Procurement Specialist - ARE Activity

BACKGROUND

The Lebanon Agriculture and Rural Empowerment (ARE) program is a multi-year project funded by USAID to develop rural economics in Lebanon through support to the agro-food sector and other industries to unlock local and export sales potential while also creating jobs and increasing farmers’ and worker’s incomes. 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 farm production through improved practices, technology, increased volume, and/or decreased cost. 

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Procurement Specialist will manage all administrative, contractual and operational aspects related to the procurement of equipment, commodities, and services the Lebanon ARE project, ensuring quality standards are met, and all procurements are cost-effective and compliant with Chemonics and USAID regulations. The Procurement Specialist will provide guidance and oversight to Lebanon ARE staff, grantees, and vendors regarding procurement processes. The Procurement Specialist will work closely with the Lebanon ARE grants and technical team which includes, Senior Grants and Procurement Manager and Grants Managers, Technical Advisors, Business Portfolio Managers, and other short term technical assistance throughout the project.

DETAILED RESPONSIBILITIES

Under this scope of work, the Procurement Specialist shall perform tasks including but not limited to the following:

• Ensure all procurements are compliant with USAID and project policies.
• Issue requests for proposals (RFPs) on behalf of the Lebanon ARE team and participate on selection panels to ensure transparency and compliance at all steps. Work with the Lebanon ARE technical team to prepare and finalize tenders, bidding documents, technical specifications, contracts, schedules of completion, and evaluation reports.
• Work directly with local, regional or international vendors, service providers, and subcontractors to obtain quotations and/or initiate procurements of requested commodities, works, and services. Liaise with vendors and subcontractors and serve as their point of contact throughout the procurement process: arrange bidder meetings, compile clarification questions from bidders and work with the Lebanon ARE technical team to prepare responses; coordinate evaluation committees, vet vendors and service providers, etc.
• Manage the shipping and installation of procurements as necessary and identifies needs for capacity building for proper use of equipment in coordination with the Lebanon ARE technical team. Travel to inspect equipment or consolidate shipment as necessary.
• Conduct in a timely manner procurement requests as approved by grant activities.
• Make efforts where possible to streamline the procurement process through establishing appropriate agreements with vendors.
• Monitor contracts and purchase orders issued to vendors and follow up as necessary to ensure compliance to terms and conditions i.e. contracts management in coordination with ARE technical, grants, and operations teams
• Maintain the project’s commodity management tracking system for grantees and subcontractors to provide accurate information to office manager for office inventory.
• Develop procurement related approval documentation for submission to USAID.
• Travel as required to inspect equipment at grantee sites.
• Ensure that all procured equipment and construction materials comply with the USAID geographic code 937 requirements and that they are properly labeled and branded, where applicable.
• Participate in negotiating terms and conditions of contracts. Monitor contracts and purchase orders issued to subcontractors and vendors and follow up as necessary to ensure compliance to terms and conditions.
• Provide training, coaching, and advisory services to Lebanon ARE staff, beneficiaries, grantees, and vendors related to the procurement policies and procedures, including tenders, technical evaluations of proposals, and contract management. Assist Lebanon ARE operations staff on the procurement of commodities and professional services for the field office.
• Work with Chemonics’ home office procurement and contracts experts and project management unit (PMU) to ensure all bidding documents and subcontracts adhere to Chemonics’ and USAID’s procurement policies, use the most updated templates, and meet the necessary quality standard.
• Maintain the overall integrity of the procurement filing system by ensuring that appropriate and timely documentation is included in each procurement file including memorandums of negotiation for all procurements. Maintain detailed notes to document all procurements processes and evaluations.
• Responds in a timely manner to procurement requests from the Lebanon ARE technical team and provide procurement status reports when requested.
• Responsible for adapting procurement forms and tools to ARE needs and context and develop guidance tools on procurement process to ARE team.
• Responsible for developing and maintaining up to date procurement tracker(s) i.e. all types of trackers needed for managing requests and providing timely and accurate reporting to senior management.   
• Able to develop a work process that would allow efficient and effective time management for delivering requested tasks.
• Perform any other tasks requested by the Chief of Party, and Operations, Finance, and Grants Director.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in management, human resources, or another related field
• Four years of experience in a procurement, experience working in procurement of commodities and services of a USAID or other donor-funded project preferred
• Ability to work in a professional manner with fellow staff members, visitors, and the public
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to exercise confidentiality and high levels of professionalism
• Fluent written and spoken Arabic and English

LOCATION OF ASSIGNMENT

The Procurement Specialist will be based in the project’s main office in Beirut, Lebanon, and travel throughout the country as required.

REPORTING

The Procurement Specialist will report directly to the Senior Grants and Procurement Manager or her/his designee.