Senior Procurement Specialist

John Snow, Inc. (JSI) seeks highly qualified and accomplished public health leaders and providers for the awarded United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/PEPFAR-funded Supporting an AIDS-Free Era (SAFE) Project in Zambia. The five-year project which is led by JSI in partnership with Abt Associates, mothers2mothers, and the Catholic Medical Mission Board, works to reduce HIV mortality, morbidity and transmission, while improving nutrition outcomes and family planning integration in three provinces: Central, Copperbelt, and North-Western. USAID/PEPFAR SAFE will work with the GRZ, private sector and civil society institutions at the national, provincial, and district level to increase access to ART for HIV positive adults and children, reduce the incidence of new infections, improve Nutritional Assessment, Counselling and Services (NACS) and family planning services, and increase the capacity of local health institutions to better serve affected populations.

Position Title:  Senior Procurement Specialist

Position Type: Full Time

Location: Lusaka

Reports to: Procurement Director

Job Summary

The Senior Procurement Specialist is a full-time position based in the Lusaka office. S/he will Support the Procurement Director in managing procurement of goods and services through subcontracts, blanket purchase agreements and purchase orders. The Senior Procurement Specialist will ensure that all Procurement under the USAID SAFE project in line with USAID regulation and JSI Guidelines and in a timely manner.

Primary Responsibilities and Duties:

• Assist the Procurement Director to oversee all project procurement; and ensuring procurement is transparent and carried out in accordance with USAID regulations, JSI policies and procedures;
• Receive and review all Purchase Request (PR) forms and enter these in the Procurement tracker.
• Assign PR to respective Procurement Officers for processing
• Maintain and ensure that the PO tracker is kept up to date
• Review of procurement documents prepared by the Procurement Officers to ensure accuracy and adherence to JSI procurement guidelines
• Work in collaboration with the Senior Financial Specialist to ensure all vendor payments are made on time
• Update end users (Requesters) on the progress of their procurements requests and estimated delivery time.
• Support the Procurement Director to review and track the procurement plan; communicating and sharing updates with the various departments on a regular basis
• Support the Procurement Director to supervise and review purchase orders, PRs and contracts, for the central and regional offices.
• Ensure that current and past procurement files are maintained in accordance with applicable policies and procedures, and work to complete the files as necessary.
• Coordinate with the technical/programs teams and SI team, to ensure proper documentation of the beneficiary distribution documentation.
• Ensure that vendors are furnished with the VAT exemption LPO and coordinate the timely retirement and replacement of VAT LPO books for the Central and Provincial Offices.
• Supervise Lusaka based Procurement Officers and provide training and coaching where necessary.
• Any other duties as assigned by the Procurement Director

Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree/Bachelor of Arts in Procurement, Purchasing and Supply, Business Administration, or equivalent
• A minimum of Seven (7) years’ experience including a minimum of three (3) years’ experience in procurement management of U.S. assistance programs of similar size, complexity and setting
• Demonstrated experience in managing and supervising a team
• Outstanding interpersonal skills and eager to work in a fast-paced multicultural organization
• Ability to communicate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing.
• Exceptional computer skills, particularly in Microsoft Excel, and substantial experience using commercially available accounting software programs

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