Regional Purchasing Officer, Central Africa & Gulf of Guinea
Job Description
Location: Kigali, Rwanda
Reports to: Regional Operations Manager
Start Date: ASAP
Position Type: Full time
Organization Background
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US non-profit, tax-exempt, private organization established in 1895 that saves wildlife and wild places by understanding critical issues, crafting science-based solutions, and taking conservation actions that benefit nature and humanity. With more than a century of experience, long-term commitments in dozens of landscapes, presence in more than 60 nations, and experience helping to establish over 150 protected areas across the globe, WCS has amassed the biological knowledge, cultural understanding and partnerships to ensure that vibrant, wild places and wildlife thrive alongside local communities. Working with local communities and organizations, that knowledge is applied to address species, habitat and ecosystem management issues critical to improving the quality of life of poor rural people whose livelihoods depend on the direct utilization of natural resources.
Central Africa & Gulf of Guinea Program Overview
The Central Africa and Gulf of Guinea program is one of the largest of WCS’s Global Regional Programs, spanning Nigeria, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo and Gabon. This is a rapidly growing program with a diverse and expanding portfolio of donors, partners and projects. The region presents a set of complex conservation challenges to biodiversity and their habitats and WCS field programs are addressing these through a number of initiatives including protected area management, community engagement, sustainable livelihoods, policy reform and sustainable financing. WCS recently formally established its regional hub in Kigali, Rwanda which hosts a growing team of technical specialists and regional management to support our country programs and field offices.
Job Summary
The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Africa & Gulf of Guinea program is seeking a highly qualified and motivated Regional Purchasing Officer to support our national and field program offices to improve efficiencies in international procurements. We are seeking a highly qualified, supply chain professional with experience in international purchasing and shipping. The candidate must be organized and have excellent communication skills. He/she must demonstrate capacity to work in multi-contextual environment. The Regional Purchasing Officer will join a dynamic regional team and report to the Central Africa Regional Operations Manager.
Responsibilities
Under the leadership of the Regional Operations Manager and in collaboration with the country programs and the global purchasing unit in New York, the Purchasing Officer will focus on purchasing goods and services for country programs providing timely delivery without compromising on quality. S/he will:
- Organize the regional purchases to ensure effectiveness and efficiency while abiding by the WCS guidelines and donor’s regulations.
- Continuously assess the international sourcing opportunities in Africa
- Play a key role in development and update of a database of approved and preferred vendors
- Play a key role in negotiation and preparation of long-term agreements where applicable and liaise with vendors maintaining up-to-date catalogues and the most favorable terms for WCS.
- Manage WCS vendors including their performance
- Prepare requisitions in SAP where needed
- Process purchase orders in SAP
- Prepare / review supporting documents and submit for payments, follow up on timely payment in liaison with accounts payable team in New York and where applicable with other countries.
- File the relevant documents and provide additional information when required during audits
- Update the purchase follow up (tracker) and communicate accordingly with requesters in country programs
- Provide inputs to country program teams for update of procurements plans and supply plans.
- Organize the shipping to country programs while abiding by the destination countries importation rules and WCS guidelines on exportation.
- Provide support to the Regional Operation Manager in other activities in line with the job, including direct support to a country program.
- Provide support to other WCS departments and business units within the Kigali regional office as needed and requested
Requirements:
- Minimum Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
- At least 3 years of professional experience in international purchasing, shipping, logistics, and in Least Developed Countries, with experience in Africa an advantage
- Experience working with international organizations or private sector
- Strong computer skills in MS Office, especially MS Excel
- Rigorous, with strong organization skills and attention to detail
- Strong communication skills
- Strong negotiation skills
- Proven capacity to work within set legal requirements framework
- Fluency in French and English
- Commitment to the values and mission of the Wildlife Conservation Society
How to apply
Interested candidates, who meet the above qualifications, skills and experience, should apply through this link by January 31, 2023.
WCS is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to hiring and supporting a diverse workforce. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment and look for future team members who share that same value.
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