Procurement Advisor International

JOB TITLE : Procurement Advisor International
DUTY STATION : Kabul Head Office – Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs & Disabled (MoLSAMD)
REPORTING TO : Program Executive Director, NSDP

Background:

The National Skills Development Program (NSDP) is a National Priority Program (NPP) announced by H.E. President Karzai in Berlin, in April 2004. The overall goal of the NSDP is to contribute to the socio-economic recovery of Afghanistan through building a national Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system which is responsive to labour market needs and which provides Afghans with the knowledge and skills for decent work.

NSDP has a Steering Committee consists of 9 relevant ministries and the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled is designated as a lead Ministry for NSDP. It operates as a self-contained entity as a National Priority Program of the Government Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, financed by the Ministry of Finance of the Government Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, World Bank and other bilateral donors.

NSDP | MoLSAMD after successful implementation of the World Bank funded, Afghanistan Skills Development Project (ASDP). The World Bank intends to support NSDP/MoLSAMD through a new project called Non-formal Approach to Training, Education & Jobs in Afghanistan-NATEJA.

The NATEJA project addresses skills training in Afghanistan through a number of innovative approaches to non-formal education. It will contribute to the government demand for building a large pool of semi-skilled and skilled labor force as a critical foundation for Afghanistan economic growth and social development to creating business opportunities for training providers and bazaar shop owners while promoting wage employment and self-employment for an important segment of the Afghan population (age group16-35). It is estimated that about 12 million Afghan women and men are between age 16 and 35, which represents between 35 and 40 percent of the total population. The project's proposed interventions which will be linked to existing Bank supported projects (Afghanistan Rural Enterprise Development Project or AREDP, Access to Finance and Resource Corridor Projects), will therefore directly contribute to economic growth and substantially improve the livelihoods of rural and semi-urban Afghans, including allowing many to escape poverty.

The NATEJA project has four main components. The first component deals with piloting an apprenticeship and entrepreneurship program for the unskilled illiterate young Afghans. The second component will identify high performing non-formal training providers to incentivize them to improve the quality of training provided. Then components 3 and 4 will focus on strengthening the capacity of MOLSAMD and NSDP to better implement the innovative features of this project.

The NSDP/MoLSAMD is looking for recruiting a Procurement Advisor-Int’l on competitive basis in order to continue with service as stated in below duties and responsibilities and support the project in term of procurement activities.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Procurement Advisor-Int’l will work under the direct supervision of the Program Executive Director of the National Skills Development Program-NSDP / Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled-MoLSAMD in coordination with the Deputy Ministry of Admin and Finance of this Ministry. The procurement advisor will be mainly responsible to guide, support and mentor the NSDP procurement team and will be carrying out specific tasks, but not limited to the followings:

1. Conduct capacity assessment of the procurement department of NSDP/MoLSAMD and make sure that a proper capacity building plan is in-place to build the capacity of Ministry’s procurement staff.
2. Read and analyse the NATEJA project document for better implementation of project procurement plan
3. Collect and analyse data on the ongoing and implemented projects to identify main barriers and challenges.
4. In light of the identified barriers and challenges develop a contract tracking and procurement management database/system.
5. Train and support the national staff in maintaining the database and keep the records up to date.
6. Train and support the national staff in converting the database into a dynamic tracking system for procurement and contract management and develop it in Pashto, Dari and English languages.
7. Monitor the project progress and inform relevant authorities of any bottlenecks or delays.
8. Generate progress and status reports about the procurement and progress of on-going contracts.
9. Assist the procurement department to expedite the process of issuing contracts for development projects as per the project procurement plan – assist procurement and contract management staff in developing REoI, RFPs, TER, FER, negotiation meeting minutes, Project Contracts and other paper work required for the process in accordance with World Bank and GIRoA procurement guidelines.
10. Continuously develop and updating the database in light of the emerging circumstance and new requirements.
11. With support from Program Executive Director of the NSDP will mainly be responsible for expeditious process procurement projects and contracts at all stages of procurement management. In cases where delays are beyond his/her control should inform the Program Executive Director of the NSDP for appropriate action;
12. Provide necessary support to procurement and contract management staff in generating project procurement and contract management status reports and explaining current status of all or a specific contract.
13. Develop a reporting mechanism that comprises a standard reporting guideline and alerting system to inform relevant directorates of the required action.
14. Develop management reporting formats for weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reporting.
15. Provide information to different stakeholders regarding status of the procurement process, progress, and the reasons for delays at certain stages, when requested.
16. Provide on the job training and organize, as necessary, procurement seminars for colleagues and civil servants;
17. Perform any other tasks, as assigned by the Program Executive Director of NSDP and the DM-Admin and Finance of MoLSAMD.

Qualifications and Experience

• Master Degree in business administration, economics evidences of a specialized training/education in procurement any other relevant discipline; Masters would be preferred within field.
• Minimum of 7 years specialized experience in procurement implementation and management;
• Proven and demonstrable experience using and implementing procurement actions according to World Bank guidelines for procurement of goods, services, and works;
• Experience in public sector procurement; Experience in the design and implementation of procurement systems and the development of manuals for the delivery of procurement actions in development contexts;
• Proven and demonstrable experience of building the procurement capacity of national staff in development contexts;
• Experience working in the Afghanistan is desirable;

Skills and Abilities

• Excellent computer skills for Microsoft Office tools (Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint) and Internet use;
• Systems management and database development skills are highly desirable;
• Fluent in English; ability to speak Dari and/or Pashto languages helpful;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills;
• High level interpersonal and relationship-building skills including diplomacy and tact.
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with persons of various cultures and religions;
• Outstanding ability to determine and review priorities, plan and meet deadlines;
• Ability and willingness to work in a high pressure environment and insecure post-conflict environment;
• Ability and willingness to multi-task and work under pressure;
• Professionalism in appearance and demeanor

Reporting and Counterparts

The procurement Advisor will work under direct supervision of Program Executive Director of NSDP and will extend support and assistance through his daily activities.

• Reporting on the balance of Designated account and costs per categories;
• Support NSDP/MoLSAMD in developing/revision of project’s procurement plan to be sent to the World Bank for approval;
• Support to other employees of PPU in the preparation of various reports and procurement required documents;
• He/She will submit an inception report that should include work plan for the whole assignment within the first month after joining.

Duration of the Assignment

The assignment will be for 30 months, subject to satisfactory performance at the end of the first 3-months probationary period. After 30 months, subject to a complete performance review, availability of funding; and the circumstances of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled prevailing at that time, an extension to the contract may be considered.

Duty Station

The duty station of this position will be Procurement Office of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled Kabul, Afghanistan.

How to apply:

Interested international candidates should submit their applications in writing to the National Skills Development Program (NSDP), Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled located in first Macroryan, Kabul, or e-mail their application (indicating in the subject line the VA number and the title of the post applied for) to: jobs@nsdp.gov.af / jobs.nsdp@gmail.com

Please note that applications received after the closing date and without mentioning title of the post applied for in subject line of the Email will not be given consideration. Only short-listed candidates whose applications correspond to the above criteria will be contacted for interview.