identification of filed supporting documents and Curricula Vitae;  Maintain a coherent filing system to include procurement preparation and contract management, correspondence, claims, reports, etc.  Ensure that all Consultants deliverables are properly filed and referenced;  Lead the development of a Project Procurement Plan and generate regular updates for the guidance of the Project Manager, and the NVSP team;  Develop tools for capturing procurement data and identify progress towards the achievement of procurement schedules;  Participate in project technical committees or component team meetings in order to ensure timely implementation progress and a focus on procurement related activities;  Coordinate with the NVSP Financial Officer for regular preparation of Project Management Reports, as a part of the World Bank financial reporting requirements;  Undertake other procurement related duties and assist with other project management responsibilities as required by the Project Manager;  Provide training to procurement staff and other staff involved in procurement processing.  Monitor procurement processing in close collaboration with the financial officer and maintain a realistic planning allowing proper budgeting;  Participate in procurement training courses if necessary.   V. Qualifications: Education:  Higher education with a major in a relevant discipline, including: Engineering; Architecture; Economics; Public Administration; Procurement, Finance, Business or Commerce   Knowledge and Experience:  At least 5 years of experience as procurement officer or responsibilities with a substantial content in the procurement area  Preferable experience in projects financed by international financial organizations      Good knowledge of all concepts, principles and approaches to international procurement  Preferably with good knowledge of the public sector in Lebanon and its overall structure and policy objectives   Skills & Abilities:  Fluency in English (reading, writing) and in Arabic  Demonstrated competence in the use of Microsoft Office and project planning software  Demonstrated ability to take a leadership position in a team based environment  Demonstrated ability to motivate and promote collaboration amongst diverse teams and team members  Demonstrated analytical and problem-solving and negotiating skills with ability to balance project objectives and procurement requirements with client needs  Demonstrated ability to elaborate and present procurement reports and statements  Availability, dependability, and willingness to be flexible  Enthusiastic and positive attitude toward helping others  Strong communication skills   Interested candidates are invited to send their CVs and a motivation letter to the following e-mail address: nvsp.mosa@gmail.com not later than May 18, 2012. Only selected candidates will be contacted for interviews.