Senior Procurement Officer

Position Title: Senior Procurement Officer

Department: Procurement

Reports To: Director of Procurement

Location: Remote

No of positions: One

Vacancy No: AF-N-02-2023

Vacancy close date: 08/02/2023

AUAF Background

The American University of Afghanistan is Afghanistan’s only nationally accredited, private, not-for- profit, non-partisan, and coeducational institution of higher education. It opened its doors in 2006 with an initial enrollment of 50 students, and since that time has grown to enroll more than 1,700 full- and part-time students across undergraduate, graduate, and professional training programs. Despite a changing political and security climate in Afghanistan, AUAF has successfully lived up to its mission to provide equal access to high-quality higher education across gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic background.

Nearly half of our undergraduate students are female, and generous support from the U.S. government and other funding partners as allowed us to support a secure, inclusive, residential campus environment in Kabul. Our professional community comprises a diverse, talented Afghan and international faculty and staff who work together in support of our students and toward a sustainable, ambitious future for the provision of American-style education in Afghanistan.

Position Summary

The Senior Procurement Officer will provide critical support for procurement section of Procurement Department. The function of the Position is both to facilitate efficient processes in support of designated tasks goals and objectives, and to ensure proper oversight and compliance of routine field-based procurements.

Key outcomes include (optional):

• Manage routine Purchase Requisitions received from various departments.
• Fulfill the designated goal set by the Procurement Head.

Responsibilities:

1. Coordinates activities involved with procuring goods and services, such as raw materials, equipment, tools, parts, supplies, advertising and reviews requisitions;
2. Preparing cost comparative sheet, Negotiation Memorandum and contract.
3. Procurement process of goods, works, and services lower or 3,000.00 USD.
4. Procurement process of goods and services ranging between 3001.00 USD- 9,999.00 USD
5. Determines method of procurement, such as direct purchase or competition;
6. Draft Purchase Orders, Contracts and BPAs;
7. Establish and maintain list of qualified vendors who are willing and capable of providing quality products in competitive price;
8. Ensures AUAF Procurement Policy and purchasing procedures is maintained and fully applied in day to day procurement activities;
9. Ensures that transparency and integrity is fully maintained in day to day procurement activities;
10. Identify the most appropriate procurement approach in handling procurement activities.
11. The incumbent should be able to prepare REOIs/ RFPs/RFQs/SBD/Contracts and Shopping documents in the light of the AUAF Procurement regulations.
12. The incumbent should be able to draft, review award notifications, contract/agreements.
13. Should be able to report on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly progress report to the Head of Procurement Unit
14. Circulate procurement documents for process and signature of relevant project staff.
15. Facilitate communication and follow-up documentation with vendors during the contract
16. Responsible for preparing PO (Purchase order) to local vendor and international vendors
17. Collection of all the receipts, bills and invoices of the project from vendor and supplier.
18. Ensure invoices are received from vendors in a timely manner and submits them to Finance department for further payment process.
19. Ensure timeliness and cost effectiveness are in line with all relevant policies, procedures
20. Ensure that all Procurement files are accurately maintained with both physical and scanned copies.
21. Track and process procurement requests to ensure timely and accurate completion and provide regular updates to requestors.
22. Prepare and issue Requests for Quotations (RFQ) and Request for Proposal (RFP). Conduct cost/price, quality and review of bids received.
23. Procure commodities and render services as required.
24. Reviewing contracts and Purchase Orders to ensure that all terms have been met before they are being signed by both AUAF and Vendor.
25. Ensuring compliance with policies regarding purchasing procedures and best practices.
26. Negotiating price changes with suppliers when costs fluctuate significantly.
27. Communicating with customers/departments about order status, answering questions about products and services, and resolving issues.
28. Performing research to identify potential suppliers and evaluating their qualifications
29. Participation in the process of bid opening and evaluation of contracts and procurement projects.
30. Provide report to supervisor of project tracking on monthly basis.
31. Arrange appointments and meetings with all relevant vendors in cases of dispute, negotiations etc.
32. Any Other Work Assigned by the Procurement Director.

Required Qualification, Experience and Skills

• Bachelor’s Degree with 5 years’ experience in the related field.
• At least 1 years of relevant experience working with USAID funded programs.
• Demonstrated practical knowledge and understanding of procurement policies and procedures;
• Ability to work independently and work as a team member.
• English language proficiency (speaking and writing).
• Proper filing of the running and closed contracts/BPAs and Purchase Orders
• Willing to work on Weekends in case necessary.
• Be able to operate GP (Great Plains) ERP, raising Purchase Orders, SRNs and GRNs in Dynamic GP.

Other Skills

• Strong judgment and a commitment to fair and ethical procurement practices
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Excellent organizational skills.
• Highly computer literate, including e-mail, word processing and spreadsheet management skills.