Senior Procurement and Logistics Officer – Kigali, Rwanda 

Overview 

Pharo Foundation (“the Foundation”) is a mission-driven, non-profit organisation that designs, funds, and operates economic development programmes to achieve its vision of a vibrant, productive, and self-reliant Africa. Over the next decade, our goal is to create maximum impact towards three critical missions:

1. Empowering the next generation: Our education mission is to ensure that all students have an opportunity to access a high-quality, affordable education, and become productive citizens of a rapidly changing world.
2. Eliminating barriers to employment and productivity: Our productivity mission is to identify and eliminate health, financial, and structural barriers to employment and productivity for working people.
3. Solving water scarcity: Our water mission is to ensure that people and communities across Africa have access to a safe and affordable source of water.

Our education mission is currently implemented in Rwanda through Early Childhood and Primary Education Programmes. Our new school, Pharo School Kigali, was inaugurated in September 2023. With this programme, we have adapted the early childhood and primary education we developed in Somaliland to the economic and demographic context of Rwanda. We continue to strive to ensure that all students have access to a high-quality, affordable education where they can advance their journey towards becoming productive citizens in a rapidly changing world by implementing a structured child-centred pedagogy. Also, we have piloted a teacher capacity-building program in Rwanda that equips preschool and primary school teachers with play-based learning skills.

The purpose of this project is to improve preschoolers’ school readiness, increase primary school completion rates, and facilitate their transition to secondary schools. We are also looking at potential new projects in different sectors beyond this first venture into education in Rwanda.

Having over 700 employees in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Somaliland, we are a diverse, multicultural, and passionate organisation. We have our headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya and a liaison office in London, UK where our parent organisation Pharo Management is located.

Opportunity

The Procurement Manager will be appointed in Kigali to manage and coordinate the Pharo Foundation’s procurement unit, to provide outstanding support to the organization’s programmes in the country. Using best procurement management practices, he/she will provide leadership to improve the performance of all procurement functions to achieve better service delivery and cost effectiveness.

The Procurement Manager reports to the Country Director and supervises the Kigali Operations Team. As a member of the Senior Management Team, He/she will work closely with other departments and management staff to provide outstanding technical support to the field operations.

Role:   Senior Procurement and Logistics Officer

Duty Station: Kigali, Rwanda

Reporting to:  Country Director

Functional Relationships:

Finance Manager

Head of Education

Senior People and Culture Officer

RE Analyst

Contract type: Permanent

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead the procurement team in the transparency and auditable management of all procurement departments of the Country Office in line with rules, regulations and policies.
• Ensure that monthly and quarterly procurement plans are developed, submitted and within budget limits and compliant with Pharo internal processes.
• Manage all tender processes to ensure effectiveness, transparency, accountability and the purchase of goods and services at the best market prices possible.
• Coordinate regular market assessments to maintain accurate knowledge of market price for most common goods and services.
• Establish and maintain a supplier’s database and introduce cost effective and transparent bid collection practices.
• Build and maintain constrictive and ethical business relationships with suppliers and private sector operators to ensure that Pharo Foundation gets value for money in the supply chain process.
• Oversee managing a procurement tracking system including the preparation of weekly tracking reports.
• Prepare monthly status reports on procurement, contractor database and payments.
• Ensure the timely completion of all purchases/procurements and regular submission of procurement committee minutes.
• Design and manage all contracts for goods and services in collaboration with Pharo Foundation Finance Manager/Legal advisor.
• Coordinate with the operations team to ensure adequate inventory is received and available on time.
• Supervise and build capacity of operations staff through regular meetings, coaching and training.
• Manage and maintain the in-house procurement monitoring and tracking tool to equip the programme with the necessary information for strategic decision making.
• Identify, assess, and recommend potential suppliers and ensure necessary information is available to support the selection of suppliers while ensuring standard processes are followed.
• Contribute to negotiations with new suppliers on terms and conditions of orders, with guidance from the Finance Manager, to ensure Pharo Foundation obtains the best terms and lowest costs.
• Review and prepare Purchase Orders and any supporting documentation for approval by the appropriate stakeholder and Pharo Foundation authorised personnel.
• Review, amend and prioritise purchase requests and provide recommendations to requesters, to support the procurement of goods and services, at competitive quality and value for Pharo Foundation
• Design, develop and oversee the maintenance of procurement databases and records, ensuring accuracy of information and its availability and accessibility for others.
• Perform any other appropriate duties as assigned by the Supervisor.

 Behavioural Competencies:

• Self-motivated, client-oriented manager with a strong sense of personal ethic, integrity, and a big appetite for quality improvement and accountability to improve stewardship of Pharo Foundation’s resources.
• Strong interpersonal and intercultural skills with ability to build and maintain strong relationships and trust among stakeholders.
• High level of flexibility and tolerance to ambiguity
• Self-starter to take direction well, but also works independently.
• Keen eye for detail.
• Capacity to think ahead and highlight areas of risk and concern.
• Excellent communication skills with a strong sense of diplomacy.
• Ability to work in a sensitive, multi-cultural context as a respectful team player and manager.
• Demonstrate commitment to Pharo Foundation’s core values and policies.

 Qualifications and Requirements:

• Master’s degree in Procurement Management, Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, Humanitarian Logistics, or other related functional area required, with additional relevant work experience.
• Professional certifications such as CSCP, CPIM, CLTD preferred.
• Demonstrated continuous education and specialized training in procurement and logistics management.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in operations and logistics management with an INGO
• Strong experience and technical skills in supply chain management and asset management.
• Background in policy formulation, process design and quality management.
• Skills and knowledge in the design and use of Information Management Systems (IMS)
• Experience in coordinating with transportation providers and third parties.
• Computer literacy skills with Microsoft application packages
• Experience working with vendors and other parties.
• Management experience leading a team of national staff preferred.
• Experience in preparing and managing budgets.
• Experience with procurement activities including purchasing, vendor research, cost analyses.
• Ability to communicate in spoken and written English with aptitude in reporting are mandatory.

Application Procedure: 

Review of applications will begin as soon as they are received, and only complete applications will be reviewed. If an outstanding applicant is identified early in the search process, we reserve the right to appoint before the deadline. For this reason, we encourage interested and suitably qualified candidates to apply at the earliest possible opportunity.