Senior Purchasing Officer

• Assist in the development of the section policies and procedures and provide interpretation to staff.
• Prepare work schedules.
• Interpret job specifications and key responsibilities to direct subordinates and assign duties.
• Supervise the compliance with policies and procedures and ensure work exactness, completeness.
• Identify and recommend procedure change to improve efficiency of subordinates.
• Consolidate and report subordinates performance.
• Report work problems or assist subordinates in solving such problems.
• Identify challenges impacting the units talent base and propose appropriate succession planning.
• Supervise and prioritize the daily activities of purchasing officers ensuring that all purchasing activities are completed in a timely manner
• Maintain good knowledge of goods / services within the specialized commodity group in order to provide sound advice to subordinates as well as customers
• Supervise the implementation of schedules, task assignments, and allocation of man hours to ensure compliance with purchasing commitments
• Supervise and process purchase requisitions and purchase orders for all goods /equipment / services within the specialized commodity group
• Provide guidance to end-user departments and external customers and advise them on commodity specifications and purchasing activities
• Ensure that the necessary approvals are provided in the system before the processing of purchase requests and orders
• Ensure that purchasing data is inputted correctly into the system and data logs are maintained in an organized fashion for easy reference and retrieval
• Monitor purchase order activities, ensuring proper coordination with requester and suppliers, proper input and updates in the system, and that expeditors are following up on processed purchase orders
• Liaise with the Contracts and Suppliers Management Specialist for all contracts and vendor management activities
• Brief the Purchasing Manager regularly on all activities within the department and escalate any issues that may adversely affect the operations of the department; preparing reports as required

• Educational requirements: A Bachelors Degree

• Minimum Experience: 5 years experience in purchasing related activities
• Advanced computer skills with capacity to prepare quality documents using Excel, Word, and Power Point
• Effective Communication: Articulates information effectively; Identifies, interprets, and clearly communicates thoughts and ideas, orally and in writing
• Negotiation & Influencing Skills: Demonstrates strong experience in negotiating with suppliers and resolving issues
• Prioritization Skills & Multitasking ability: Demonstrates ability to prioritize work to achieve objectives and departmental results
• Business Acumen: Demonstrates strong ability to interpret data and information to support decision making process
• Customer Service: Demonstrates commitment to customer service and ability to identify and clarify customer needs
• Problem Solving & Decision Making: Demonstrates proactive approach to executing processes by looking for ways to improve; probes all possible sources for answers
• Procurement Management: Demonstrates good working knowledge of procurement activities, contracts and the tendering process; Ability to apply and maintain best practices to all procurement activities and ensure reliable service for clients
• Vendor Management: Demonstrates good skills in developing and managing vendor relations

Place of work