Procurement Assistant - ARE Activity

BACKGROUND

The Lebanon Agriculture and Rural Empowerment (ARE) activity, funded by USAID and implemented by Chemonics International, supports Lebanese rural and peri-urban communities to obtain technical and financial resources in order to facilitate increased productivity, sales, and exports, improved business income, while also ensuring livelihood sustainability. To support this purpose, ARE will increase jobs; improve incomes; improve female participation and employment opportunities; increase domestic and export sales; increase private sector investment; improve access to finance; link value chain actors to domestic and international markets; and improve production through improved practices, technology, increased volume, and/or decreased cost. ARE supports two key expected results:

1. Increased domestic and export sales at both firm and farm levels.
2. Livelihoods improved, especially in rural areas and for women. 

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Procurement Assistant will serve as a member of the Operations, Finance and Grants component, and will report to the Procurement Manager. The Procurement Assistant will work closely with, and assist, Procurement Manager and two procurement specialists to ensure that procurements are solicited using adequate price competition, and that they comply with all relevant USAID regulations and Chemonics policies.

DETAILED RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Specific Duties and Responsibilities

• Arrange procurement meetings as needed.
• Assist the procurement specialist in ensuring that all procurements are compliant with USAID regulations and Chemonics policies.
• Works directly with local, regional, or international vendors and service providers to obtain quotations and/or initiate procurements of requested commodities and services.
• Assist in issuing written solicitations (Request for Quotations and Request for Proposals, etc.) on behalf of operations and/or technical teams and participates on selection panels to ensure transparency and compliance at all steps.
• Assist the Procurement specialist in Liaising with vendors and subcontractors throughout the procurement process: arranges bidder meetings; compiles clarification questions from bidders and work with the ARE operations and/or technical teams to prepare responses; coordinates evaluation committees; vets vendors and service providers; etc.
• Responds in a timely manner to procurement requests as needed.
• Makes efforts where possible to streamline the procurement process through establishing appropriate agreements with vendors.
• Assists operations staff on the procurement of commodities and professional services for the field office.
• Monitors contracts and purchase orders issued to vendors and follow up as necessary to ensure compliance with terms and conditions.
• Maintains the overall integrity of the procurement filing system by ensuring that appropriate documentation is included in each procurement file.
• Assists with record management by filing, scanning, and maintaining documents.
• Keeps the Vendor Database up to date.

• Maintain efficient vetting tracking system, collect PIF information from partners and ensure proper vetting and screening process.
• Travels as required to inspect equipment at delivery sites or participate in site visits.
• Assists in preparing periodic inventory reports to USAID, as required.
• Update procurement tracker and send biweekly procurement updates to different teams.

Perform any other relevant duties as assigned by the Procurement Manager and/or Senior Grants and Procurement Manager and/or the Operations, Finance, and Grants Director. 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or relevant field
• Minimum of two years of experience preferably working on donor-funded projects in a related role and with demonstrated financial skills experience; Applied financial/business skills in agricultural programs are a plus.
• Demonstrated experience in assisting technical teams in day-to-day program operations, basic financial modeling and analysis, and report writing.
• Knowledge of USAID, or other donors preferred.
• Excellent/fluent written and spoken English and Arabic.
• Excellent knowledge in Microsoft Office specifically Excel.

LOCATION OF ASSIGNMENT

The Procurement Assistant will be based in the project’s main office in Beirut, with travel throughout the country as needed.

REPORTING

The  Procurement Assistant will report to the Procurement Manager.