Procurement Officer

Duty Station:  Mbale, Uganda

About Us:

Uganda Women’s Effort to Save Orphans (UWESO) is a non-governmental, non-foreign, interdenominational, and non-political development organization founded in 1986 by a group of women volunteers. UWESO was initially established as a relief organization to respond to the needs of destitute and disadvantaged children who were orphaned as a result of the civil strife of the early 1980s and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Over the years, the organization has evolved from providing relief into a broad-based child rights organization, identifying interventions that are strategic for addressing the needs of Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children (OVC) nationally.

About USAID Project:

The USAID-funded Orphans and Vulnerable Children North East Region (OVC North East) Activity is a five-year Activity to prevent new HIV infections and reduce vulnerability among orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in selected districts of Uganda. The strategic objective supports the Government of Uganda’s (GOU) multisector strategies and priorities for HIV mitigation and prevention, with an emphasis on minimizing the negative impacts of HIV on OVC and AGYW, addressing social, behavioral and structural drivers of HIV, and improving access to comprehensive sexual reproductive health (SRH) services to prevent new infections.

Job Summary:

The Procurement Officer will be responsible for overseeing procurement sourcing, evaluation, order placements and follow up with vendors in compliance with USAID rules and regulations and UWESO policies, procedures, processes and guidelines to support the Activity. He/she will ensure that UWESO’s and other applicable procedures and regulations relating to procurement function is complied with in regards to program support. He or she will lead, guide and effect procurement needs for the  USAID-funded OVC NEA to achieve better service delivery and cost-effectiveness using best and emerging practices in Procurement Management.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Procurement and Supply Chain Management:

• Receive and check for clarity and approval of all procurement requests from various departments.
• Ascertain specifications, budget codes and appropriate authorization on procurements.
• Foster and manage all relationships with vendors and service providers and ensure compliance with the terms of their contracts or service agreements.
• Support the field offices on time ensuring that all the procurements are conducted as per the approved procurement plans, and donor
• Participate in tender evaluations and present the reports to the Procurement Committee for review and recommendation of award of orders or contracts.
• Responsible for conducting supplier sourcing as a way of identifying credible vendors in a pre-qualified supplier database to transact with UWESO in a transparent, competitive and fair manner.
• Support in tendering processes by issuing bids to interested bidders.
• Regular follow-up of purchase orders (PO) with suppliers to ensure timely delivery of supplies and services.
• Proactively track all orders issued out to vendors and ensure deliveries are made within the shortest time possible.
• Provide regular feedback to all requesters on the status of their procurement requisitions and delivery timelines upon order placement.
• Liaise with the finance department to administer the final payments to vendors in line with the terms and conditions outlined in the PO.
• Carry out market surveys in accordance with the UWESO policy guidelines.
• Organize the relevant information/documents to be used in both the Evaluation and Procurement committee meetings then take and file minutes as required by UWESO procurement guidelines.
• Provide technical support to user departments in specification development and contract management in line with UWESO procurement policy guidelines.

Reporting and Documentation:

• Review and update the procurement tracker, to keep the program teams informed of the status of their procurements in the sourcing pipeline.
• Maintain the filing system of all procurements and maintain a good record of all procurements
• Ensuring a proper filing system through the use of the e-filling system for all procurement-related documents.
• Maintain a valid and updated contract tracker.
• Establish and document the supplier’s service delivery given the user’s remarks for future reference then prepare documents for payments to suppliers and verify with the users as per the procurement manual.
• Maintain correspondence and constant contact with suppliers to follow up on the execution of contractual terms and conditions, and handle issues if needed. Monitor and report on supplier performance, noting current and/or potential issues and/or inefficiencies and assist with contract/purchase order modifications.
• Accountable for transparency within the procurement department by ensuring a complete, accurate and up-to-date document trail of all procurement processes, vendor files, procurement, and inventory databases to assist with control and accountability. Prepare reports and facilitate document retrieval.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The applicant must hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Procurement and Logistics Management, or other relevant degree required.
• Partial qualification in professional certification such as CIPS.
• Three years of work experience in procurement and logistic management in a USAID-funded Activity is required.
• Knowledge of international and national procurement regulations and local market conditions.
• Knowledge of contract terms, as well as a proven ability to successfully complete purchase orders against specifications.
• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) is highly desirable.
• Prior experience with Microsoft Dynamics (Navision) is an added advantage.
• Good planning and coordination skills and ability to prioritize competing priorities effectively
• Good analytical skills with the ability to make independent judgments and decisions
• Proactive, results-oriented, and service-oriented with a focus on meeting customer needs
• Ethical conduct in accordance with recognized professional and organizational codes of ethics
• Good negotiation, communication, and relationship management skills
• Good understanding of the procurement process and procedures in an NGO setting
• Willingness to travel and stay for extended periods in remote areas to support work.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY POLICY

UWESO provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, colour, religion, age, sex, national origin, or disability status unrelated to job requirements.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, and transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

ANTI-CORRUPTION, ANTI-FRAUD AND ANTI-KICKBACK

UWESO holds a zero-tolerance policy against Fraud, Corruption, Sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment in all places where our programs are implemented. All UWESO employees and vendors are expected to maintain high ethical standards, protect organizational integrity and reputation, and ensure that UWESO work is conducted in honest and fair methods, in accordance with the UWESO policies. Any policy Violations shall be subject to corrective action up to and including termination of employment.

SAFEGUARDING AND PROTECTION

UWESO is committed to safeguarding and protecting the people we serve and our staff. We have zero tolerance for any type of behaviour that inflicts harm on children, young people, adults, our staff and partners including sexual abuse, harassment, bullying, exploitation and Fraud. We do everything possible to ensure that we recruit only those who are suitable to work with us and expect that everyone we hire will abide by our safeguarding and related policies and will report any suspected or known violations. This job is subject to a range of vetting as legally permitted.