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Procurement Specialist, Loan Management Unit, ERPA Cluster, UNDP-Iraq

Under the overall authority of UNDP Iraq Country Director, under the direct supervision of the Head of Economic Recovery pillar, the Loan Management Unit is being established to facilitate loan funded projects in Iraq by providing capacity building and technical support to the Government of Iraq (GoI). The support will target procurement and financial management during the project implementation and act as the Fiduciary Monitoring Agent on behalf of GoI and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The Procurement Specialist, reporting to the Loan Programme Manager of the Loan Management Unit, is responsible for monitoring all aspects of day to day work related with the procurement of goods, works and services which has been developed by the Project Management Teams (PMTs) under relevant line ministries.
 
At the Madrid Conference in October 2003, the Government of Japan (GoJ) announced a USD 5 billion assistance package to Iraq including USD 3.5 billion Japanese ODA loan to support Iraq’s reconstruction. As of end October 2012, JICA has concluded 19 loan agreements (approximately USD 4 million) to eleven (11) Ministries and Mayoralty of Baghdad.
 
In comparison to grant assistance, for loan assistance, key project implementation activities, such as procurement, project management and financial management, are initiated and undertaken by concerned ministries and agencies of GoI. JICA and GoI need to ensure that the project implementation is undertaken in an accountable, transparent and efficient manner in line with JICA guidelines and procedures and that all loans are properly used for the purpose of achieving each project’s objectives. As one adequate and sound monitoring mechanism to ensure accountability, transparency and efficiency in project implementation and usage of loan money, in particular for the activities related to procurement and financial management, GoI, GoJ and JICA agreed to establish a joint Monitoring Committee to meet on a quarterly basis. The Monitoring Committee, reporting to the Prime Minister’s Advisory Commission (PMAC) and co-chaired by senior officials from the Ministry of Planning (MoP) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF), consists of high level officials from line ministries, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MoFA) and JICA.
 
The Loan Management Unit is appointed jointly by JICA and GoI to play the role of the support unit to the Monitoring Committee. The Loan Management Unit will monitor and verify the fiduciary compliance, including procurement and financial management and physical verification of the activities and report to JICA and the Monitoring Committee. Also, to accelerate project implementation, the Loan Management Unit will identify any bottlenecks and obstacles related to implementation of the projects and to give guidance and advice to the implementing line ministries in order to resolve these issues. This process will contribute to the capacity development of PMTs under each implementing line ministry. Thus, the Loan Management Unit will have the dual roles of (i) supporting JICA’s monitoring capacity and the Monitoring Committee’s activities to ensure that projects are implemented in a transparent and accountable manner in accordance with JICA’s rules and procedures; and (ii) supporting GoI (especially PMTs) to strengthen its capacity to implement the projects in line with international standards and to execute the loan through technical and procedural support.
 
“Procurement” is one of the key elements for successful project implementation. Adequate procurement processes will result in selecting qualified contractors and lead to high quality of works to achieve each project’s objectives of providing better services to the people. It is thus inevitable to monitor the procurement processes to ensure its transparency and appropriateness.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Procurement Specialist will be responsible for monitoring and verifying the procurement processes to provide fiduciary monitoring capacity to JICA on procurement management in addition to providing technical consultation, advice and assistance on procurement to PMTs and the Monitoring Committee. The Procurement Specialist will have periodic meetings with PMTs and JICA for each project to update the procurement progress of each project.
 
Summary of Key Functions: 
  • Monitor and verify the procurement plans and process which PMTs under line ministries are implementing
  • Attend procurement relevant events such as pre-bid meetings and bid openings, as an observer, prepare brief reports and communicate any comments on such events to the Manager of the Loan Management Unit.
  • Provide fiduciary monitoring capacity to JICA on procurement management in addition to technical procedural support.
  • Provide advice and assistance focusing on procurement for supporting the PMTs and the Monitoring Committee
  • Prepare monthly and quarterly progress reports both for the Monitoring Committee and JICA
The Procurement Specialist for the Loan Management Unit to JICA/Monitoring Committee will monitor the processes of procurement for goods, works, services and consulting services which have been developed by the implementing line ministries/PMTs to ensure compliance with JICA and internationally accepted procurement guidelines and procedures. This will specifically include:
  • Assist the implementing line ministries/PMTs in establishing and maintaining procurement plans in line with JICA procurement guidelines and procedures;
  • Monitor the implementation of procurement plans of each project which has been prepared by the implementing line ministries / PMTs and ensure that the implementing line ministries / PMTs continue to update them on monthly basis;
  • Verify the procedural progress of procurement plans to ensure that official requests of all documentations which require JICA concurrence are submitted to JICA as scheduled and provide procedural guidance to ensure that they comply with JICA applicable guidelines and loan agreements. These will include, but not be limited to, advertisements, requests for proposals, prequalification documents, prequalification evaluation report, bidding documents, bid evaluation report, and contract agreements;
  • Monitor the implementation of procurement processes. These will include, but not be limited to, verifying the appropriateness of advertisement, attending pre-proposal, prequalification and pre-bid meetings, as well as bid openings as an observer, monitoring the procedures of technical and financial evaluation of proposals and bids for each project to ensure that all the processes are in line with bidding documents and procedures. When any deviation is identified, the Procurement Specialist first reports to the Loan Programme Manager and the Loan Management Unit will notify the Monitoring Committee and JICA;
  • Ensure that implementing line ministries/PMTs establish linkages between the procurement process and the corresponding procurement reviews of JICA;
  • Provide capacity building to the implementing line ministries/PMTs in terms of procurement in accordance with JICA’s applicable guidelines and the loan agreement in close coordination with other team members in the Loan Management Unit;
  • Provide monthly and quarterly reports to JICA and the Monitoring Committee on procurement processes of each project and update information on procurement progresses;
  • Undertake specific procurement reviews and physical verification on sites through local staff as directed by JICA in response to emerging needs;
  • Manage regional/local staff and consultants on a daily basis that will assist monitoring procurement process and physical site monitoring, especially for those projects that the Procurement Specialist has limited access to;
  • Appropriately maintain the contract with the regional/local consultant to provide monitoring services in the field on procurement including budget and expenditures.
  • Prepare annual performance assessment of the implementing line ministries/PMTs.
  • Any other support required to ensure the smooth and timely implementation of the loan projects when necessary.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:
      • Ethics and Values
      • Organizational Awareness
      • Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring
      • Working in Teams
      • Communicating Information and Ideas
      • Self-management and Emotional intelligence
      • Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements
      • Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning
      • Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making
        Functional Competencies:

        Knowledge Management and Learning
        • Shares knowledge and experience
        • Actively works towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills
        Development and Operational Effectiveness
        • Ability to lead monitoring and evaluation of projects
        • Ability to perform a variety of specialized tasks related to administrative support, including financial data management support, reporting, and logistics
        • Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems, including new IT based systems
        • Good knowledge of Results Management Guide and Toolkit
        Leadership and Self-Management
        • Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback
        • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
        • Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
        • Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities

        Required Skills and Experience

        Education:
        • Master’s degree in Business / Public Administration, Finance / Accounting, Economics or a related field
        Experience:
        • A minimum of 7 years’ professional experience with at least
        • 3 years’ experience in international development and cooperation;
        • At least 3 years working experience with JICA (or the former Japan Bank for International Cooperation) or international/bilateral financial institutions is mandatory;  
        • Must have a working experience on procurement support based on the internationally accepted standards, such as World Bank, Asian Development Bank and JICA;  
        • At least 2 years' working experience, providing a procurement advisory role, in large social and economic infrastructure projects, which should include at least one international procurement case of more than 10 million USD;  
        • Iraq operations and UNDP experience with the Government of Iraq would be considered important assets.
        Language Requirements:
        • Fluency in the English language both written and oral;
        • Knowledge of the Arabic and/or Japanese language would be an added advantage.
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        UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

        http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=33583