Organization / Company Name:Central Statistics Organization

Vacancy Number: CSO/C-2

Location:, Kabul, Afghanistan

Organization / Company Name:Central Statistics Organization

Job Category:procurement

Employment Type:

Salary:As per Policy per month

Posted:05.07.2014

Position Title:Procurement Specialist

Contract Duration:one Year (extendable)

Nationality:Afghan

No.of Jobs:1

Shift:7:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Experience:5 Years

Start Date:07.05.2014

Expiration Date:20.05.2014

Gender:Male/Female

About Central Statistics Organization

The Central Statistics Organization (CSO) adopted the Statistics for Results Facility (SRF) in 2010. The SRF is a product of recent global discussions on scaling up support for statistics, and is in line with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, advocating strong commitments to harmonize and align aid delivery by the donor community. Its goal is to increase developing countries’ capacity to formulate development policies and for evidence-based decision making through sustained improvement in production, availability, quality, and use of statistics for managing and measuring development results.

The CSO fulfilled the eligibility criteria for the SRF, by developing the Afghanistan National Statistical Plan in 2010 and by putting in place a government-donor partnership. It successfully applied for funding under the SRF Catalytic Fund (SRF-CF), and therefore launched the “Strengthening the National Statistical System” (SNSS) project which has been effective since March 2011.

The SRF-CF is a multi-donor trust fund, administered by the World Bank, to provide assistance and catalytic financing in response to country proposals emerging from national partnerships of local governments, donors, and other stakeholders. The overall objective of the SRF-CF is to promote a system-wide approach to statistics at the country level; increase resources for the implementation of a country-owned National Statistical Plan; explicitly link improvements in statistical systems to the needs of national and sector policy and monitoring frameworks; promote improved national dialogue and partnership between data users and producers; and aim at delivering more efficient and effective aid and technical assistance for strengthening statistical systems and results measurement.

The SNSS project, which is implemented by the Central Statistics Organization and monitored and administered by the World Bank, aims to strengthen statistical capacity in Afghanistan by operationalize the Afghanistan National Statistical Plan (ANSP). Specifically, this project aims to: (i) enable Afghanistan to address the data needs of the country for planning, decision-making and monitoring purposes through various surveys and by developing administrative statistical systems to support the ANDS; (ii) build sustainable statistical capacity in the country, and particularly at the CSO; (iii) enable Afghanistan to use international standards for concepts, classifications, and definitions; and (iv) enable Afghanistan to meet its international data obligations.

The project has five components, namely: (a) Improve Framework for Institutional and Capacity Development, (b) Improve Data Collection and Analysis, (c) Improve Administrative Data Systems and Other Data from Line-Ministries, (d) Develop Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure, and (e) Project Management.

The CSO is the primary implementing and executing agency of the SNSS project. A Project Implementation and Coordination Team (PICT) at the CSO manages project’s daily administrative work. For advisory services, a twinning arrangement has been set up under the project. The Twinning Partner (TP) provides capacity building and technical support to the CSO for the implementation of the project. The TP operates on the first 4 components of the project, and facilitates missions for key experts who provide technical support, advisory and consultancy services to the CSO to better and effectively implement project activities.

The Procurement Specialist will be part of the Project Implementation and Coordination Team and responsible for managing the procurement of goods, services and training, required under this Project.

Job Summary

Responsibility for planning and management of all the procurement activities of the project and ensuring that procurement is carried out in compliance with the procedures agreed with the World Bank.

Supporting strengthening of CSO capacity in procurement.

Duties and Responsibilities

The role of the procurement specialist is to ensure timely and quality procurement of goods and services for the AFGHANSTAT project under the SRF capacity development efforts, and to transfer procurement skills to designated CSO staff.

The duties and responsibilities of the Procurement Specialist include the following but will not be limited to:

(1) Responsibility for planning and management of all the procurement activities of the project and ensuring that procurement is carried out in compliance with the procedures agreed with the World Bank, such as:

•Carrying out the international and local bidding process for procurement of goods in accordance with the “Guidelines: Procurement under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits” Current version

•Carrying out the selection of consulting services in accordance with the “Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by the World Bank Borrowers”, Current Version Preparing any General Procurement Notice (GPN) and Special Procurement Notices (SPNs) and getting them published in UN Development Business and local and international newspapers, in accordance with the World Bank Guidelines;

•Updating regularly the procurement plan and Procurement Monitoring Plan in consultation with CSO Management and submitting them to the World Bank for approval;

•Reviewing technical specifications/TORs from the procurement point of view;

•Participating in the bidding committees to ensure compliance with WB procurement guidelines;

•Preparing bidding documents in accordance with the World Bank standard and procedures, and obtaining no-objections from the World Bank.

•Identifying sources and preparing notification of bidding opportunities through advertising as appropriate;

•Preparing and finalizing Request for Proposals packages;

•Issuing the bidding documents to the potential bidders;

•Advising the evaluation committee members in the evaluation of the bidding documents and technical proposals in accordance with the World Bank Standard Evaluation Report;

•Preparing evaluation reports and recommendations for contract awards, including obtaining the World Bank’s no-objection and necessary clearances;

•Drafting contracts for procurement of consultancy services, goods and trainings under the project in accordance with the WB guidelines;

•Preparing monthly procurement status reports for the Project Coordinator and the Head of Finance and Administrative Department, as well as wider meetings;

•Administering contracts from procurement point of view;

•Managing all actions related to disputes with consultants or suppliers and warranties for the goods procured;

•Filling and keeping records of all documents for audit and WB post-reviews;

•Ensuring implementation and compliance with the provisions of the legal agreements between the GOIRA and WB and with the Project Operation Manual;

•Taking other actions necessary to facilitate the effective and timely implementation of the project;

•Assisting the World Bank staff during procurement post-review missions; and

•Contributing to the preparation of project documents, studies and materials for the World Bank and project agencies.

(2) Supporting strengthening of CSO capacity in procurement through:

•Planning and implementation of an appropriate program of procurement capacity building for the staff of the Finance and Administrative Department of CSO, which includes on-the-job training and relevant external training;

•Training and coaching of CSO staff working with PICT as per the Project Manuals;

•Supporting CSO staff in carrying out and taking over procurement functions; and

•Strengthening of CSO procurement system.

The Procurement Specialist will also fulfill other ad-hoc duties as may be requested from time to time by the CSO President General in the broader area of SRF or of capacity development.

Activities of the Procurement Specialist are guided by the legal agreements, Project Operation Manual and relevant GOIRA’s legislation.

Performance will be assessed according to both procurement activities themselves, and increase in the CSO counterparts’ procurement skills and their active contribution to the project.

Qualification

The procurement specialist should have:

•Bachelors Degree in business, economics, or other related field;

•Minimum 5 years of relevant work experience of which at least three years in officer or above officer level positions, and commitment to acquire additional skills needed for the assignment;

•Proven procurement skills;

•Good communications and team-working skills;

•Experience on World Bank or similar projects highly desirable;

•Knowledge of Government procurement law;

•Excellent computer skills including Microsoft Office tools;

•Proven experience in building capacity of government staff in a challenging environment;

•And excellent knowledge of spoken and written Dari or Pashto; and excellent knowledge of spoken and written English.

Skills

Excellent computer skills including Microsoft Office tools

Language(s) required

excellent knowledge of spoken and written Dari or Pashto; and excellent knowledge of spoken and written English.

Submission Guideline

Submission Guideline

Qualified applicants are encouraged to submit their resumes with a detailed application letter and a contact details to: kindly indicate the vacancy number (CSO/C-2) and the post title (Procurement Specialist) in the subject line when applying by email. Otherwise the applicant will be ignored. Only short listed candidates will be informed.

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