Procurement Specialist

Procurement Specialist

Location: Dhangadhi, Nepal
Position Status: Full-time, Regular

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future. Mercy Corps has been operating in Nepal since 2005, implementing programs in food security, agriculture, market development, financial services, girl’s education, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. We take a systems-based approach in our programming, with the aim of improving the lives and potential of vulnerable individuals and communities across Nepal.

Program / Department Summary

World Food Program (WFP) Nepal as a lead/prime organization in partnership with Mercy Corps and other partners, is implementing School Feeding Program funded by USDA/Food for Education. In the consortium, Mercy Corps provides strategic leadership for two of the sub-activities ‘Local Purchase of Food: Hybrid Food Basket’ and ‘Home Grown School Feeding: Technical Assistance Post-Hand Over’.
The aim of the Mercy Corps’ interventions is to facilitate the development of a fully sustainable and locally managed food system for schools. This includes designing and implementing the strategy and detailed roadmap for schools to self-manage a cash-based program where they locally procure and manage relationships and contracts with local producers, cooperatives and suppliers to supply the appropriate and necessary school meal food items during relevant timeframes. The program activities will link school feeding programs to smallholder farmers, farmer’s cooperatives, school management, community groups and local government to enhance the program’s long-term sustainability. The target area of the program covers five districts in the Sudurpachhim Province (Darchula, Bajhang, Doti, Achham, and Bajura) and one district in the Karnali Province (Jajarkot).

General Position Summary

Mercy Corps is recruiting a Procurement Specialist focused solely on the Home- Grown School Feeding (HGSF) Program. Under the leadership of the Field Manager of the HGSF Programme and working closely with the HGSF Program Manager, the Procurement Specialist is responsible for leading all procurement activities under this program, including strategic direction, policy and procedure enforcement, and productivity and problem solving.

This position will work closely with Program, Administration, Finance, HR and Logistics departments to facilitate large-scale procurement for the HGSF program, and is instrumental in supporting program activities through their services. As Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) is a cross-cutting priority for all Mercy Corps programs, the Procurement Specialist is required to own this and ensure GESI sensitivity and integration to their respective areas of responsibilities

Essential Job Responsibility

Strategy & Planning

• Contribute to the country’s strategic planning process.
• Helping to set up the support services and ensure the existence of a response procurement plan given the context for the HGSF program
• Effectively contribute to program implementation and development

Procurement Management

• Coordinate HGSFP procurement activities and ensure that the procurement department supports the Program efficiently and compliantly.
• Manage relationships and contracts with the supplier for program needs.
• Review tender documents and facilitate supplier selection process, help develop a detailed and time bound project procurement plan for procurement of goods.
• Work closely with the program management team to facilitate program planning and upcoming procurement resources needs.
• Work closely with program and finance teams to successfully deliver activities under the HGSFP while demonstrating excellent stewardship of donor funds and compliance with MC and donor regulations.
•  Responsible for the management of all programmatic procurement functions in compliance and control as described in Mercy Corps Field Procurement Manual (FP3).
•  Work closely with finance and compliance to mitigate fraud, conflict of interest, and legal ramifications of Mercy Corps procurement activities under the HGSF program.
• Ensure that all HGSFP procurement contracts and business transactions/relationships are transparent and incompliance with local law and Mercy Corps/donor policies.

Sealed Bids and Tender Documents

•  Prepare standard tender documents in coordination with operation deputy/Manager as per the program standard and safety as and when required.
•  Support and oversee requests for quotation/ tender documents to collect the bids upon receipt of the approved purchase requests (PR)s.
• Ensure standard procedure of bid collection from the market for approved PR-s as needed and as per Mercy Corps Standards and Policies.
•  Explain Mercy Corps formats and ensure that vendors/ service providers use the provided forms
•  Ensure strict adhere to MC procurement rules regarding vendor/ service provider.
• Form and coordinate with Bid committee to ensure competitive selection of the bid as per guidelines mentioned in MC FP3.
•  Finalize the Purchase Order (PO) or Contract to be issued to the vendor/ service provider. Ensure timely renewal of all agreements.
• Ensure the received goods are as per the order placed and ensuring the acceptance of goods is as per the required procedures.
•  Identify assets during the course of procurement and notify the Asset Controller on receipts of assets.

Other Procurement Activities

•  Be informed of the sources of supply, methods, services and goods available in the local market.
• Maintain a database with contact details of relevant and potential vendors’/service providers to expedite the procurement process.
•  Maintain confidentiality of all specifications and price quotations made by vendors.
• Closely work with the MEL team in order to ensure that the indicators related to LRP are regularly reported in a disaggregated manner.
•  Coordinate closely with the MEL Specialist in order to ensure that the LRP data is timely and accurately acquired from the PNGOs and STOs
•  Support the MEL team to verify the LRP data reported through the system on a timely basis

Team Management and Capacity Building

• Guide, support, and work on building capacity on technical aspects of procurement activities for team members and partners working under the HGSF program, and where required, of procurement staff in Mercy CorpsNepal.
•  Develop capacity of implementing partners and cooperative for supply chain management so that they can independently handle the supply of goods and its management.
• Support on interpretation of the MC Procurement Policies and advise on procurement activities to the field staff in Mercy Corps Nepal as needed.
• Visit partner’s field offices as necessary. Be responsible to ensure that procurement activities and practices in partners are in place and as per MC standards.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews.
• Provide team members with information, tools and other resources to improve understanding of procurement policies and requirements and related documentation.

Others:

•  Conduct themselves both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and not to jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
• Ensure proper integration of GESI aspects into department planning and implementation as relevant.
• Mercy Corps as a humanitarian agency is expected to respond as and when a crisis and humanitarian situation engulfs. As an MC employee all staff are expected to be part of humanitarian and emergency response in addition to their regular roles and responsibilities in such situations.
•  Other duties as assigned by the Head of Operations and Country Director.

Finance and Compliance Management

• Create and maintain systems ensuring effective and transparent use of financial resources for timely and informative reporting in line with donor and Mercy Corps policies and procedures.
•  Ensure compliance with USDA, WFP, and Mercy Corps regulations
• Build and/or maintain operational systems that ensure proper administrative support for programs.

Security

•  Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
• Proactively ensure that team members and community operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

Supervisory Responsibility

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Reports Directly to: This position reports directly to the HGSF Field manager

Works Directly with:

HGSF Program Manager, HGSF Agriculture Lead & Field Manager, MEL Specialist, Senior Technical Officers, Operations Team, Program, HR and Finance Department, and HGSF local implementing partners.

Knowledge and Experience

•  At least Bachelor ’s degree in Business Studies/Administration/Finance/Economics or related discipline. A Master’s degree is preferred. Recognized certification in Procurement, Supply chain management and related courses will add value to the application
•  A minimum of 5 years of experience with procurement and large scale supply chain management for an international organization. Experience of large-scale commodity procurement for USDA-funded programs is an advantage
•  A clear understanding of procurement ethics and donor compliance is essential.
•  Strong organizational skills and demonstrated ability to multi-task and process information into action as to not delay program activities.
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members.
• Excellent oral and written English skills and ability to interact effectively with international and national personnel.
• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment.
•  Excellent analytical and self-motivation skills; excellent advocacy and persuasion skills; able to think critically
• Demonstrated skills in capacity building, mentoring, leadership, and organizational development.

Success Factors

Success Factors

The Procurement Specialist will demonstrate and has a clear understanding of procurement ethics and donor compliance. They have the ability to multi-task and process information into action as not to delay program activities. A clear understanding of procurement ethics and donor compliance is essential. Procurement Specialist should be conscientious with an excellent sense of judgment. They should have the ability to work simultaneously on multiple tasks. They should also have the willingness and ability to work effectively with a wide variety of people. As well as have the ability to work as part of a team and coordinate with project personnel. Good spoken and written English is a must. The Procurement Specialist is expected to be sound in MS package and data analytics in MS excel and with strong organizational skills. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact. We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis

Valid through: December 5, 2023