National Procurement Specialist

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) advances the 2030 Agenda through its Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation toward more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems. This effort promotes better production, improved nutrition, a healthier environment, and enhanced livelihoods, ensuring no one is left behind. The Subregional Office for the Pacific Islands (SAP) is responsible for developing, promoting, overseeing, and implementing strategies and projects that drive the transformation of food, agriculture, and rural development. It also fosters and maintains relationships with subregional institutions. The Subregional Office is a subsidiary of the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP).

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the Subregional Coordinator for the Pacific, the direct supervision of the International Procurement Specialist, and in close collaboration with the Nutrition and Food Systems Officer and Lead Technical Officer (LTO), and with other national and international consultants of the ‘Sustainable Transformation of Domestic Agrifood Systems (STODAS) Project in Fiji, Samoa and Solomon Islands’ the National Procurement Specialist will perform the following activities.

Technical Focus

The National Procurement Specialist is responsible for managing and coordinating procurement activities, ensuring compliance with organizational policies and procedures, and maintaining effective supplier relationships. This role involves overseeing the procurement process, from identifying suppliers to contract management, and ensuring timely delivery of goods and services.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Execute specialized and relevant procurement/contractual processes and functions, ensuring consistency, timeliness, and adherence to applicable regulations, procedures, and practices.
• Review and analyze procurement requests for goods and services for completeness and in conformity with established FAO rules and procedures relevant to the project and with consideration to the specific donor requirements;
• Review the Purchase Requisition (PR) and perform Buyer role in Global Resource Management System (GRMS) including creating and amending Purchase Orders (POs) and vendor sites if they do not exist);
• Identify and recommend sources of procurement, undertake market research to identify vendors, and regularly update the supplier roster;
• Provide support in conducting the procurement processes and ensure that procurement actions are completed in a timely manner in accordance with the relevant rules and procedures; supply timely information on the status of procurement activities and related issues;
• Perform all functions related to the procurement process, including preparing tender documents, issuing tenders, conducting market searches, following up with suppliers, and drafting contracts/amendments/renewals. Provide secretariat support to the Tender Opening Panel and Local Procurement Committee as appropriate and prepare Minutes of the Meeting for each function as required;
• Monitor the status of existing requisitions, maintain contact with suppliers to ensure timely delivery of goods and services, coordinate shipment of goods/commodities/equipment to FAO and its beneficiaries, verify receipt and inspection of deliverables, and report accurately as required.
• Organize bid openings, share technical offers received with the requisitioner for technical evaluations, undertake financial evaluations of offers, and prepare financial evaluation summaries/tables. Review the Technical Evaluation Matrix and Technical Evaluation Report.
• Implement an internal control system to ensure that purchase orders are fully prepared and dispatched; undertake timely corrective actions for POs with budget check errors and other problems.
• Create recurring contracts and purchase orders in GRMS (using Long-Term Agreements [LTAs]). Ensure that all commitments are made against valid contracts/LTAs and that the amount is within the ceilings of the LTAs/contracts before contracts or purchase orders are approved in GRMS.
• Prepare documents and issue Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for competitive selection of service providers for Letters of Agreement and contribute to the preparation of Letters of Agreement under Manual Section (MS) 507.
• Develop in-depth knowledge of FAO procurement procedures and guidelines, ensuring that procurement actions are in line with FAO Manual Section (MS) 502 and MS 507.
• Follow up and report regularly to the International Procurement Specialist on the progress of procurement activities. Collect and compile data for recurring reports on procurement as required.
• Prepare submissions to the Local Procurement Committee (LPC) and the Headquarters Procurement Committee (HQPC).
• Support requisitioning units and recipient entities on the full range of procurement issues, providing support and guidance at all stages of the procurement cycle.
• Contribute to the annual procurement plan submission in the shared point and update it quarterly.
• Prepare, review, analyze, and share procurement monitoring reports.
• Make initial determinations and recommendations concerning disputes or claims arising from contractual instruments or procurement processes.
• Maintain a proper filing and easily retrievable system for Purchase Orders and Contracts issued for the procurement of goods and services; keep track of any contractual agreements and inform users (as appropriate) of contractual rights and obligations.
• File all procurement documents and ensure safekeeping for audit purposes.
• Perform any other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree from an institution recognized by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/UNESCO in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, or a related field
• Minimum of five years of relevant work experience in procurement, supply chain operations, or financial management of projects
• Full Proficiency (level C) in English and Samoan Language
• National of Samoa

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Efficiency, competence and integrity as well as negotiating skills, tact and diplomacy are essential.
• Able to work with multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural project partners at regional and international level;
• Demonstrated knowledge of internationally recognized procurement standards and all phases of international procurement techniques and operations.
• Proficiency in using FAO systems such as GRMS and FPMIS is desirable.
• Strong organizational and multitasking skills, with attention to detail.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal abilities, with experience liaising between diverse project stakeholders.

Selection Criteria

•     Experience in managing or coordinating international, regional, or national projects related to agriculture and the environment is highly desirable.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION