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Job Title:  Procurement Manager 

Organisation: StrongMinds

Duty Station:  Kampala, Uganda

Reports to: Head of Finance and Operations

About US:

StrongMinds treats depression among women of all ages in Africa, where access to mental health treatment is extremely limited. To date, StrongMinds has treated more than 70,000 women with depression in Uganda and Zambia. We are the only organization scaling a solution to depression in Africa with a potential to serve millions in the next ten years. Since our founding in 2013, we have restored mental health to more than 170,000 women and adolescents in Uganda and Zambia. We are the only organization scaling a proven, cost-effective solution to the depression epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa.

Job Summary:  The Procurement Manager (PM) will provide technical guidance and oversight of the procurement function to all levels of staff and management within StrongMinds Uganda. He/she will lead and support the entire procurement life cycle for all goods and services that StrongMinds Uganda procures. He/she will apply professional purchasing concepts, standards, and organizational objectives to complete complex procurement/contracting assignments. You will lead and collaborate with user departments in establishing quality improvements and process efficiencies. He/she shall ensure strict adherence to best practices in procurement procedures as set out in SMU policies. The role requires significant interpersonal negotiations and contract management skills for the various interactions with user departments and suppliers. As a supervisor for Operations staff, he/she shall ensure that the department operates as a cohesive and functional team that provides high quality, responsive, timely and cost-effective services in implementation of program activities within SMU’s policies, standards operating procedures and donor requirements.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Procurement management – involves the use of effective planning strategies to manage and optimize the purchasing of goods and services directly from a preferred service provider or supplier in a timely fashion and within the agreed budget.

• Ensure that SMU always maintains a high level of competition in procurement of suppliers by providing guidance to user departments and ensuring that appropriate method of sourcing is used.
• Ensure that procurements meet best practice with appropriate involvement of the user departments in relation to the terms and specifications of the goods and services to be procured and document the best practice employed.
• Support the functioning of the procurement committee, ensuring that meetings are held on schedule, the committee is guided on procedure and decisions are well documented.
• Lead the preparation and consolidation of the procurement plan in alignment with the approved SMU Annual Work Plan & Budget and monitor the implementation and responsiveness of the procurement plan to user needs.
• Manage the pre-qualification process in a transparent manner in order to attract the best suppliers for frequently procured items and conduct due diligence on selected pre-qualified vendors to mitigate risk, maintain and regularly refresh the active suppliers list.

Contracts Management– is the continuous review and management of the contractual terms negotiated through the procurement process to ensure that agreed outcomes are delivered by suppliers or service providers.

• Centralize and standardize contracts in a searchable repository that makes access, review and editing easier.
• Co-ordinate that organization obligations are tracked and fulfilled for every signed contract under the procurement process.
• Conduct regular compliance reviews and monitor contractual obligations that are legally binding to avoid penalties.
• Identify, assess and monitor potential contract risks before and after signing a contract.

Inventory Management and Control-is the practice of controlling the flow of goods in stores by ensuring that there is enough stock for use and minimizing the costs of holding excess stock.

• Responsible for finding a supplier/vendor who will provide your organization with the needed goods to operate and meet Organization mission.
• Manage inventory documentation by ensuring that accurate stock records in terms of the quality, quantity, type and style are maintained so that the organization has a clear understanding of what is and isn’t available.
• Oversee that the organization has the right amount of stock to meet staff needs to avoid stock-outs and overstocking goods.

Fleet Management: is an approach that allows companies to organize and coordinate work vehicles with the aim of improving efficiency, reducing costs, and providing compliance with government rules and regulations.

• Manage the development, performance, and maintenance of the organization’s fleet to produce an efficiently run fleet, maximizing performance, value, and profitability against preagreed targets.
• Supervise the fleet management team and design systems to track maintenance, fuel usage and vehicle routing and scheduling.
• Share monthly fleet management reports with the Head of Finance and Operations.
• Coordinate with Kampala and field offices on travel and logistics support as required.

People Management: Take the lead in developing and building a procurement team that is fully engaged and committed to delivering the overall objectives of our operational goals.

• Hire the right people on the procurement team that have the right expertise to manage the procurement process.
• Communicate to the Procurement Team a clear and exciting vision for the work of the organization and the importance of their personal contribution.
• Plan and organize the work of the team to accomplish strategic & project goals and targets in the most cost-effective and impactful manner possible.
• Ensure that each team member is provided with clarity concerning expectations; provide training, coaching and accountability to support them in achieving results and delivering required standards and behaviour.
• Notice and cultivate talent; ensure delivery of an engaging leadership style that motivates team members and encourages high performance.

Policies and Procedures: Ensure compliance to policies, procedures and practices as outlined in the procurement manual to minimise risk.

• Periodically initiate the review of internal procurement policies and procedures to ensure continued relevance to SMU’s operations; identify, assess, and manage potential risks associated with procurement, ensuring new risks fit within SMU’s risk appetite.
• Lead the planning, designing, and implementing of an overall risk management framework for procurement and inculcate a culture of risk awareness & management within the team.
• Respond to internal and external audit queries, lead & monitor implementation of corrective actions, provide reports as required by the auditors and Management.
• Provide specialist advice on best procurement practices across the organization.
• Participate in mixed teams conducting due diligence on vendors, suppliers and partner organization.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The applicant must hold a Degree in Procurement, Post-graduate diploma or master’s degree in related field preferred OR Professional certification in procurement e.g., CIPS
• Five to seven years of procurement management experience
• Knowledge of administrative, budgetary, procurement procedures
• Strong negotiation, problem solving and analytical skills.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Familiarity with using computerized procurement systems.
• Supervisory and people management experience.
• Office administration and organizational skills
• Concentrate on all aspects of a task, commitment to achieving high quality results and value for money.
• Initiative: Develop solutions to problems as they arise
• Ability to prioritize own workload in a high-pressure environment.
• Excellent Communication Skills (Oral and Written)
• Advanced MS Office application

The successful Procurement Manager will also be expected to embrace and role model the core values of StrongMinds:

• We are people focused.
• We think big and act fast.
• We are data driven.
• We do what we say and say what we do.
• We believe in collaboration, not competition.

How to Apply:

Send resume to careersug@strongminds.org mentioning “Procurement Manager” in the subject line.

Deadline: 11th August 2023.

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