Regional Technical Advisor, Procurement & Supply Chain Management, West Africa

Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

Background:
As the official international humanitarian agency of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Catholic Relief Services (CRS) eases suffering and provides vital assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable people around the world. In 2016, CRS has a total budget of approx. USD 700 million, of which a significant portion is in the form of in-kind goods. CRS uses a large portion of its funding to procure internationally, ship, store and distribute medical supplies.
The CRS West Africa Region has a total annual program value of approx. $100 million. There are nine Country Programs (CP) - (Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone). The country programs in the region are recipients of funds from diverse donors both as prime and sub awardees, with significant procurement and supply chain components especially in health and food security.

CRS manages a large number of procurement operations, for both goods and services, as part of its project activities, for internal use by CRS or its partners, and for recipients. The procurement process is regulated by internal policies and procedures, contained in a global Procurement Manual, and industry standards. CRS procures goods and services locally and internationally. The new CRS procurement manual is set to come in force for all CPs on October 1, 2016. CRS West Africa is currently developing standard documents and processes for the different procurement options, and is engaged in a comprehensive capacity strengthening for CP procurement staff. CRS/WARO requires a regional technical advisors with strong experience in procurement to oversee this change process.

Currently, there are several large Global Fund awards in The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Sierra Leone, and one UNITAID multi-country award (Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Niger). CRS collaborates closely with national ministries of health. Pharmaceutical products’ in-country storage and transport is often managed through sub-contracts with the national medical stores, while other medical commodities, such as LLIN are managed directly by CRS.

CRS manages US Government food assistance awards in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Sierra Leone. CRS collaborates with Ministries of Education for Food for Education programs in Mali, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone. The management of these large food aid programs include several contracts with commercial suppliers of goods and services, including freight forwarders, transporters, clearing agents,

The industry standards and safety requirements of managing food and medical supplies, the complexity of managing these large supply chains within the West African operating context, their overall value and associated risk, and CRS’ Operational Excellence objectives require that CRS employs a Supply Chain management specialist with experience in managing large/varied procurement processes and contracts internationally. A strong preference is for procurement and supply chain specialist with experience in the West Africa context and with Global Fund procurement and supply chain management standards.
Primary Function:
The RTA for Procurement and Supply Chain Management will provide strategic and organizational leadership to CRS West Africa CP, for all procurement and Supply Chain Management activities and initiatives. The RTA will:

1. Lead WARO CPs Procurement processes, with special attention to the annual procurement planning, development and/or review of large tender documentation, assisting CPs in managing their Approved Suppliers’ Lists, involvement in key procurement efforts, development and / or review of purchase contracts, and evaluation of procurement processes and outcomes for large operations.
2. Provide intensive assistance to WARO CPs with significant health portfolios for procurement and supply chain management of medical supplies and associated quality assurance services. Health SCM technical Assistance should focus primarily on Health Systems Strengthening (SHH) and Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), but will also include some direct management and decision-making on CP-level procurement and supply chain management for health products.
3. Represent CRS/West Africa within and outside the agency with regard to procurement and supply chain management, especially with large, nontraditional donors (Global Fund, UNITAID, CDC, USAID, OFDA, US-PMI) especially for emerging health or emergency funding opportunities.
4. Provide matrix-management – including professional coaching, performance management and technical support to the CRS Procurement and Supply Chain Specialists at CP level, as well as technical and strategic networking with key commercial and government counterparts in the area of supply chain management.
   The RTA will spent up to 75% of effort on managing existing grants and at least 25% on either business development initiatives, or participating in relevant agency-wide initiatives.
   Specific Job Responsibilities:

Technical Assistance – Procurement:

• Provide efficient and effective technical leadership in all aspects of procurement work for West Africa CP to ensure that all programs and operations have the goods and services needed, when they need them, by:
• Proactively support CP-level annual Procurement Plans and their roll up into a regional procurement plan. Identify opportunities for procurement rationalization and/or coordination across WARO CPs for leveraging resources and negotiation power.
• Standardize procurement processes, practices and tools, including but not limited to the Approved Supplier List (ASL), bidding documents, procurement management processes, procurement oversight, review and approval processes and documentation, contract development and management, supplier performance monitoring and reporting, as well as compliance and risk management.
• Consult with relevant CP staff to conduct regular market assessments for recurrent or complex goods and services, and support CPs to maintain sound market intelligence systems.
• Proactively consult with peer agencies and private sector to identify new potential suppliers that can be added to the ASL, and whenever possible develop relationships with key suppliers. Explore making bundled orders with peer agencies to negotiate better prices and terms based on joint economies of scale.
• Ensure that all procurement is done efficiently according to applicable CRS and donor Policies, and the CRS Procurement Manual. Ensure that all procurement actions are governed by the highest standards of ethics, personal and business conduct.
• Suggest new ideas to improve procurement efficiencies and effectiveness, and update annually the CP "Appendix" to the CRS "Core” Procurement Manual and support tools.
• Support CP procurement processes, by reviewing bidding documents and procurement contracts for all large or complex procurement that require regional approval.

Technical Assistance – Health Products SCM:

• Provide technical leadership to CRS West Africa CP in their collaboration with/support to national health systems / structures for the development and implementation of medical products’ procurement and supply chain management, by:
• In collaboration with relevant CRS colleagues and national health authorities, provide leadership and coordination of CRS’ support to West African national health structures through HSS and GHSA, specifically for their procurement and supply chain components.
• Lead CP-level SCM teams in the implementation of ongoing health product Supply Chain Management Plans, in particular the Access SMC campaigns in Guinea, The Gambia, Niger and Mali; the Global Fund projects in Guinea, The Gambia and Niger (Malaria) and Mali (TB);
• Assist CP teams in the development of national or project-specific health commodities quantification, products specifications, procurement and supply chain management plans, PSM needs budgeting, pipelines, storage and dispatch plans and micro-plans.
• Provide ongoing technical leadership in the implementation of the aforementioned Plans, through assisting in the contract development and management for products’ procurement, shipping, clearance, handling, storage, distribution and reporting.
• Lead the deployment and ongoing region-level management of the Information systems for medical supplies SCM, and associated report preparation and verification.
• Develop or standardize tools and processes for the end-to-end planning and implementation of agile supply chain systems for medical supplies.

Systems, Organizational Development and Staff Capacity-Strengthening:

• Lead the recruitment and development of CP-level Managers involved in procurement and supply chain management.
• Maintain and facilitate a Community of Practice (CoP) for procurement and supply chain management. Organizing and participating in relevant learning events for relevant staff.
• Support the development as well as effective and efficient use of SCM information systems by CP staff, and ensure quality, reliability, relevance and timeliness of SCM information.
• In collaboration with CP and regional leadership, define roles and responsibilities for CP-level procurement and SCM staff for organizational/departmental efficiency and staff performance accountability; including the development of standard JDs as well as staff performance and development plans.
• Participate purposely and actively in the CRS global agency learning agenda, including the development and dissemination of best practices, good tools, and leveraging agency systems to support agency-wide procurement Supply Chain information management, transparency, agility and efficiency.
• Act as the WARO focal point for all interactions with the Global Procurement team and for all procurement policies and procedures

Resources/Growth:

• Participate in the development or review of project proposals which include procurement and distribution of large quantity in-kind products, and make relevant strategic decisions as necessary.
• With relevant regional and HQ staff, keep abreast of donor policies and opportunities pertaining to procurement and supply chain management, for dissemination to WARO and across the agency.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
• Serves with Integrity
• Models Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationships
• Promotes Learning

Key Working Relationships:
Internal: CP Procurement Managers/Officers, PSM Specialists, Health Project Directors / CoP, Heads of Operations, Finance Managers, WARO Senior Advisor for Commodities Markets and SCM; WARO DRD-MQ, WARO RFO, WARO RTAs, OPEX teams – in particular the SCMU, SGSU staff, CRS Global Procurement Unit staff, HQ Internal Audit, HQ/Finance Department, and the CRS global Operations Community.
External: GFATM and its extended structures (LFA, CCMs), UNITAID, Malaria Consortium and other Access SMC partners, Ministries of Health and their extended departments or collaborators (NMCPs, NACPs, NTCP, CMS,…), Roll Back Malaria Initiative (RBM/WARN); Alliance for Malaria Prevention (AMP); relevant UN missions (in particular WHO, UNICEF and UNDP), international and local partner NGOs, USAID, OFDA, PMI, CDC, US-based, international and local NGOs as the guided by CRS partnership and growth priorities; relevant suppliers of goods and services.

Qualifications and Personal Skills:

1. Masters-level Degree in Business management, Procurement, Commerce, Supply Chain Management, Logistics, or equivalent experience
2. Minimum five years of progressively increasing responsibility managing procurement and supply chain, within the context of international and local supply chain – preferably in West Africa; and preferably including health products
3. Ability to transfer knowledge and provide technical assistance, training, within an adult learning framework to CPs
4. Knowledge of international and general procurement and trading policies and regulations; Global Fund policies, relevant national health products management policies and guidelines and other compliance regulations
5. Knowledge of (preferred) – or ability to learn fast and apply - CRS’ commodity accounting systems, tools, policies & procedures
6. Excellent oral and written communication skills in both French and English, and good interpersonal skills
7. Ability to provide exceptional customer service while managing multiple priorities
8. Capacity to see the big picture, but with an attention to factual details
9. Persistence to do whatever it takes to provide a finished, professional product
10. Capability of working proactively and independently
11. Receptiveness to constructive criticism and differences of opinion
12. Flexibility, ability to adapt, willingness to compromise, open-mindedness

Physical Requirements/Environment:
Approximately 50% travel, primarily within West African countries, and sometimes in remote areas with minimal amenities; often with short notice.
Foreign Language Required: Full professional proficiency in oral and written English and French.

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

EOE

HOW TO APPLY:

Apply online: http://bit.ly/1TcTzYF