Short Term Procurement Advisor required for Platforms for Dialogue (P4D) Project

Terms of Reference
For a short term consultant Procurement Advisor to provide technical and operational support on the procurement of service level agreements for the P4D project and ensure the appropriate procedures and scrutiny are in place to maintain the integrity of the procurement process.

Background
Platforms for Dialogue (P4D), is an EU funded three year programme agreed with the Cabinet Division of the Government of Bangladesh. It is managed by the British Council in support of the EU’s Roadmap for Engagement with Civil Society in its development partner countries. P4D has an implementation value of EUR 12,650 million.

Details of P4D can be found at:
https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/aap-financing-bangladesh-part2-annex1-20151214_en.pdf

The overall objective of P4D is to strengthen democratic ownership and accountability mechanisms in Bangladesh.  The specific objective is to promote a more enabling environment for the effective engagement and participation of citizens and civil society in decision making and oversight.
To achieve these objectives, P4D is organised around three converging Result Areas:

• Result Area 1: "CSOs’ ability to influence government policy and practice raised through better accountability to and more effective representation of citizens’ interests";
• Result Area 2:" Accountability and responsiveness of government officials raised through enhanced capacity building of decision makers and engagement with CSOs";
• Result Area 3: "New tools and policy platforms for more effective dialogue between citizens and government are developed and utilised".

P4D will develop a model of multi-actor partnerships and a network of resource centres to engage with communities across Bangladesh in 21 Districts.

P4D will use a range of techniques to support the Government in its delivery of the policy commitments set out in the 7th Five Year Plan.  In its work, P4D will promote a collaborative dialogue, multi-stakeholder consultation, and institutional and capacity building of citizens, civil society actors and government officials.

P4D will work mostly at the local level with key players in government and civil society in its broadest sense. The aim is to identify practical solutions to locally identified issues, a process which, at later stage, can be scaled up to regional and national levels.

P4D will document and record the discussions in order to identify the ways citizens can solve their problems through collaborative dialogue and engagement with Government. At the same time, P4D will work with senior civil servants to strengthen Government’s ability to engage more fully with civil society.

Requirement
P4D needs short term procurement advice on the successful procurement of logistical and other services for Results Area 1, including preparing the bidding process, the bidding documentation and contract conditions. The Procurement Advisor will work with the P4D admin team, the British Council Bangladesh procurement team, the P4D Procurement Committee and other relevant members of the team and assist them in procurement of services for Result Area 1 of the project.

Purpose
P4D needs urgent and timely advice on the optimum procurement model to adopt which complies with Value for Money (VFM) principles and with British Council accounting standards. The Procurement Advisor will provide technical and operational support to the project and its Procurement Committee in expediting the various and necessary procurement activities for P4D’s Results Area 1.

Key tasks for the Procurement Advisor
The Procurement Advisor will:

• Prepare a detailed procurement plan/schedule in consultation with, and for approval by, the P4D team and the British Council procurement team.
• Prepare bid documents in consultation with P4D team members, using British Council standard bidding documents. This may include ToRs, standards, bid evaluation criteria, and detailed specification for logistics, supplies and services.
• Advise on the selection and evaluation procedure and elaboration of relevant documentation in compliance with the British Council procurement procedures.
• Prepare Invitation for Bids (IFB) for publication by P4D in newspapers and or bdjobs for general circulation in respective divisions in Bangladesh.
• Arrange pre bid session for interested potential suppliers as necessary.
• Arrange for Specific Procurement Notices to be sent to suppliers who responded to the General Procurement Notice.
• Whenever requested, assist the P4D procurement committee in the evaluation of bids and provide clarifications.
• Guide the P4D procurement committee on bid evaluation on both preliminary, financial and post qualification requirements, and compile the evaluation report in accordance with British Council guide lines.
• Assist the procurement committee to prepare the bid evaluation summary and recommendations.
• Prepare the draft contract the selected suppliers in accordance with British Council guidelines.

Inputs / Level of Effort:
30 person days has been estimated over the three (3) months of period for this assignment. However, these working days may be varied based on the detailed work plan included in the financial proposal.

Consultant specifications:

• A first or postgraduate qualification in management or a related field
• Ten (10) years’ of work experience in procurement is required.
• Demonstrated knowledge on procurement of logistics for workshop, training, community meetings, seminar, conference, exhibition etc.
• Demonstrate knowledge of working with suppliers and service providers in different areas of Bangladesh through multi service framework agreements.
• At least 5 year experience as a procurement advisor for projects financed by international agencies.
• Having knowledge of British Council procurement policies will be an advantage
• Relevant experience in Bangladesh of Government procurement systems for high value good and services.

Contractual arrangement:
Individuals or organizations can apply for this consultancy position. This work will be contracted by the British Council through a consultancy contract. The ToR is subject to update and modifications as per project needs.
The consultant will work in the P4D office located at House 13 B, Road 75, Gulshan 2, Dhaka during 9.00 am to 5.00 pm on official working days. All logistics will be provided by the P4D office. No TA/TD will be provided.
Interested applicant(s) should send a detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a financial proposal contains daily rates and level of effort days supported by a detail work plan for this assignment.
Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted and called for interview. We will only consider applications with detailed Curriculum Vitae of the expert(s) and a financial proposal supported by the work plan No hard copies of the application will be accepted.

To Apply:
Please send the above mentioned documents with a covering letter to the following email address dhaka.recruitment@britishcouncil.org with e-mail copy to Salahuddin.ahmed@britishcouncil.org . Please mark in the subject line “application for Procurement Advisor”

Closing date: 19 October 2017

Platforms for Dialogue

The British Council is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and is keen to reflect diversity at every level within the organisation. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.