Local Procurement Consultant

Job #121676
World Bank Office in Jerusalem
Position: Local Procurement Consultant
Contract type: Extended Consultancy Contract (ETC)
Duration of contract: 1 year renewable
Closing date: July 24, 2012
Language Requirements: Arabic [Essential]; English [Essential]



Background / General description:
The local Procurement Consultant will be located in the West Bank and Gaza Country Office and will be working with the Country Procurement Team to provide support for projects in the portfolio and help build the procurement system and capacity in the Country.  The Procurement Consultant will be working in close cooperation with the Procurement Specialist who is located in the country office, under the overall guidance of the Regional Procurement Manager and the Country Procurement Coordinator for the West Bank and Gaza, who are located at World Bank HQ.  Because procurement is key to enable a timely and effective response to the government’s requests, a very important part of the work would therefore be to help the procurement team to provide this expected support expeditiously while avoiding unnecessary delays. 

The MNA region attaches particular importance to creating a supportive work environment, based on the values of teamwork, transparency, trust, client service, and professional excellence.

MNA staff is expected to be guided by these values as well as to possess the following attributes:

-Collegiality, creativeness, resourcefulness
-Good listening and communications skills
-Intellectual and personal integrity and competence
-Willingness and ability to work in teams
-Commitment to clients.

Duties and Accountabilities:
Under the direction of the Regional Procurement Manager (RPM) based in Washington and the guidance of the Country Procurement Coordinator, the consultant will:

-Work under the guidance of the Procurement Specialist on procurement matters in the performance of the Bank’s fiduciary and service functions, seeking support from colleagues, as needed, on complex projects/issues;
-Work across sectors and review and handle the technical, commercial and legal aspects of procurement (in consultation with Legal and Policy departments as necessary) at all stages of the project cycle;
-Contribute to the quality of MNAPR outcomes and monitoring of these outcomes.  Help the RPM office to provide timely and accurate information through periodic update of the Procurement Portfolio Dashboard.  This includes information on PPRs, complaints handling, project time recording etc;
-Provide operational advice to clients and Bank staff on concepts, policies and procedures for international and local procurement;
-Participate in project tasks and assess procurement implications of project design, evaluate institutional capacity of implementing agencies and assist Clients in the development of suitable procurement plans; conduct prior and post reviews of Bank-financed/administered contracts;
-Negotiate and resolve procurement issues with implementing agencies and handle questions/ complaints from senior officials and contractors on bidding and award issues;
-Conduct post procurement reviews of Bank-financed/administered contracts and prepare reports on the findings, recommendations and proposed actions;
-Participate in designing and conducting workshops to train procurement staff in implementing agencies.

The Procurement Consultant will plan his/her work program in close consultation with the Country Procurement Coordinator taking into consideration the inputs from the Procurement Specialists located in WBG.

Selection Criteria:
The candidate should possess:

-Masters level degree in one of the relevant disciplines (e.g. Business Administration, Engineering, Commerce, or Law);
-A minimum of 5 years of relevant experience;
-Basic knowledge of the Bank’s procurement policies, processes and procedures;
-Basic experience in the non-technical aspects of procurement processing and analysis at all stages of the project cycle;
-Proven analytical and evaluative skills including the ability to provide well-researched analyses of key procurement issues;
-Very good written and verbal communication skills both in Arabic and English, including the ability to prepare, present and discuss findings in written and oral form;
-Ability to communicate and function effectively in multi-disciplinary teams.

The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background.  Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. 

All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.