Project Background

Through the Malawi Governance for Solutions (GfS) Activity, USAID seeks to build on the incremental gains in decentralization and associated service delivery improvements, with the understanding that to make the significant leaps now required for Malawi to meet its own development goals—in the face of a fast-growing, young population—a bold, adaptive, and sustainable approach is required. To successfully remove critical bottlenecks and diffuse effective governance practices, DAI will deploy a locally driven approach—Facilitate, Catalyze, and Scale—drawing on Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) as a core methodology. Through the Facilitate, Catalyze, and Scale approach, DAI will help local stakeholders to tackle the root causes of service delivery failures through best-fit solutions and offer demonstrative models based on positive deviance. Through both process-oriented facilitation and the provisions of technical support and grants, GfS will foster stable, resilient, and more self-reliant partnerships that best position local communities to address their own challenges and contribute to the trajectory of Malawi Vision 2063.

Objectives of the assignment

Reporting to the Procurement Specialist, the Operations Assistant will have different day-to-day responsibilities, such as preparing bid matrix, processing and filling procurement documents and uploading them in TAMIS-Pro in readiness for audit.

Tasks & Responsibilities

• Closely liaise with and provide all necessary assistance to the Procurement Specialist
• Responsible for ensuring that all regulatory requirements as in Field Operations Manual (FOM) are met in a satisfactory and professional manner;
• Assist in ensuring that solicitation-based procurement files are updated and complete
• Assist the Procurement Specialist in setting up and monitoring the Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA)
• Assist to ensure that vendors or contractors are fully compliant with DAI or agreements terms and conditions;
• Assist in preparing Request For Quotations (RFQ) /Request For Proposals (RFP)
• Collaborates with user departments to develop clear and concise technical bid specifications to meet department needs; ensures minimum requirements are clearly defined and allow forcompetitive quotes
• Assist in ensuring timely delivery of all goods and/ or services to DAI
• Ensure vendor invoices are matched with purchase orders and sent to finance for payment processing
• Perform other related tasks and responsibilities that may be assigned.

Qualifications

This role is contingent on donor funding.

• Bachelor’s Degree or Advanced Diploma or equivalent in Procurement and Supply Chain in related field ;
• Minimum of 2 years administrative experience; procurement and contract management experience in a busy office;
• Should be a paid-up member of Malawi Institute of Purchasing and Supply (MIPS);
• Experience working on donor-funded development projects, and working with USAID activities would be an added advantage
• Strong knowledge and understanding of USAID regulations, including U.S. government regulations for compliance and oversight
• Written and spoken proficiency in English.