Procurement and Logistics Officer

USAID’s four-year (2021-2025) Resilience through Agriculture in South Sudan (RASS) Activity will improve food security and community household recovery and resilience in 13 target counties, reducing long term reliance on humanitarian assistance. To achieve this ambitious aim, RASS will employ a resilience pathways approach to improve the effectiveness of local systems and strengthen the capacities of community groups to achieve gender responsive and diversified market-sensitive production; facilitate increased production of diverse nutritious foods by strengthening productivity, reducing food loss, and improving nutrition behaviours; and strengthen and expand household and community opportunities for sustainable, locally driven livelihoods. RASS targets graduating communities from high integrated food security phase classifications to low IPC acute food insecurity and support a change from a focus on humanitarian assistance to inclusive development assistance and economic growth.

CONTEXT AND GENERAL TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

RASS will work with a sub-partner consortium and through local partnerships to ensure the sustainability of RASS interventions in various field sites for achieving its objectives. RASS will work through field offices either directly or through co-location within existing consortium partners, prioritizing collaboration, learning and coordination with other USAID and/or donor partners. It is on this backdrop that a strong operational platform/model is envisioned to deliver timely, agile and adaptive activity implementation in South Sudan.

POSITION DESCRIPTION AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Procurement and Logistics Officer ensures the integrity of all local operations procurement. He/she coordinates the procurement process of all commodities and services related to project operations. He/she is responsible for compliance with procurement policies and procedures, and managing and maintaining all documentation, as well as completeness of files for operational procurement. The Procurement and Logistics Officer will be responsible for inventory and asset management, including motor pool management and the supervision of project drivers. S/he will work closely with the Finance and Operations Manager in logistics coordination, advising on risks and proposing mitigation and solutions to the RASS team. The Procurement and Logistics Officer will collaborate with all RASS team members, including home office and field operations staff, when required. S/he will continually uphold RASS core principles for meeting its objectives, and ensure all decision-making is rooted in RASS values. S/he will contribute to a learning environment in which personal and team growth is supported, with a shared understanding that the “team” always comes before the “individual.”

The following comprise main responsibilities of the Procurement and Logistics Officer

Procurement and Logistics Compliance:

• Support the Finance and Operations Manager to ensure all organization and project procurement and logistics policies are fully operationalized by ensuring needed SOP’s, guidelines, checklist and workflows are fully developed and appropriately used.
• Ensure procurement and logistics work processes/practices are undertaken in compliance with DAI policies, approved templates, donor regulations and country local laws.
• Ensure risk management is built into procurement and logistics practices, with solutions or mitigation measures proposed to senior management and RASS team members in accordance to approved policies and procedures.

Operations Procurement Work Processes Management:

• Advice and train the activity managers on all pre-buying work practices, including but not limited to procurement planning, market research, specification management, scope of work development, post-procurement management, etc.
• Undertake all aspects of the procurement of operational goods and services in accordance to DAI and USAID rules and regulations based on the approved procurement plan and across the entire procurement lifecycle.
• Responsible for the monthly procurement implementation status report, including management of open Purchase Orders (PO’s) for operations.

• Maintain complete audit-ready operations procurement files.

• Support in preparation of responses to procurement findings from internal or external file audits. Ensure implementation of strong procurement systems to guide RASS operations in South Sudan, and ensure they are adapted and maintained throughout the project period of performance.

• Highlight and provide the need for any adjustments to the South Sudan procurement Manual, TAMIS workflows, and other guidance documents.

• Ensure that staff in the South Sudan office follow best practices for file management across all procurement work practices.

Logistics Work Processes Management:

• Provide logistical support to field activities, including planning, coordination, preparation of equipment and supplies, distribution or safe movement of people and goods, taking into account risk management and proposing mitigation measures.
• Prepare and provide timely logistics reports.
• Responsible for inventory management and tracking of goods and services for operations.
• Responsible for motor pool / fleet management, including supervision of drivers, reviewing vehicle log books, tracking service schedules, fuel management, and ensuring vehicles are equipped with the proper safety and security equipment and supplies.

Relations and Stakeholder Engagement Management:

• Develop and maintain strong relationships among internal and external stakeholders, i.e. all RASS staff, vendors, among others.
• Conduct market research for prequalification of short-listed or preferred vendors and engaging with them on USAID rules and regulations for procurement.
• Support the DFO to undertake capacity building efforts and knowledge sharing to staff for enhanced functioning of procurement and logistics.
• Enhance responsiveness to communication among and across all stakeholders, including home office colleagues.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Procurement and Logistics Officer will provide supervisory and leadership to project drivers.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Education & Work Experience: A university degree in Procurement and Supply Chain Management, Business Administration or Management, Operations or Logistics Management, or appropriate field and three years of relevant work experience or master’s degree in any of the previously mentioned fields and at least one year of relevant work experience.
• Demonstrated Professional Knowledge: working knowledge of USAID rules and regulations (FAR, CFR) particularly in procurement, management and movement of goods, people, and services to the different regions of South Sudan, and local laws regarding the legal movement of vehicles and insurance requirements of goods and services.

• Demonstrated Professional Ability: strong command of the Microsoft Office suite of programs, including but not limited to Word, Excel, and Outlook as well as automated procurement and inventory management systems. Proven ability to manage competing priorities for meeting tight deadlines without compromising quality or compliance, self-starter, systems-oriented and critical thinker who is able to work independently and in teams with minimal supervision.

• Demonstrated Communications Skills: Ability to communicate/collaborate effectively across teams, cultures, gender, generations, including with team members based in other countries. Proven ability to effectively communicate across different knowledge levels with experience facilitating or co-leading trainings to staff. Professional fluency in English and Juba Arabic a must, local languages a plus.

REQUIRED ATTRITBUTES OF ALL RASS TEAM MEMBERS

• Be Flexible and Adaptive – given the pace and frequency at which conditions may change in South Sudan, team members are expected to be agile with position requirements, adapting to changing circumstances to successfully meet the objectives of the contract with USAID.
• Be Collaborative and Inclusive –individual team members are expected to model openness to new and competing ideas, seek feedback from colleagues, demonstrate and internalize respect for diverse opinions, and proactively create safe spaces for participation in decision-making processes to ensure the views of different groups, gender, and levels of understanding and experience within systems where RASS operates are considered and incorporated into activity programming, security, and development of RASS policies and procedures.