Procurement Specialist

Organizational Setting

The FAO Representation, Bangladesh is responsible for leading FAO's response to regional priorities for food security, agriculture and rural development through the identification, planning, and implementation of FAO's priority activities in the country. It ensures a multidisciplinary approach to programmes, identifies priority areas of action for the Organization in Bangladesh and, in collaboration with Regional Office Asia and Pacific and the departments and divisions at Headquarters, develops, promotes and oversees FAO's strategic response to the country priorities. The representation also supports the regional office in the incorporation of regional priorities into the Organization's Programme of Work and Budget and implements approved programmes and projects in the country, monitors the level of programme implementation and draws attention to problems and deficiencies. The office also develops and maintains relations with Government of Bangladesh, UN agencies, the resource partners and other development institution at the country level.

Reporting Lines

The Consultant/PSA reports to the Procurement Officer under the overall guidance of the HQ Procurement unit as appropriate for functional and policy guidance.

Technical Focus

Procurement of goods and services. The Consultant will provide support to ensure that procurement activities comply with FAO's established policies and procedures and reflect best practice for public procurement.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Work with the IPO, develop an action plan to achieve the outputs of the consultancy to be presented to the Procurement Unit and Programme Team;
• Collaborate with requestors to prepare comprehensive and appropriate Technical Specifications (TS) of the various good and services required by the country office for all programmes and individual projects;
• Ensure the proper technical clearances are obtained for such Technical Specifications and prepare, review and analyse procurement requests for completeness and conformity with established FAO rules;
• Establish, as necessary, additional qualifying requirements or characteristics of potential vendors to be added to the Technical Specifications in consultation with the supervisor and the requestor;
• Review and clear the Evaluation Criteria and methodology as prepared by the requester and the technically competent unit.
• Prepare official tender documents and submit for review to the supervisor and the designated Procurement Authority for clearance and approval to launch the tendering process in line with the established procedure.
• Conduct research on relevant markets for identified programme goods to determine market availability, quality and competitiveness utilizing Expressions of Interest (EOI), particularly for potential Long-Term Agreements, ensuring transparency throughout the process, for regularly used services such as; transportation, seasonal agricultural inputs, emergency response inputs, survey and assessment work, production of visibility and communication materials, amongst others;
• Research and propose mechanisms and processes to increase the local procurement in line with FAO’s commitment to localization in line with UN commitments to the Grand Bargain agreement;
• Analyse the submissions and bids from vendors and prepare the necessary documents as per the outlined procedures and processes prior to provision of clearance for the signing of contracts (Long Term Agreements) between FAO Bangladesh and the various vendors of goods and services.
• Assist the supervisor in providing guidance to Organization staff particularly in country offices on procurement matters and on the implementation of procurement strategies and processes in conformity with the relevant rules, procedures and practices;
• Liaise with Procurement Specialists of UN agencies to determine potential for contract piggy backing and LTA sharing in order to create efficiencies;
• Work closely with the Logistics Specialists to identify efficiencies in contracting for transportation, storage (including pre-positioning) and distribution of inputs;
• Establish and or develop monitoring systems which track the procurement process through to delivery and distribution, and/or completion of services;

• Perform any other duties as may be assigned.

  CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree University Degree in Law, Business, Administration, Economics, Public Administration, Arts and Humanities, International Relations, Political Sciences or Commerce or a related field.
• A minimum of five years of relevant experience in procurement related activities;
• Working knowledge of English, French or Spanish and limited knowledge of one of the other two or Arabic, Chinese, Russian (for Consultants). Working knowledge of English, knowledge of one of the other FAO languages is an asset (for PSAs);

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Demonstrated knowledge of internationally recognized procurement standards and international procurement techniques and operations used in contracting for goods and services;
• Extent and relevance of experience in public sector procurement dealing with contractual issues;
• Extent and relevance of experience in identifying clients' procurement-related needs and in providing support and guidance from clients' point of view;
• Experience in logistics operations is an asset desirable;
• Knowledge of procurement-related IT tools and systems (i.e. enterprise resource planning, inventory management, procurement, database management applications, etc.) is desirable.