Procurement and Contracts Officer At International Treatment Preparedness Coalition

If this, is YOU, Then Apply!
You are extremely well-organized, learn quickly and have an acute attention to detail. You know how to take a project from start to finish and in fact, take great joy in completing your “to-do” list. You can prioritize in the face of competing issues, remain balanced and efficient in the face of stress, and have a good sense of humor. You are flexible and can excel in a constantly changing external environment like advocacy, that often requires frequent programmatic and therefore financial and operational adjustments.

About the Role
The International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) is seeking a Procurement and Contracts Officer (PCO) to join our global team. ITPC is a global activist network that fights for universal access to optimal treatment and diagnostics. As an issue-based coalition, ITPC uses HIV as an entry point to the right to health, partnering with affected communities across the world to address treatment access issues for diseases including diabetes, hepatitis C and hypertension.

ITPC’s operational hub, in Johannesburg, South Africa, supports a small global (and remote) team to carry out our mandate to ensure that everyone in need of treatment can get it. This new position places the successful applicant at the heart of efforts to improve the effective implementation of ongoing program activities in the global team. The Procurement and Contracts Officer (PCO) will be responsible for the whole procurement cycle of goods and services. The PCO will ensure uninterrupted supply of goods and services in accordance with ITPC’s set and sometimes unplanned workflow.

The PCO position is based in Gauteng, South Africa and forms part of the Finance, Administration, Grants & Compliance Unit at ITPC, reporting directly to the Accountant. At the time of recruitment, this position does not have any supervisory responsibilities.

Job Summary
Purchase goods and services to ensure that ITPC-Global and all activated projects operational needs are met, considering the price, quality, and delivery and to ensure continuity of supply, Assist in Management of contracts and respective Service level agreements.

The Procurement and Contracts Officer will work with key stakeholders to understand their requirements, compile specifications, facilitate vendor selection and negotiate agreements on behalf of budget holder or requesting project – utilizing tools and processes such as Purchase Requisitions, RFP’s, RFQ’s, and RFI’s. The position will be expected to collaborate and share information within, and across, departments and support various specification working groups. The role will also be responsible for initially building mutually beneficial relationships with strategic suppliers to ensure ongoing value is delivered to ITPC-Global through these contractual relationships.

Specific Responsibilities
• Effectively manage the end-to-end procurement processes of the organisation while adhering to strict procurement processes to ensure a fair and transparent procurement process.
• Purchase goods, materials, or services in line with specified cost, quality, and delivery targets.
• Act as an interface between suppliers and other relevant departments on purchasing processes and new projects and activities.
• Conducting quality research of local, regional, and international markets for goods and services required for project’s needs, including verification of products, services, consultant’s availability, price analysis and search for potential vendors.
• Review and assist in the development of technical specifications and terms of reference received from programme staff, for their compliance with ITPC-Global procurement principles, rules and procedures and their adjustment, as necessary.
• Prepare specifications, compare bids received and present recommendations on purchases to management.
• Organization and conducting of all procurement processes including initiating purchase approve, drafting of tendering and solicitation documents, conducting tendering processes (RFQs, ITBs, RFPs in accordance with ITPC-Global rules and procedures) so that RFQs, RFPs and tender announcements are circulated as widely as possible among the potential suppliers, facilitating the flow of information during the tender by clarifying requests from tender participants and requesting additional information from them if necessary.
• Adhere to all required procurement budgets and donor purchasing guidelines, organisation policies, and controls on procurement.
• Participation in opening of quotations, bids or proposals, organization of their technical evaluation, including coordination of technical committee meetings and preparation of minutes/protocols thereof, conducting financial evaluations.
• Solicit and negotiate competitive pricing from vendors and make recommendations for issuance of purchase orders.
• Collaborate with department managers and staff to resolve procurement compliance issues.
• Submission of procurement cases and recommendations for contract award or Purchase orders, drafting contracts or Purchase Orders in accordance with ITPC-Global model contracts and purchase orders and relevant rules and procedures.
• Maintain an updated and accurate Preferred Supplier database.
• Review subcontracting implementation activities and contractual arrangements to ensure they meet with donor and organizational regulations.
• Interpret and apply funding regulations to ensure that all policies and procedures and organisation procurement and contracting requirements are subcontracting activities.
• Preparation of a complete and quality set of documents for procurement cases that are subject to reviewed and approved by Director of Finance, Executive Director and Director Global Programs and Advocacy
• Investigates, develops, and promotes the use of progressive supply chain tools and technologies to accomplish procurement objectives.
• Responsible for regular reporting including contracts completed, cost savings and other metrics to Accountant- Program Staff or designate
• Maintaining procurement monitoring tables and reports of the procurement progress as requested.
• Identifies opportunities for operational and procurement process improvement.
• Reviews non-contracted purchases to identify opportunities for standardization, contracting and cost reduction.
• Serves as the primary contact relating to ITPC-Global procurement and contract management.
• Drive continuous improvement in all aspects of the procurement process.
• Provide support to other staff to ensure project-wide understanding of contractual issues.
• Implements procedures for projects to ensure that adequate records and audit trails are maintained.
• Keep current with changes in procurement and contractual regulations.
• Performing of other tasks as assigned by Accountant or designate.

Competencies
• Ability to work with others and to develop and maintain compatibility among projects and programmes staff, consultants, subcontractors, and vendors.
• Knowledge of and experience with donor contract, and grant regulations.
• Ability to research and evaluate technical proposal and make appropriate recommendation.
• Demonstrated knowledge in pricing, contracts negotiations, policies, and procedures.
• Good analytical, numerical, and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications such as MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, web-based management systems like Salesforce.
• Work independently with initiative to manage high volume workflow.
• Perform detail-oriented work with a high level of accuracy.
• Interact with diplomacy and tact and follow-up on requests in timely and efficient manner.
• Must exhibit high levels of professionalism, integrity, and ethical values always.
• Record keeping, report preparation, filing methods and records management techniques.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple purchases and concurrent bids.
• Fluency in English is required and additional language like French or Spanish is an advantage
• Excellent written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills with ability to work as a team member.

Qualification & Desired Experience
• A Bachelor’s Degree in Finance Business Administration or related field required
• 5+ years of relevant experience and progressive responsibility in procurement and contracting at the officer/specialist level of an NGO sector
• Experience leading and managing the procurement & acquisition aspects of multiple donors funded projects including a demonstrated understanding of applicable procurement-related for (UNITAID, Gates Foundation, USAID, and UN)
• Experience with Procurement from both local, Regional and International Suppliers
• Preferable worked in INGO environment
• Knowledge of management of supplier performance
• Knowledge of management of dispute resolution
• Excellent knowledge of end-to-end supply management processes including competitive bidding, contract management, supplier performance management, and life-cycle costing processes
• Able to manage a high volume of work in a fast-paced environment with multiple priorities and deadlines
Persons living with HIV and/or HCV and who are from key affected populations are strongly encouraged to apply.
This is a full-time position and ITPC provides a competitive salary package based on candidate’s experience and skills.