Career Opportunities: Procurement Associate (Capacity strengthening), SC6 – Huye & Karongi (829769)
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POSITION DETAILS
Position Title: Procurement Associate (Capacity Strengthening)
No of Openings: 3 (1 for Huye and 2 for Karongi)
Contract Type: Service Contract (SC)
Position Grade: SC-6
Duration: 1 year (renewable) depending on performance and availability of funds
Duty Station: Huye and Karongi Field Offices
Closing Date: 18 October 2023
ABOUT WFP
The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
WFP Rwanda works in partnership with the Government and other stakeholders through the direct implementation of integrated programmes targeting the most vulnerable people and will progressively shift towards building national capacity to formulate, manage and implement programmes for achieving zero hunger. In implementing its activities, WFP will bridge the humanitarian–development nexus and leverage its extensive experience and the contributions it has made in Rwanda over many decades in order to achieve four strategic outcomes outlined in the WFP Country Strategic Plan (CSP). Strategic Outcome 2 focuses on ensuring that vulnerable populations in food-insecure communities and areas have improved access to adequate and nutritious food all year. This Outcome encompasses capacity strengthening and direct programme implementation in the areas of school feeding, social protection, disaster risk management, food security and vulnerability analysis, and climate-resilient livelihoods programming.
WFP Rwanda, under Strategic Outcome 2, has close engagement in the national school feeding agenda. WFP provides school feeding in food insecure areas and, at the same time, acts as a key technical partner of the Government of Rwanda in developing and expanding the National School Feeding Programme (NSFP) that was launched in 2021, providing school meals in all public schools from pre-primary to the secondary level funded from the national budget. This builds on long-standing collaboration between WFP and the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) and other ministries on the design of the programme and its procurement model. The recently approved procurement model empowers schools to procure fresh foods and animal source while the district procures non-perishable or long shelf-life meals with a preference given to smallholder cooperatives as suppliers. WFP’s technical assistance has a specific focus on strengthening this procurement model through periodic reviews, technical advice and capacity strengthening at the central and decentralized levels.
COUNTRY CONTEXT AND RESPONSE:
In the 2021/2022 school year, the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) scaled up the government’s National School Feeding Programme to achieve universal coverage, now reaching 3.8 million pre-primary, primary and secondary students in public schools in the 2022/2023 school year. The national strategic vision of school feeding in Rwanda is for all school children to achieve their full development potential through a sustainable school feeding program that provides adequate and nutritious meals at school. This plan entails providing nutritious and locally sourced meals to schools, with fresh foods purchased from smallholder farmer cooperatives and local markets. To support the National School Feeding program (NSFP) the Government of Rwanda has developed and distributed the School Feeding Operational Guidelines which provide guidance on meal composition, meal costs, procurement of foods, food management, and meal preparation, among other key areas.
Due to the national scale up, the Government has adopted a more relevant and sustainable procurement model with focus on locally sourced foods where the procurement of longer shelf-life foods will be conducted at the district, while the procurement of fresh foods will still be conducted at the school.
BACKGROUND OF THE ASSIGNEMENT
These positions are under the project focused on supporting Rwanda’s National School Feeding Programme (NSFP), an essential safety net for children’s education, nutrition and health during this critical period where the programme is in its early years of implementation. The NSFP is additionally confronted by the challenges of the global food and fertilizer price crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine that affect both national food security, and also the implementation of the programme. The project focuses on supporting the Government of Rwanda in implementing the upcoming School Feeding Strategy and Financing Strategy during this difficult time, particularly focusing on the operationalization of the strategy’s core objective of realizing the cost savings that are required to enable the Government to sustainably fund school feeding over the medium and long term amidst rising prices.
Support will be focused at both district and school level on the new procurement model modifications with a focus to increase cost efficiencies, to maximise the nutritional value of meals and thus to strengthen the NSFP’s ability to meet its objectives. Support will be focused in Nyamagabe, Nyaruguru, Karongi and Rutsiro, benefitting approximately 600 schools in these four districts that are among those with high food insecurity. While the majority of the schools that will benefit from the intervention are NSFP schools, these four districts also include WFP-supported schools that will transition into the Government programme after the 2022/2023 school year.
This position will be responsible for strengthening the capacities of the district and schools for school feeding procurement.
JOB PURPOSE
Provide capacity strengthening, operational support, monitoring and evaluation, and training focused on procurement of food items for school feeding. This position will support districts and schools in those districts on procurement procedures and improve the capacity of districts and schools to efficiently procure local nutritious commodities for school feeding. This includes supporting on negotiating with suppliers and cooperatives, developing contracts, adhering to procurement guidelines, and managing funds.
The incumbents will work closely with WFP Procurement staff, the School Feeding team and the Food Safety and Quality Officer in the Country Office. Close work at the district level with school feeding district coordinators is key. The incumbent will be under the overall supervision of the Head of Field Office and will report to the WFP Senior Expert on Public Procurement attached to the school feeding program in the Country Office.
ACCOUNTABILITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Under the general supervision of the head of field office, and technical supervision of the WFP National Expert on Public Procurement for the School Feeding programme, the Incumbent will carry out the following responsibilities:
- Contribute to building the capacity of supply chain actors in districts to supply the National School Feeding Programme, around procurement processes and standards.
- Work with the Districts to conduct induction courses for all newly appointed stakeholders working on procurement (e.g., school tender committee members) to acquaint them with school feeding procurement guidelines
- Provide guidance on how to conduct efficient procurement operations; issue tenders, receive offers, evaluate offers, award and execute contracts or purchase orders
- Work with district to conduct quarterly linkage sessions between district authorities, schools, and local suppliers for the local procurement of food items
- Advocate for increased cost efficiencies of district-level procurement, such as through the purchase of fortified foods for increased nutritional value of the school meal
- In collaboration with the district, coordinate the development of procurement capacity building plans for schools and participate in their dissemination to all stakeholders
- Carrying out training needs assessment in schools’ and providing on job training and coaching to school procurement committees to enable them apply procurement guidelines correctly
- Work with the WFP Senior Expert on Public Procurement to develop appropriately detailed procurement training modules based on the identified needs and consolidate these into a procurement training package, including an M&E framework for training efficacy.
- Conduct observational visits and assessments at the school level in cooperation with district authorities/officials to better understand challenges faced by schools when conducting procurement operations
- Assess the compliance at the school level with the procurement guidelines in the School Feeding Operational Guidelines and conduct follow-up visits with schools who have received training.
- Participate and organize engagement sessions with stakeholders (including headteachers, district leaders, cooperative leaders, etc.) in public food procurement, in collaboration with the WFP Senior Expert on Public Procurement.
- Conduct capacity strengthening sessions with school management, school feeding procurement committees and other stakeholders on procurement of food e.g., through provision of training sessions.
- Guide the school procurement committees on the appropriate utilization of public procurement templates (Procurement Plan, Expression of interest, solicitation documents, contracts, opening and evaluation reports, notification letters to school management) to align with public procurement requirements.
- Provide guidance to school management in establishing School Tender Committees (STC) and ensure established committees are fulfilling responsibilities and have the correct membership.
- Provide guidance and support on contract monitoring tools; mainly on monitoring and verifying food delivered.
- Provide guidance on accurate and timely reports of procurement activities and how this is prepared to facilitate informed decision making and ensuring compliance with public procurement reporting requirements like timelines, valid reporting, templates.
DELIVERABLES
- Monthly progress reports on capacity strengthening activities and implementation of effective local procurement for school feeding
- Capacity strengthening trainings to stakeholders
- Lessons learnt report after one year
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
Education: First University degree in Procurement, Supply Chain, Law, Nutrition, Development studies, M&E, Business Administration, Agriculture, or other related fields with relevant work experience and/or training/courses.
Experience: At least 6 years of experience in public procurement, supply chain, purchasing, school feeding capacity strengthening processes and/or related fields
Knowledge & Skills:
- Field monitoring, training, capacity strengthening at the local level
- Expertise in public procurement processes in Rwanda or similar settings
- Knowledge in conducting procurement oversight missions/exercises would be an advantage
- Demonstrated experience/skills coordinating procurement processes
- Ability to write clearly, and strong communication and presentation skills
Languages: Must have fluency in English and Kinyarwanda
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
18 October 2023
Submission Guideline:
Interested external applicants: Apply Here
WFP has a zero-tolerance approach to conduct such as fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to WFP’s standards of conduct and will therefore undergo rigorous background verification internally or through third parties. Selected candidates will also be required to provide additional information as part of the verification exercise. Misrepresentation of information provided during the recruitment process may lead to disqualification or termination of employment
WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.
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