Procurement Advisor, Central Medical Stores

Crown Agents USA, Inc. (CA-USA) is seeking a Procurement Advisor, Central Medical Stores

for the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) project in our Botswana office.

Our Business

Crown Agents is an international development company employing over 600 personnel worldwide with a presence in more than 40 countries, subsidiaries in 12 countries, and permanent staff working on the ground in 22 corporate offices in Africa, Asia Latin America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Crown Agents provides direct assistance, management consulting, and human and institutional development for public and private sector clients in customs and trade facilitation, public financial management, procurement, logistics, and health systems strengthening.

Crown Agents USA (CA-USA), the U.S. incorporated subsidiary of Crown Agents, provides direct technical assistance, capacity development, and procurement services to stimulate economic growth, establish good governance, and improve health outcomes across the developing world. Since its incorporation in the United States in 1998, CA-USA has provided technical assistance services and support to U.S. Government agencies and international organizations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), Department of State (DOS), and the Gates Foundation.

Role & Responsibilities

The Procurement Advisor, Central Medical Stores (PA-CMS), is responsible for providing expert advice and support to the procurement department in the Central Medical Stores in Botswana.

Specific Responsibilities

The emphasis of the SCMS project in Botswana is to support the Ministry of Health and the Central Medical Stores (CMS) in managing a sustainable procurement, warehousing, distribution and supply management system for HIV/AIDS and other commodities.

The PA-CMS will be responsible for all support provided to the procurement department at Central Medical Stores. The procurement department is currently split into two sub departments: the tendering department is responsible for creating tender documents, floating tenders, evaluating tenders and producing recommendations for award while the contracts department is responsible for creating contracts, managing contracts, expediting orders and managing supplier performance. The support provided by the PA-CMS will cover the following technical areas and activities:

Tendering

The purpose of this section of the Scope of Work is to support process improvement in the tendering department at CMS. The specific activities to be performed will be as follows:

· Review tendering processes in conjunction with relevant CMS management and staff, and establish strengths and weaknesses of the current processes and practice

· Analyse current performance of the tendering department with respect to process execution (eg Tender Turn Around Times, % of products not awarded on tenders, etc)

· Identify opportunities for improving the CMS tendering processes in conjunction with relevant CMS management and staff

· Draft new or amended Standard Operating Procedures, as appropriate and as agreed with the CMS Manager (based on the review and analysis already completed) and liaise with the CMS QA Manager to ensure proper incorporation into the CMS Quality Management System

· Train relevant CMS users on the new or amended procedures. This will involve drafting basic training materials and delivering the training sessions. This activity must be done in close consultation with the CMS QA Manager

· Develop new tools, as appropriate and as agreed with the CMS Manager, which will help the tendering department execute their processes more efficiently

· Make recommendations for structural and competency changes in the tendering department which will enhance performance

Contract Management

The purpose of this section of the Scope of Work is to support process improvement in the contracts department at CMS. The specific activities to be performed will be as follows:

· Review contract management processes in conjunction with relevant CMS staff management and staff, and establish the strengths and weaknesses of the current processes and practice

· Analyse current performance of the contracts department with respect to process execution (e.g. contracts created on time, supplier performance measure in line with SOPs, etc)

· Identify opportunities for improving the CMS contract management procedures in conjunction with relevant CMS management and staff

· Draft new or amended Standard Operating Procedures, as appropriate and as agreed with the CMS Manager (based on the review and analysis already completed) and liaise with the CMS QA Manager to ensure proper incorporation into the CMS Quality Management System

· Train relevant CMS users on the new or amended procedures. This will involve drafting basic training materials and delivering the training sessions. This activity must be done in close consultation with the CMS QA Manager

· Develop new tools, as appropriate and as agreed with the CMS Manager, which will help the contracts department execute their processes more efficiently

· Make recommendations for structural and competency changes in the contracts department which will enhance performance

Procurement Strategy

CMS requires a review of its current procurement strategy. The PA-CMS will provide technical expertise to the CMS to support its procurement strategy development – this expertise may include research of procurement strategy frameworks (including those in use in similar settings), analysis of the CMS product portfolio and categorization according to a set of criteria agreed with the CMS Manager, market research for specific groups of products to determine market characteristics, and any other appropriate analysis.

Policy

The PA-CMS will identify policy implications of the work completed on procurement strategy, and support the CMS Manager and procurement team in articulating these policy implications to the relevant stakeholders in the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, Public Procurement & Assets Disposal Board, and any other relevant institution. This work is likely to involve the preparation of advocacy documents and presentations, and will also include making presentations to stakeholders as required

Project Management and Leadership

Ensure the use of appropriate project management methodologies, where required, to plan, organize and control resources to achieve specific project goals.

Client Relations

Build and maintain strong working relations with the Central Medical Stores management and with other key partners at the Ministry of Health, including the Permanent Secretary and the Office of Strategy and Management, as well as with other key Government Agencies such as the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board who have an important role and interest in strengthening the procurement of medicines and other health commodities

Project Implementation and Monitoring

· Develop, manage and maintain the project work plan for all CMS procurement support activity; effectively translate strategic vision for CMS procurement support into a set of discrete activities.

· Contribute to the country Performance Management Plan by ensuring that data from the CMS procurement department is provided to the report authors on time and to the required quality. Contribute to the regular reviews of country performance, including detailed analysis of root causes and development of remedial actions

· Regularly assess risk associated with the CMS procurement support program and ensure that risk mitigation plans are prepared, regularly updated and shared with the CMS Lead Advisor for information and/or action

Communication & Information Sharing

· Provide inputs on CMS procurement support activity and outcomes as required on (i) technical reports, (ii) monthly updates, (iii) quarterly reports and other documentation as may be required by the field office, the PMO, the local USAID mission or any other stakeholder

· Ensure that the successes of the CMS procurement support activities can be clearly described and articulated using verified and accurate data

Technical Assistance & Health Systems Strengthening

· Identify and select strategies to build local human resource capacity in the Central Medical Stores procurement department that take into account existing and planned country human resource capacity development activities.

· Define scopes of work (SOW) for short-term technical assistance (STTA) and long term technical assistance (LTTA) for CMS support activities. Ensure that all Scopes of Work are submitted to the Country Director in line with the standard lead times for local mission, PMO and USAID COR approval

· Manage and evaluate all CMS related STTA and LTTA activities, monitor deliverables and follow up.

· Provide direct in-country technical assistance to the CMS or any other partner, as appropriate within areas of expertise and as requested by the Country Director

Qualifications

· Master's Degree in business or procurement or supply chain highly desirable, or a related field required.

· Fluency in English is required; bilingual or multilingual ability is preferred.

· A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience in in procurement, supply chain and contract management;

· Must demonstrate personal attributes such as loyalty and integrity in addition to being resourceful and flexible, which is inherent in this position.

How to apply:

Application Process

To apply to this position, please email your CV to careers@crownagents.com, including your name, along with “ #14-44 Procurement Advisor, Central Medical Stores,” in the subject line. Visit our website atwww.crownagentsusa.comfor more information about our company. No phone calls, faxes or walk-ins please. Crown Agents USA is an Equal Opportunity Employer and affords equal opportunity to all qualified applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other status protected under local, state or federal laws.

Crown Agents USA will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with qualified disabilities in accordance with the ADA. If you require a reasonable accommodation for our application process, please contact our Recruiting department directly. Requests will be kept confidential and shared strictly on a need-to-know basis only.