Senior Procurement Officer

Program Background

The Government of Lebanon, with support from the international community, is implementing the Reaching All Children with Education (RACE) II Program. First launched in 2013, with Phase II becoming effective in July 2018, RACE seeks to improve access to formal education for 460,000 Syrian refugee children and underprivileged Lebanese children in the country. Efforts under this second phase Program are expected to minimize the short and medium-term costs of displacement for refugee families, while strengthening the long-term capacity of the Lebanese education system to prepare children for life and work once regional stability returns. MEHE, with the support of CERD, is responsible for implementing the S2R2 program.

Program Objectives

The Program Development Objective is to promote equitable access, enhance quality of learning, and strengthen the systems in Lebanon’s education sector in response to the protracted refugee crisis. The key results are as follows:

1. Increase in the proportion of school-aged Lebanese and non-Lebanese children (3–18) enrolled in formal education;
2. Increase in the proportion of students passing their grades, and transitioning to the next; and
3. Improvement in MEHE’s capacity to review, evaluate, and update Program implementation.

Tasks and Responsibilities

Under the S2R2 Program, the Center for Educational Research and Development (CERD) is looking for a Senior Procurement Officer.

 Below are the main tasks and responsibilities:

1. Undertake all the Program’s procurement activities, such as reviewing technical specifications for goods and works, reviewing Terms of Reference for consultant services, preparation of bidding documents and request of proposals, training of bid evaluation committees etc.
2. Establish and maintain suitable internal control system for facilitating the procurement of Works, Goods, and Services.
3. Manage the Program’s procurement cycle (short-listing, pre-bid conferences, technical and financial evaluations, writing evaluation reports, negotiations, preparing final contract documents etc.) through implementing all policies and procedures related to procurement activities and ensuring that CERD’s guidelines are followed in all transactions.
4. Follow up on the clearances requested from Court of Audit where applicable.
5. Coordinate with the Central Tender Board and CERD’s tender committee in what relates to publication of procurement plans, advertisement, recommendations to award, and dealing with complaints.
6. Review the comprehensive list of all fixed assets acquired under the program in coordination with the head of the Assets and Materials Unit.
7. Follow up on all procurement schedules and plans.
8. Maintain records on internal memos and correspondence related to procurement.
9. Support the updating of the monthly progress report in issues related to procurement, to be coordinated with the program’s Senior Financial Officer, M&E and Steering Committee at CERD.
10. Lead the development of a Procurement Plan and generate regular updates according to CERD’s standards and Annual Work Plans for each unit at CERD.
11. Lead contract management in close collaboration with S2R2 Senior Financial Officer under the supervision of CERD accounting Legal Department.
12. Retrieve information from the Senior Financial Officer enabling the coordination between the procurement planning and the financial expenditures taking place.
13. Maintain a coherent filing system to include procurement preparation and contract management, correspondence, claims, reports, etc.
14. Apply tools for the market research to update the price lists of relevant goods and consultancies for the support of the procurement decision making.
15. Provide basic training on procurement related processing to staff nominated by different CERD departments and involved in procurement (evaluation, drafting TOR, etc.);
16. Any other task relevant to the position and approved by CERD.

Previous Experience

1. At least 8 years of experience in a similar position in the public/private sector or in internationally financed programs.
2. At least 5 years of experience in managing procurement activities using Government procedures. A knowledge of international procedures such as World Bank procurement guidelines is a plus.

Technical Background and Computer Skills

1. Knowledge of the donors/International organizations rules and regulations related to procurement.
2. Knowledge of public procurement concepts and principles.
3. Knowledge of international procurement concepts and principles is a valued asset.
4. Computer literacy and knowledge in MS Office is mandatory.