Principal Procurement Officer at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

African Development Bank Group (AfDB) - Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Banks development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Principal Procurement Officer

Reference: ADB/19/001
Location: Cote d’Ivoire
Position N°: 50078485
Grade: PL4

The Complex

• The Senior Vice-Presidency (SNVP) is responsible for supporting the President in the day-to-day management of the Bank Group to achieve its strategic objective and drive performance culture that will align all processes and systems to deliver high impact results.
• The SNVP will provide effective leadership and exceptional coordination to ensure implementation and monitoring of key corporate decisions as well as the identification of necessary corrective measures and actions.
• The SNVP will lead Senior Management discussions, decision-making processes and the implementation of key Board and Management decisions.​

The Hiring Department

• The SNVP supervises the Fiduciary and Inspection Department (SNFI), which acts as the custodian of the procurement (including procurement for private and public partnership) and financial management (FM) profession, and has the following responsibilities for its functions:
  • Developing and interpreting policy, strategy and related guidance notes and manuals;
  • Preparing annual post review reports on the Bank’s FM and procurement operations for the Board;
  • Developing training strategy for internal and external clients and;
  • Dialoguing with external and global partners with a view to building partnerships and fostering harmonization;
  • Providing the secretariat for the Procurement Review Committee (PRC); and
  • Inspecting and reporting on the performance of procurement and FM activities undertaken by the regions.
• The Procurement Specialist is responsible to ensure that the project procurement activities financed by the Bank in his/her region are compliant with the Bank’s procurement policy.  This is done by advising on procurement arrangements and reviewing procurement decisions within the project/program operations cycle from the identification to completion stages.
• The incumbent also contributes to the preparation of the Bank’s Country Strategy Paper, and to building procurement capacity of Borrowers which includes training of Borrower staff, advising on project related procurement matters, and assessing and strengthening the Borrower’s procurement systems.
• The Procurement Specialist reports to the Division Manager - Procurement (SNFI.3).

Duties and responsibilities
Under the supervision and guidance of the Division Manager Procurement, the Procurement Specialist will, in his/her duty station:

• Ensure consistent, uniform and predictable application of the Policy within the region and provide corrective actions as appropriate;
• Review procurement policy deviations and provide clearance for inclusion in Project Appraisal Reports (PARs) for subsequent Board approval with clearance of the manager as needed;
• Review all cases involving the use of Third Party procurement methods and procedures and provide clearance for inclusion of those methods and procedures in the PAR for Board approval with clearance of the Manager as needed;
• Review and clear  procurement diagnostic assessments reports (BPAR, Sector Market Assessments) for approval by the Manager and Director of SNFI; assist regional member countries for their procurement reforms and mobilize financial resources for this assistance;
• Design adequate action plans to improve Borrowers’ procurement systems and to strengthen the institutional capacity within borrowers’ entities;
• Participate with other Multilateral Development Banks in the assessment of the Regional Member Countries procurement systems;
• Review and clear procurement cases as per the Bank’s Delegation of Authority matrix for Sovereign and Non-Sovereign projects;
• Process  complaints received from bidders, contractors or civil society in accordance with Bank’s directives in force;
• Refer to the Manager cases where the advice provided was not accepted by Task Managers and  propose solutions;
• Facilitate and undertake training seminars /workshops for the Borrowers and Bank Staff  and Business Opportunity Seminars for the regional and non-regional private sector;
• Prepare Project Procurement briefs for the Senior Management when required;
• Ensure that  objectives of the key performance indicators set up by the Procurement department are attained by developing tools and;
• Contribute to the preparation of periodic activity reports and the Bank’s Fiduciary Annual Reports.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master’s degree or equivalent in Public/Business Administration, Law, Engineering, Procurement, Economics or related fields
• A minimum of six ( 6) years of relevant professional experience in providing procurement support and advice to the preparation and implementation of programs and projects financed by the Bank or any other similar institution in developing countries,  having private sector experience will be an added advantage
• Proven familiarity with and solid experience in the practice of procurement of goods and works and the acquisition of consultancy services under donor funding conditions, it would be desirable to have knowledge of Bank Procurement policy
• Experience in supervising and effectively managing implementation of  developments projects and programs
• Ability to be flexible, open-minded with integrity, client and results oriented for achieving both Bank’s and Borrowers’ objectives
• Effective consulting and advisory skills that enable Sector Staff and Borrowers to build their confidence and skills to deal with procurement issues
• Good networking skills and judgment are required while working within teams and when building professional relationships with procurement specialists and sector specialists working in the Region
• Strong leadership and coaching skills
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English with a good  knowledge of the French language
• Competence with standard MS Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), preferably combined with knowledge and experience of SAP operations.

Application Closing Date
30th March, 2019.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidate should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• Applicants who fully meet the Bank's requirements and are considered for further assessment will be contacted. Candidates should submit a one page Motivational letter and curriculum vitae/Profile. The African Development Bank is an equal opportunities employer. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• The Bank reserves the right to cancel the recruitment process at any time without prejudice to the Bank.
• This position is classified International status