Laboratory Procurement Specialist

General Summary:

Chemonics International is conducting a recruit for a Laboratory Procurement Specialist for the USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) project. The Procurement Specialist will work alongside a diverse team of professionals to procure laboratory equipment and supplies and other commodities related to treating opportunistic infections for HIV/AIDS patients. This is a fantastic opportunity for those with a passion for procurement within a fast-paced and dynamic, global supply chain environment. Strong candidates are adaptive to change, tenacious problem-solvers, understand their work directly impacts getting life-saving medicines to communities in need, are eager to learn and greet challenges as opportunities.

In this role, you will be responsible for conducting the procure to pay process in support of stakeholder requirements. On any given day, you may be completing sourcing events including receiving requisition orders (ROs) from country offices, confirming products specifications, conducting RFXs, completing evaluations, seeking internal approvals, creating purchase orders (POs) and coordinating with suppliers, as well as the Quality Assurance and Deliver/Return teams to ensure proper shipment of orders.

Responsibilities Include:

Conduct eRFX (RFI, RFP, RFQ) events using our Automated Requisition Tracking Management Information System (ARTMIS) and other e-sourcing platforms, monitor the tender submission process, manage data related to the tendering process, evaluate RFX responses and make supplier award recommendations to supervisor in a timely manner

• Primary point of contact for suppliers in case of eProcurement system questions and for assigned orders
• Obtain internal approvals and liaise with country office for USAID mission approval for Requisition Orders
• Ensure the completeness and accuracy of purchase orders
• Ensure that established processes/procedures are followed as designed
• Liaise with the Quality Assurance team to ensure that requested health products meet appropriate quality standards and are in line with the USAID guidelines
• Liaise with the Deliver/Return (Freight Team) to ensure all proper waivers and documentation are prepared to pick-up and ship goods to final destination
• Maintain timely communication with relevant stakeholders regarding change in logistics, production schedules, supplier services, and availability of products
• Provide updates about procurement related progress, stays abreast, and timely communicates any potential delays to the Supervisor
• Provide clear and concise communication in both verbal and written formats in a proactively and timely manner
• Participate in data tracking and reporting including Supplier incident logging and completing supplier assessments etc. in a timely manner
• Continuously work to improve and broaden health commodity product knowledge
• Performs other duties and projects as assigned

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience
• CIPS, CPSM, or other relevant procurement certification preferred.
• Minimum 4 years of procurement, supply chain, and/or technically relevant work experience
• Commodity procurement experience required
• Capability with data management and control principles
• Proficient in standard business office software and MS Office including Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word with an emphasis on MS Excel (pivot tables)
• Ability to manage several assigned and concurrent sourcing events through to completion in a high-pressure environment
• Demonstrated high sense of urgency in a fast-paced environment and ability to adapt to changing priorities
• Demonstrated ability to plan, prioritize, and manage workload with considerable independence
• Ability to identify a problem, work independently/extended team to frame it, determine root cause, drive to potential solution in a timely manner
• Demonstrated work initiative (i.e. seeks additional related assignments, pursue self-development, proactively looks for alternatives and solutions, and assumes additional responsibilities)
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including grammar and proofreading skills for producing and communicating comprehensive and concise reports
• Solid understanding of USAID and other Federal Acquisition Rules preferred
• Health sector procurement experience preferred
• Technical product knowledge of one or more GHSC-PSM product areas preferred
• Greets challenge and change as opportunity
• Works to achieve both individual and organization-wide goals as specified in a group setting
• Strong interpersonal, motivating and influencing skills for interacting with team members, other stakeholders, suppliers, and management
• Demonstrated leadership, versatility, and integrity
• English language fluency required, secondary language fluency desired

Supervision: The Laboratory Procurement Specialist will report to the DCP Supervisor who is based in Nairobi, Kenya.