Procurement Specialist

Background. The Advancing Universal Health Coverage (AUHC) Activity is a USAID-funded health initiative to assist the goals of the Government of Bangladesh to significantly expand access to safe, affordable and quality health services, while increasing financial protection for the poor. Specific project objectives are:

• Develop and implement a program to transform the Smiling Sun Network into a centrally managed, sustainable private social enterprise
• Adopt proven innovative approaches to create new strategies to expand access to and uptake of essential service packages
• Develop and implement sustainable financial systems to facilitate expanded coverage and ensure equitable access to health services
• Improve the quality of care
• Improve program strategies drawn from lessons learned (crosscutting)

Position Description.  The procurement specialist will report to the managing director of operations, finance, and SAF, and, together with AUHC’s other procurement specialist, will advise, lead, and conduct all project procurements.  The procurement specialist is responsible for tailoring and applying USAID and Chemonics procurement policies and procedures and for overseeing transparent and compliant procurement processes.  The procurement specialist serves as a resource to the AUHC program staff on all procurement issues, including in-kind procurements under AUHC’s grants program.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage AUHC procurement requirements and ensure compliance with Chemonics corporate policies, contractual requirements, U.S. Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Agency for International Development Acquisition Regulations (AIDAR), and any other applicable policies and procedures.
• Respond in a timely manner to procurement requests as submitted to the procurement team.
• Work directly with local, regional, or international vendors and service providers to obtain quotations and/or initiate procurements of requested commodities and services.
• Develop requests for proposals (RFPs) and requests for quotations (RFQs), collect and respond to questions from offerors, and record all details of submissions.
• Draft evaluation summaries and memoranda of negotiation.
• Maintain the overall integrity of the procurement filing system by ensuring that appropriate documentation is included in each procurement file.
• Ensure the completeness and accuracy of the project’s inventory tracking system.
• Assist AUHC home and field office teams in developing procurement-related approval documentation for submission to USAID/Bangladesh.
• Provide procurement status reports and inventory summaries as requested by project staff.
• Provide training when necessary to project staff in procurement policies and procedures.
• Supervise the procurement officer.
• Any other duties as assign by supervisor.

Qualifications

• A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
• At least 5 years of experience working in the operations/procurement unit of donor-funded projects in Bangladesh required, with 3 of these years working on USAID projects strongly preferred.
• Demonstrable knowledge of USAID rules and regulations surrounding procurements.
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, and prioritization skills.
• Ability to work both independently on a team, under tight deadlines, and with versatility and integrity.
• Fluency in Bangla and professional proficiency in English.
• Good analytical ability and writing skills, with excellent working knowledge of MS Office Suite.

Supervision

The procurement specialist will report to the managing director of operations, finance, and SAF.

Location

This is a full-time position located in Dhaka.  Travel throughout Bangladesh is anticipated only in rare cases and is not expected to exceed five percent of the incumbent’s time.