Senior Procurement Specialist & Procurement Hub Coordinator

Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org

Governance Global Practice Context
The Governance Global Practice (GGP) helps developing countries build capable, efficient, open, inclusive, and accountable institutions that can support economic growth, reduce poverty, deliver needed services and earn the confidence of citizens! Our work encompasses public financial management, public procurement, civil service reform, open government, anti-corruption, and using technology to improve quality and access to government services. More information: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/governance

Procurement 
The Global Directorate for Procurement (EPRDR) convenes a leading group of practitioners focused on advancing cutting-edge practices and innovations in the field of procurement. In that context, the Directorate supports governments and non-governmental actors in institutional strengthening and capacity building, improvement and modernization of procurement systems and ensuring efficiency of transactions for improved governance and enhanced development outcomes. The Directorate advances these efforts across sectors and regions. 

THE KEY THEMES OF THE SIP GROUP ARE AS FOLLOWS: 

• Provide technical advice on procurement fiduciary activities and lead policy dialogue on procurement with client countries. 
• Support client countries in achieving value for money in public procurement and Bank funded operations in order to enhance service delivery and development outcomes with integrity.
• Create the space for procurement/governance innovation to happen.
• Establish proactive processes to identify and deploy knowledge to solve specific problems, and improve development outcomes in client countries.
• Facilitate and join global platforms to share knowledge and practices across the world. 
  
  The Africa East and Southern Region (AFE) of the Solutions and Innovations in Procurement (SIP) Department of GGP seeks to recruit a Senior Procurement Specialist and Procurement Hub Coordinator to be based in Dar es Salaam– Tanzania. The Procurement Hub Coordinator (Hub Leader) function is to Lead, Supervise and provide Support to procurement teams in the delivery of procurement fiduciary and service functions to the Bank’s portfolio with prompt, consistent, sound advices in the review and clearances of procurement documents and decisions under Bank-financed projects, in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 
  
  An important part of the Hub Leader responsibility is to lead Bank’s dialogue with the Government authorities on the development of the national public procurement systems and the procurement capacity development initiatives. 
  
  The Hub Leader frequently interacts with Procurement Manager’s office (APM) and CMU management; government officials; international organizations, partner entities and coordinates across the practices; sector networks; INT; and regional Public Sector Management and Financial Management specialists. 
  

DUTIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES:

A Procurement Hub Coordinator/Country Team Leader (Hub Leader) function is to Lead, Supervise and provide Support to procurement teams in the delivery of procurement fiduciary and service functions to the Bank’s portfolio with prompt, consistent, sound advices in the review and clearances of procurement documents and decisions under Bank-financed projects, in their hub countries.

An important part of the Hub Leader responsibility is to lead Bank’s dialogue with the Government authorities on the development of the national public procurement systems and the procurement capacity development initiatives.

The Hub Leader frequently interacts with Procurement Manager’s office (APM) and CMU management; government officials; international organizations, partner entities and coordinates across the practices; sector networks; INT; and regional Public Sector Management and Financial Management specialists.
Specific roles and responsibility of hub leaders are below:

1   Leadership Role

• Lead and support the procurement team in delivering the fiduciary work and Public Procurement Reforms in the Hub countries.
• Provide procurement clearances and perform other duties on behalf of APM as delegated.
• Provide coaching, advice and mentorship to the procurement team and help achieve individual business and professional development objectives.
• Monitor the performance and workload of the procurement team and coordinate back-up arrangements.
• Provide leadership in the monitoring of procurement and disbursement plans implementation. Reaching out across Governance practice, Program Leaders, Operations Officers and key staff in other GPs to help teams to understand how procurement can be a force for better governance.
• Conduct procurement and contract data analytics in Hub countries and disseminate evidence-based information about the impact of public procurement in the context of the political economy e.g. analytics on value of contracts (including non-procurement activities) going to national firms and individuals versus international contracts and relating the analysis to private sector development and job creation by approaching the national markets. 
• Interact with Bank senior management and participate in relevant meetings.
• Provide support to APM in coordination with other Procurement Hub leaders for the successful delivery of the their work program. 
• Provide team leadership for work on specific procurement topics across the Region and the Bank.
  
  2   Upstream Work on Programs and Projects
• Coordinate the procurement upstream involvement in project preparation and implementation of country partnership frameworks for the hub countries.
• Effectively coordinate Procurement Specialists work in the hub countries. 
• Identify generic country key procurement issues, risks and recommendation and ensure CMUs address them by their inclusion in CPF, SCD, IPFs, PforRs and DPOs, as applicable.
• Engage with the CMU for appropriate budgetary allocations through WPA.
• Bring to the attention of the country teams and APM, key procurement issues that affect WPA delivery in a timely manner and coordinate to ensure that the issues are appropriately addressed.
• Participate in review meetings for projects in the hub countries and ensure that risks and appropriate mitigation measures are identified and included in PPSDs, PADs and FAs.
• Dialogue with Governments, Task Teams and CMUs to ensure that funds are allocated within the loans/credits/grants for third party procurement and value for money audits.
• Conduct quality assurance of input to PRAMS and PPSDs for projects in the hub countries.
• Provide quality assurance for reports generated by field Procurement Specialists and Consultants, (i.e. PCDs, PADs, FAs and ASAs).
  
  3  Assist the APM to ensure that all required procurement clearances are provided by procurement certified or accredited staff or consultant. Implementation Support to Ongoing Programs and Projects
• Coordinate and provide guidance/advices to procurement implementation support of all projects in the hub countries.
• Ensure that post procurement and third-party procurement audits in projects are carried out, reports are reviewed and proactive and timely actions are taken to address identified weaknesses/noncompliance.  Consult with the APM on the noncompliance cases.
• Supervise and clear APSs' timely updates of PRAMS as required and monitor consistent and timely use of all relevant procurement systems.
• Assist APM in ensuring that PRAMS are prepared by procurement certified and accredited consultants or staff.
• Cross check of procurement risk rating in PARMS with activity risks in STEP and ISR procurement risk rating.
• Regularly monitor ISR ratings to ensure Procurement inputs are well recorded.
• Lead dialogue with the government on RAS initiatives and provide leadership and guidance for the implementation of procurement-related ASA, RAS activities and components.
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• Supervise procurement in PforR. 
• Provide quality assurance for APSs' reviews of large and complex procurement packages in the hub countries.
• Introduce innovation and apply broader flexibility and educate Task Teams on available options to deal with such complex operations. 
• Provide leadership for APSs' and Task teams' involvement on INT cases in all of the hub countries.
• Monitor Volcker Trigger projects procurement risk assessment and guide teams to design appropriate mitigation measures in the PAD.
• Provide leadership in the organization of the annual result-based procurement planning clinics for the portfolios in the hub countries. 
• Review and clear procurement packages on behalf of APM (if delegated)) for any of the hub countries.
• Provide quality assurance and advise to task teams for contracts at OPRC level and seek APM concurrence.
• Regularly monitor procurement plans in STEP to ensure that cleared activities are in compliance with mandatory prior review thresholds.  Take an appropriate action and ensure to seek required approvals for activities with below or above mandatory prior review thresholds. 
• Regularly monitor, ensure quality and timely input of required information and contracts data available for post review contracts in STEP.
• Monitor and ensure that contract awards are published specially for contracts subject to post reviews as per Procurement Regulation 5.93.
• Assist the APM to ensure that there is no procurement clearance is provided in or outside STEP by consultants or staff who are not certified and accredited.
  
  4  Collaboration with CMUs and the Global Practices
• Coordinate procurement inputs to the preparation including WPA budget allocation and WPA execution, alert CMU management, in coordination with APM, on key procurement issues that affect WPA delivery and coordinate corrective actions.
• Coordinate procurement inputs to the preparation and implementation of country partnership frameworks for the Hub countries.
• Provide leadership in the context of fiduciary, including APA, and country procurement assessments.
• Join SCD/CPF discussions to reflect procurement challenges and provide inputs to improve portfolio procurement and public procurement.
• Coordinate procurement inputs and the monitoring of key procurement risks in Country Portfolio Performance Reviews and other relevant reviews in Hub countries. 
  
  5  External Clients’ Capacity Development on Bank's Portfolio & Knowledge Sharing
• Continue to disseminate the Bank’s Procurement Framework within the Bank as well as to Borrowers and Private Sector.
• Coordinate training clinics and programs to Borrowers including the use of STEP.
• Provide leadership and support to procurement team to leverage training and knowledge sharing through implementation support.
• Lead procurement capacity building initiatives including the development and dissemination of relevant knowledge products, tools, methodologies, guidelines and lessons learned along the full procurement cycle.
• Develop capacity of Supreme Audit Institutions and Procurement Regulatory Agencies in the Hub countries to carry out PPR’s and procurement audits in the Bank financed projects.
• Lead a dialogue and coordinate to build capacity of country Supreme Audit Institutions/Procurement Regulatory Agencies in the Hub countries to carry out Procurement audits/post reviews in Bank financed Projects.
• Lead a dialogue with universities/vocational training centers, and private Institutions to develop a curriculum on procurement and contract management for both public and private sector including policy makers in the hub countries.

6  Bank Staff Capacity Development & Knowledge Sharing

• Effective coaching, guidance and mentorship is provided to APSs in the Hub countries in the delivery of ad-hoc clinics and advice to clients, task teams, and the private sector operators.
• Support the APSs in the hub countries on their performance; and appropriate learning plan.
• Considering the business need of country portfolio, discuss with APM any specific training needs for staff development in the hub countries on a timely basis.
• Promote professionalization of procurement function.
• Encourage APS to write short blogs or stories to showcase the work on some of the innovative and new approaches to procurement and contract management, work on systems and capacity development, including the results achieved under RAS, if any.
• Ensure that a one-page flyer is prepared for each capacity building event for internal and external clients and sent to Global Director office for posting on the procurement hub; consolidate data and information on capacity building events as well as impact of these events.
  
  7  Country Procurement Systems
• Provide leadership to the hub team on country procurement systems assessment and reform and lead dialogue with government.
• Ensure that MAPS assessment progressed on time and provide quality assurance and advices.
• Act as a regional e-GP coordinator and lead a dialogue with the government and the CMU on e-GP initiatives in hub countries to ensure the adoption of a sound e-GP at country level.
• Promote innovations in capacity development, Open Contracting, citizen engagement in public procurement etc. through components in IPFs, DPFs, P4Rs etc.
• Work with the Governance team and other sectors; develop strong client relationships; proactively coordinate with Development Partners on procurement capacity and country procurement systems development, and leverage funding arrangements.
• Participate in implementation supervision mission of projects with PFM components in the hub countries.

Selection Criteria

• MA/MS (an advanced degree with a major relevant discipline, e.g. Engineering, Law, Procurement, Finance, Business and Commerce) and minimum of 8 years relevant experience in carrying out technical duties in procurement and contract management.
• State-of-the-art knowledge of public procurement principles, systems, process and planning, and approaches to international procurement with proven ability to independently provide well researched analyses of complex procurement issues and problems. 
• Seasoned knowledge and specialized command of all major facets of Bank procurement policies and practices as applied across a wide range of Bank lending operations at all phases of the project cycle, and ability to address broader issues at sector/country level.
• Understanding of Bank operational policies and practices related to project/sector work. 
• Seasoned knowledge of public procurement systems including legal framework and institutions.
• Good understanding of critical linkages and relationships among clients' business drivers, business operations and objectives and Procurement processes. 
• Proven ability to conceptualize, design and implement major project procurements. 
• Ability to promote client commitment to ensuring implementation and longer-term sustainability of projects/programs. 
• Demonstrable experience in leading discussions with top government functionaries on public procurement reforms. 
• Strong communication skills and persuasiveness in presenting, negotiating and resolving highly complex issues, both orally and in writing.
• Ability to identify complex issues and to respond and handle; accordingly, does not add unnecessary complexity to tasks or projects.
• Ability to operate effectively in a matrix management environment, both as a team leader and team member. 
• Ability to lead a team of professionals in the execution of major projects. 
• Ability to deal sensitively in multi-cultural environments and build effective working relations with clients and colleagues. 
• Knowledge and working experience with design and implementation of e-Government Procurement Systems and Knowledge will be an added advantage.
• Language Requirement: English (essential). 
  
  

Additional information to Applicants: 

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Qualified male and female candidates of diverse background (gender, religious, education, ethnic etc.) are encouraged to apply. 

Poverty has no borders, neither does excellence. We succeed because of our differences and we continuously search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe. 

Poverty has no borders, neither does excellence. We succeed because of our differences and we continuously search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds from around the globe.