Project Officer PSNP Capital Assets Management Support and Compliance – Catholic Relief Services – CRS

Internal/External Job Announcement

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

For nearly 60 years, CRS has taken the lead in responding to natural and man-made disasters affecting Ethiopia’s most vulnerable communities. Moving beyond emergency response, CRS’ disaster mitigation and recovery projects in drought and flood-prone areas have rebuilt individual and community assets through non-food aid in the form of agriculture, livestock, health, nutrition, and water and sanitation assistance. CRS’s humanitarian work in Ethiopia also provides livelihoods support to farmers and entrepreneurs, promotes gender equality, mobilizes for immunization and mitigates the impact of HIV.

As part of CRS family, you will join the more than 5000 strong and vibrant individuals working globally to accomplish the mission of CRS.   CRS/Ethiopia invites you, the qualified candidate, to apply for the following position.

Job Summary:

As part of CRS’ Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) project team, you will provide technical support to RFSA Partners and Woreda Offices on procurement in light of applicable frameworks; establish systems and tools to track procurements and expedite procurement in efficient way while managing risk. You will also be responsible to facilitate procurement documents for liquidation at Partners level.

Job Responsibilities:

·         Ensure that the RFSA team is following fully complaint procurement systems and operating procedures that are in line with donor and Government of Ethiopia procurement principles, standards, policies, regulations and local statutory requirements.

·         Ensure RFSA Partners and Woreda offices are well coordinated in executing procurement for infrastructure construction schemes.

·         Work closely with Partners’ procurement team to ensure all RFSA procurements are well planned, executed, documented and reported.

·         Assist in expediting procurement processes at Woreda level with close follow-up of Partners staff and Woreda focal person.

·         Establish systems, tracking tools and contact information of Partners and Woreda offices that enable to perform close follow-up, close assistance and report on progress of procurements.

·         Share list of items budgeted for to procure items for logistics department to fulfill their PDP requirements and ensure purchases are made.

·         In all engagement of procurement, ensure Partners, Woreda offices and RFSA team are aware of compliance issues; monitor and report any challenges and/or gaps identified to inform adjustments to procurement process.

·         Monitor capacity building and technical support activities to ensure effective impact.

·         Support partners and CRS’ RFSA team (specifically the PSNP Systems Team and WASH Team) in monitoring post procurement – vendor construction contracts, construction (on going and completed) and final products to ensure these are in line with approved bids and that materials/supplies were used appropriately.

·         Other duties and responsibilities related to procurement and compliance.

Typical Background, Experience & Requirements:

Education and Experience

·         Bachelor’s degree in Procurement, Accounting, Management, or Business Administration.

·         Minimum of 2 years of work experience in project support. Experience in the field of Procurement and for an NGO would be a plus.

·         Good knowledge of various donor (USAID) and Government of Ethiopia procurement regulations

·         Experience in participatory action planning and community engagement.

·         Experience in monitoring projects and collecting relevant data.

·         Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).

Personal Skills

·         Observation, active listening and analysis skills with ability to make sound judgment

·         Good relationship management skills and the ability to work closely with local partners and community members

• Attention to details, accuracy and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities
• Proactive, results-oriented and service-oriented

Required/Desired Foreign Language

• Good written and verbal communication skills in English and Afaan Oromo
• Written and verbal communication skills in Amharic a plus

Travel Required: Field travel within East Hararghe

 Key Working Relationships:

Supervisory: N/A

Internal: CRS RFSA SPO – PSNP Capital Assets Management Support and Compliance, RFSA DCOP – Finance and Compliance, CRS Ethiopia Operations Manager, PDP (Dire Dawa) Finance / Administration Officers, CRS RFSA Chief of Party, PSNP Systems PM and Infrastructure Officers

External: RFSA implementing Partners and Woreda focal persons

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

·         Serves with Integrity

·         Models Stewardship

·         Cultivates Constructive Relationships

·         Promotes Learning