Procurement Officer x3 at Ministry of National Development Planning

Zambia has been implementing the World Bank supported Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR) aimed at strengthening Zambia ‘s institutional framework for climate resilience (while) improving the adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities in selected Sub-basins. This phase strengthens capacity at both national and local levels, whilst piloting the mainstreaming of climate risk management into spatial planning. Investments supported by the Zambia PPCR on the ground include participatory adaptaton, climate-resilient infrastructure and strategic program support in agriculture, water, livestock, fisheries and natural resources and climate information scrvices. The investments were targeted at helping the country to manage the challenge of land degradation, unsustainable land use and climate variability and change.

Building on the programmatic approach for the implementation of the PPCR in Western Province of Zambia and scaling up lessons from it, the Government of the Republic of Zambia with the support of the World Bank
will be implementing the Transforming Landscapes for Resilience and Development (TRALARD) project in the Northern region of Zambia, in three provinces, namely; Luapula. Northern and Muchinga. The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to improve natural resource management in the northern regon of Zambia to support sustainable livelihoods, and in the event of an eligible crisis or emergency, to provide immediate and effective response to the eligible crisis or emergency. TRALARD project will cover a number of thematic areas including sustainable landscape management, restoration and resilience: intrastructure tor resilience  and market access; and contingency emergency response, to support one of the poorest regions in the country by integrating livelihood improvement with natural resource sustainability. The interventions will operationalize landscape approaches to contribute to the national forest landscapes restoration requirements as well as enhance resilience and development in the Northern region and deepen the work in southern region of the country.

The impacts of climate change, subtle or gradual as they are, remain persistent. They are taking their toll on the natural resource base of the region. exacerbating the already vulnerable context of the people.

The government of Zambia has embraced an integrated approach to development investments at landscape level. To respond to the challenges of sustainable livelihoods by restoring degraded forest lands and through  multi-dimension renewable natural resource sustainable use and restoration, will require a demand for a large scale, landscape approach that could impact thousands of rural level communities.

The Ministry of National Development Planning now invites applications from suitably qualified candidates to fill the following vacancies as part of the TRALARD Project Implementation Units (PIUS) in the three (3) target  provinces of Luapula, Muchinga and Northern provinces;

PROCUREMENT OFFICER-3 Positions (01-Luapula, 01-Muchinga, 01-Northern)

OBJECTIVE OF THE POSITION

The Procurement Officer will be responsible for the procurement of goods, works and services under the direct executing responsibility of the Provincial Administration in accordance with the Government of the Republic of Zambia and World Bank procedures.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

• Prepare and implement procurement plans and tracking mechanisms for the project;
• Take the gad and guide project staff in the selection of consultants by preparing expressions of interest, and managing the related Request For Proposals processes and in evaluation processes;
• Facilitate negotiations associated with contractual engagements of individuals and firms;
• Monitor and report on timely execution of all procurement and contracts;
• Implement procurement activities of the project, based on approved procurement plan;
• Act as Liaison on procurement activities with the Provincial Administration, the Project Implemertation Unit and the Procurement Manager – NPCU to ensure compliance of all expected procurement guidelines for both the World Bank and Government;
• In liaison with the Procurement Manager, develop, update and ensure implementation of the Procurement Strategy and Manual;
• Provide procurement advisory services at all levels of project implementation; and Undertake any other tasks as assigned by the Project Operations Officer

QUALIFICATIONS

• Minimum education of a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline (such as, Procurement, Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, and any other management related field);
• Professional qualification in a Procurement related field such as the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (MCIPS);
• Must be a member of a recognized professional body such as the Zambia Institute of Purchasing and Supply (ZIPS), and possess a valid current practicing certificate;
• Minimum of three (03) years post qualification working experience in Procurement and management position.
• Experience in donor funded projects, in particular World-Bank funded projects, is desirable or an added advantage;
• Good communication skills;
• Computer literate with skills n at Excel, Word, Power point, Microsoft Office; and
• Should demonstrate previous experience of working with and in multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams;
• Good understanding of government and donor/cooperating partners’ working environments; and
• Should be a self-starter, good team player and possess ability to work under minimum supervision, and meet deadlines.

DURATION

The engagement is for an initial 2 years with possibility of extension based on satisfactory performance.

REPORTING

The Procurement Officer shall report to the Project Operations Officer PIU; In addition, the Procurement Offcer shall collaborate with the Procurement Manager at the NPCU.

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