USAID Procurement Agent at U.S. Embassy

The U.S. Mission to Nigeria comprises of the Embassy in Abuja, FCT, and the Consulate General in Lagos. U.S. Consulate General Lagos is the Mission’s representative to the Nigerian people in the southern region.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: USAID Procurement Agent

Announcement Number: Abuja-2021-084
Location: Abuja
Hiring Agency: Embassy Abuja
Series/Grade: LE - 4005 8
Work Schedule: Full-time - Work Schedule is 40 hours per week
Promotion Potential: LE-8

Overview

• Hiring Path: Open to the public
• Who May Apply/Clarification From the Agency:
  • For definitions use URL www.usaid.gov/ads/policy/glossary
  • Current Mission Nigeria Employees only
• Security Clearance Required: Public Trust - Background Investigation
• Appointment Type: Permanent
• Appointment Type Details: Five (5) years renewable, estimated to start on or after November 2021

Summary

• The incumbent works under the direct supervision of the senior procurement agent and is responsible for procurement of variety of commodities and services for USAID/Nigeria. This includes, but not limited to service contracts, blanket purchase order, contracts, purchase orders, task orders, delivery orders, USG purchase card, and personal & non-personal contract. 

Duties

• Serves as Procurement Assistant for the Mission.
• Procures commodities and services for staff both OE and Program funded activities under $250,000 by contract or purchase order action, either locally, from a third country or from USA sources in accordance with USAID policies and regulations.
• Items procured are varied and include but not limited to motor vehicles and spare parts, generators, household furniture, office furniture, IT equipment and supplies, building and equipment maintenance and various service contracts.  Plans and organizes work to ensure timely acquisition of needed goods and services for about an estimated workforce of 170.  Conducts closeouts of contracts and purchase orders after completion.
• Review procurement requests from requesting offices to determine actions necessary and probable sources of required items or services. Reviews Solicitation, request for quotation, scope of work, price quotations, proposed contracts, supplier’s bills and other procurement documents.
• Post procurement requests for proposal or request for quotes outside the office premises, or in newspaper and in other outlets for easy access to a wide range of public companies.
• Organizes and coordinates technical committees for the review of proposals, and to obtain technical reports for procurement actions.  Conducts market research to determine best value for the United State Government (USG).
• For items to be ordered from General Services Administration, verifies or identifies stock numbers from GSA catalogues.
• Prepares necessary documentation, obtains signatures and dispatches to GSA.  Maintains awareness of market conditions, including price and availability of commonly purchased items.  Maintains contact with local/International vendors and supplier firms, to ensure compliance with Systems Award Management (SAM)/Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) requirement and to facilitate resolving procurement problems. Procures goods locally/off-the-shelf as appropriate using appropriate funding mechanism.
• Responsible for ensuring maintenance agreements in place are implemented, oversees the servicing/repair of all mission’s office equipment – photocopiers, fax machines, printers etc.; Open and maintains filing system for all purchase order and contract actions (physical and electronic), ensuring that Purchase Order files are complete and up to date in ASIST and that information is readily accessible. Responsible for annual retirement of older contract files to the warehouse per USAID regulations.
• Maintains requisite stock books, manuals, specifications, etc., on a current basis; Compile and maintain market data on suppliers, including latest prices, type of items, quality of product etc. Performs tracking of outstanding orders and contacts vendors in order to resolve any complications in ordering, shipping or invoicing.
• For other goods and services, reviews such requests for necessary technical data and proper authorizations. Prepares specifications and estimate probable costs of items.  Obtains bids by telephone, correspondence or by advertisement.  Review responses and prepares summaries including recommendation as to best offer for approval of the Executive Officer.
• When the Executive Officer approves recommendation, drafts purchase orders and related documents and obtains necessary signatures and dispatches to vendor.
• If procurement is to be done locally, and where necessary, enters negotiation as to price and other factors with vendor.  Follows up on order to ensure early and prompt receipt.  Reviews receiving report and attaches this to Vendor’s invoice and forwards both to Controller’s office for payment. Maintain procurement tracker to monitor the process of obtaining goods.
• It provides information about the requesting office, cost of items, quantity, requisition and purchase order number, date, the successful vendor, amount, estimated date of arrival and close out information.
• It also provides a comparison between the estimated cost of the goods at the time of requisition versus actual cost of obtaining them along with the date at which the goods were obtained. This ensures reviewing, ordering, delivery, and billing management for goods involved in the procurement process.
• Process one-time purchase of technical assistance, studies, workshops, training, logistical support arrangements, and direct provision of services in a broad range of program areas. Processing of Personal Service Contracts (PSC), offshore/resident hire for U.S citizens and aliens from solicitation stage to final award.
• Provides guidance in the use of GLAAS software in preparing purchase orders, modifications, and close out.
• Work closely with OFM to ensure timely review and approval of GLAAS requisition. Solves all GLAAS related problems in the Executive office without assistance. Provides support / training to Office Managers/GLAAS Requestors in resolving GLAAS errors.

Qualifications and Evaluations
Requirements:

• Physical Demands: The work requested does not involve undue physical demands.
• College / University studies in Management, Procurement, Business Administration, Economics, or any other related Social Sciences fields is required

Evaluations:

• Applicants who clearly meet the minimum Education, Experience and basic eligibility requirements will be further evaluated based on scoring of the Evaluation Factors listed below. The highest-ranking applicants may be selected for an interview.
  • Knowledge: 15 points
  • Skills and abilities: 10 points
  • Communication and Language skills: 5 points
  • Interview Performance: 70 points

Other Requirements:

• Prior Work Experience: Minimum of three (3) years’ experience in procurement/purchasing work, of which at least 2 years should be in responsible purchasing work is required.
• Job Knowledge: Incumbent must have detail working knowledge of USG procurement regulations, instructions and procedures of US Federal specifications and standards relating to items purchased is requires. Must have a good knowledge of local market practice and supplies as well as pricing practices.
• Skills and Abilities: Skills in negotiating for the best price via personal contacts, telephone, or correspondence and in preparing precise specifications is required.  Ability to develop and maintain a procurement tracking system and close out all finalized procurement actions is required. Ability to deal with a wide variety of supplies and mission staff is required.
• Language Proficiency: Level IV (fluent) speaking/reading/writing in English Language and one local language is required.

Taxes

• The Mission emphasize to its employees of the fact that they are obliged to observe Nigerian Laws, including those concerning income and related tax obligations.
• Payment of such taxes is a matter between the individual employee and the Nigerian Government. In the absence of a specific international agreement, the U.S. Government will not withhold local taxes from an employee’s salary.

Benefits

• N8,664,538 annually.
• Health Insurance
• Annual Salary Increase (if applicable)
• Annual and Sick leave
• Annual Bonus.

Allowances (as Applicable):

• Transportation Allowance
• Meal Allowance
• Miscellaneous Allowance
• Housing Allowance.

Application Closing Date
9th September, 2021; 11:59 pm GMT.

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

Important Information

• All candidates must be able to obtain and hold a Public Trust clearance.
• To apply for this position click the “Apply to this Vacancy” button at the top of the page. Click on the “Submit Application” button to complete your application process.  For more information on how to apply visit the Mission internet site.

Required Documents
Please provide the required documentation listed below with your application:

• Current Resume
• Cover Letter
• Relevant Certificates
• University Degree Certificate
• Transcripts
• List of References

Next Steps:

• After the closing date for the receipt of applications, applications will initially be screened for conformity with the minimum requirements and a short list of applicants developed. Following this initial review and short listing, a Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) will convene to review applications that meet the minimum requirements and evaluate them in accordance with the evaluation factors (1-4).
•  Applications from candidates which do not meet the minimum requirements will not be evaluated.  As part of the selection process, finalist candidates will be interviewed.  Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.  No response will be sent to unsuccessful applicants.
• USAID reserves the right to interview only the highest ranked applicants in person or by phone OR not to interview any candidate.  
• Applicants are required to provide three (3) reference persons who are not family members or relatives, with working telephones and email contacts. The references must be able to provide substantive information about applicant’s past performance and abilities. Reference checks will be made only for applicants considered as finalists. 
• If an applicant does not wish for the current employer to be contacted as a reference check, this should be stated in the resume. Note that if an applicant had a previous position with USAID, you must list your previous supervisor as a referee