Intersectional Procurement Manager – Central African Republic

I. CONTEXT

Bangui is a city of 1.1 million inhabitants with the average per capita income per year of around €500. "According to the latest estimates dating from 2020, around 71% of the population lives below the international poverty line ($1.90 per day, in purchasing power parity)".1

Unlike many countries where MSF represents a relatively low purchasing power, in CAR MSF is a very important player in the market, which is very small and concentrated in Bangui. Availability and quality standards of the items has been a recurrent challenge. Therefore, increasing the coordination between MSF operational centres (OCs) in terms of procurement can mitigate the risk of having different MSF entities competing among themselves for the same resources. Both the need for a coordinated approach to procurement and a harmonized contract management justify the importance of having an intersectional set-up for the most critical categories in CAR.

II. PURPOSE OF THE JOB 

The Intersectional Procurement Manager (IPM) defines and implements the procurement strategy to answer needs that are common to all OCs present in the country . The objective of this position is to increase availability and quality of goods and services and reduce lead-times and risks; mutualize procurement efforts to capture cost-savings without compromising quality, simplify category management and avoid competition among the OCs; deliver a consistent procurement approach across the MSF movement, harmonizing procurement methodologies, practices, tools, and processes and in compliance with MSF protocols, standards and procedures.

III. KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

1. Deliver a spend assessment, identify priority categories common to all sections, and deliver an implementation roadmap 

• Based on the information (historical spend, budget and forecast) provided by procurement focal points of the OCs (Logistic, Supply Coordinators, SCTL and/or procurement MGR), build a mapping of spend to identify procurement priorities (key supplier& categories).
• In collaboration with the Steering Committee, define the intersectional procurement strategy including categories to be handled at intersectional level (that is, categories common to all sections) and its implementation roadmap.

2. Define and monitor intersectional suppliers for priority categories.

• Create a roadmap for implementation of the activities identified.
• Monitor suppliers currently under intersectional contracts for Fuel, Freight-Forwarding, and Gas.
• Standardise the lists of items most commonly used by category in common contracts between the 4 OCs for priority categories selected.
• Identify potential markets and suppliers locally and regionally in coordination with other MSF operations in other countries (for example, OCG in Cameroon) for common needs.
• Leading open tendering processes for common categories and items, with a focus on efficiency, agility, quality, and price.
• Understand the Procurement tools and adapt selection criteria to the context, encode data resulted from the various tenders and issue a market/tender analysis to support Supply Coordinators in the decision making.
• Ensure sustainable procurement practices within the selection of suppliers for priority categories and engage current intersectional suppliers in MSF’s sustainable ambitions.
• Evaluate competitiveness of contract prices of intersectional contracts before renewal.
• Systematically assess the performance of selected suppliers for priority categories based on evaluation tools based on evaluation tools and take corrective action where necessary.
• Physical follow-up of the contracts and systemically, archive contracts, update price catalogue tool used on the mission and make it accessible to any concerned parties.

3. Create and manage a functional procurement intersectional network

• Create Intersectional procurement meetings organised at least once a month.
• Brief new supply and key focal points that arrive to the mission and other staff on request.
• Make sure Finance departments receive their copies of the contracts and are briefed to be able to check if invoice prices are in line with the agreed prices.
• Enforce that products subject to VAT are listed in collaboration with the BIP (protocol office) and the application of VAT exemption is increased.
• Ensure coherence between supplier contract terms and required documents for the application of VAT exemption.
• Network with other organisations – EX. Log Cluster and other platforms.
• Align work with the OCs Procurement Managers (PMs) in a way to avoid overlapping and competing on the same activity. The IPM will focus on mutually agreed categories for mutualisation while PMs focus on individual OC priorities, while closely collaborating on the operational needs to ensure intersectional activities are connected to the operational reality of the mission.
• Ensure the proper involvement of the key stakeholders, including technical referents for validation of sources and items, in order to have a successful implementation of the procurement strategy.
• Timely communicate on issues, opportunities or any important update related to intersectional procurement activity.
• Ensure technical support for his area of activity and provide coaching to staff of the OCs in order to contribute to the development of procurement best practices and capacity.

Out of Scope:

• Order placed to Supply Centers.
• Technical validation of the sources for the Log and med items that required such validation.
• Transactional activities: order placement, good reception and invoicing stay in the scope of each OC.

Job requirements

Practical / technical knowledge 

• University degree in business administration, supply chain management, procurement or similar.
• 4+ years of experience in procurement including data analysis, sourcing, complex negotiation and contracting or a position in a different domain entailing the same components.
• A strong knowledge in supply chain processes and financial budgeting are required.
• Experience at international level (outside home country) and field missions in procurement or supply chain functions with MSF or another NGOs are a strong asset.
• Experience in project management is an asset.

Planning and organising  

• Analytical mindset, organizational skills and autonomy are a must.
• Result-orientation and customer service orientation are necessary.

Communicating and influencing 

• Ability to work transversally, in a multi-cultural environment and in remote mode is required.
• Listening skills, proven diplomacy and ability to develop a professional network.
• Ability to motivate and mobilize different counterparts.

Practical requirements 

• Proven ability to work with Office and ERP, in particular a good command of excel is a must.
• Fluent spoken and written French, minimum level B2, is mandatory. Other languages are a strong asset.