Senior Contract Management Specialist

About Ministry of Education (MoE)

The aim of the EQRA Project is “to increase equitable access to primary and secondary education, particularly girls, in selected lagging provinces, and to improve learning conditions in Afghanistan.” EQRA introduces a shift from monitoring only the enrollment of students (which also includes attention to students designated as ‘permanently absent’) to focusing on bringing children into school as well as student attendance. The Education Quality Reform for Afghanistan (EQRA) is fully aligned with the goals of the Afghanistan National Strategic Plan (NESP III). The project is designed to (A) increase equitable access in disadvantaged districts especially for girls; (B) improve quality of instruction/education service delivery and (C) enhance MoE governance and management capacity. The project focuses on the construction and expansion of schools, provide community-based education to out of school children, reform curriculum for all grades, improve and ensure textbooks delivery to schools, enhance academic supervision, strengthen teacher & TTC quality, improve execution of budget, strengthen and increase use of EMIS, implement capacity building reform, and reform recruitment process for civil service.

Job Summary

The Senior Contract Management Specialist is overall responsible for carrying out all the contract management issues of EQRA project. He/she will advise on contract implementation, modification, termination and/or extension. He/she will report to the relevant directorate.

Duties & Responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities of the Senior Contract Management Specialist are the following and but will not be limited to:

A-  60% Responsibility of the Incumbent:

• Design and implement a system for the effective management of all contracts entered by the EQRA MoE. This system is to include all goods, works, non-consultancy, and consultancy contracts under the project;
• Manage all contractual files for procurement requiring prior review i.e. World Bank’s no-objection-letters (NOLs) and/or Government of Afghanistan’s National Procurement Commission’s (NPC’s) approvals and ensure such files are documented both in hard and soft copies in an easily-referenced, central system;
• Maintain all documentation, work schedules, and correspondence between PD and contractor,
• Ensure timely issuance of notice to contractors,
• Ensure that Variation Order (VO) and/or Change Orders (CO) is issued in a timely manner,
• Ensure that construction schedules are regularly monitored,
• Issue periodic notice to the contractor in cases where the performance progress is not in line with the schedule agreed to in the contract and advise the employer and the engineer regarding poor performance,
• Ensure the contractor has deployed the requisite machinery and manpower as required in the bid documents and the contracts,
• Ensure that time extensions are issued before the contractual completion dates,
• Advise the engineer and employer when to apply liquidated damages,
• Issue timely notice for Liquidated Damage (LD) where they arise,
• Keep a separate file for each contract from the circulation of the contract to final payment.
• Maintain physical and financial progress of each contract,
• Prepare an inventory of contractors,
• Hold workshops with contractors on performance improvement;
• Prepare monthly, and quarterly reports regarding the progress of the Contract Management activities and as otherwise requested by the Procurement Director; and
• Any other duties assigned by the Procurement Director

B-   40% Responsibility of the Incumbent:

• Capacity building and training of civil servants, on effective contract management policy and procedures,
• Prepare a standard format for variation of contracts, payment documents, filing system and train for the civil servants,
• Prepare a “Contract Management Manual” keeping the base World Bank Procurement Guidelines and Afghanistan Procurement Law, train that well to the Procurement Staff and contractors as well.
• Hold regular trainings for the civil servant staff and be sure that they can be able to process the assigned jobs,
• On-job training for all the staff in the contract management department,
• Any other official duties which are assigned by the Procurement Director.

Job Requirements

1)    Education

At least a bachelor's degree in Economics, Business Administration, Law, Public Administration, Engineering or any other field. A Master's degree considers a plus.

2)    Experience

a.     With bachelor degree applicants shall have 7 years of relevant professional experience and with a Master's degree 5 years in Procurement/Contract Management field, out of which 3 years must be in the capacity of Contract Management Specialist/Contract Manager with government development projects, donor-funded projects or UN agencies in contract management and implementation of goods, works, and services contracts.

b.    Experience with World Bank funded projects and other internationally funded projects consider a plus.

c. Extensive experience in the contract management field consider a plus.

d. Applicants shall be familiar with the World Bank Procurement regulation.

Recruitment, Work Condition and Evaluation

1.     Recruitment:

1.     The recruitment will be done through transparent and competitive processes.

2.     Work conditions

1.     The Senior Contract Management Specialist will work according to Afghanistan MoE’s and donors' rules and regulations.

2.     MoE will provide a proper workstation at MoE main building.

3.     Evaluation

1.     The initial three months will be considered a probationary period.

2.     A formal performance evaluation shall be conducted annually jointly by the Ministry of Education leadership.

3.     An exit interview will be conducted upon completion of the contract. This exit interview constitutes the condition for final payment.

4.     These reporting obligations would be in addition to any reporting and evaluation obligations decided and directly conducted by the Ministry and/or World Bank.

5.     Contract Extension is subject to fund availability, organization’s need and satisfaction performance.

a.     Sound knowledge and understanding of procurement law and procurement rules and procedures for public procurement in Afghanistan;

b.    Sound knowledge and understanding of World Bank procurement regulations;

c.     Sound judgment and interpretative skill for dealing with procurement-related issues and procurement and contract documents;

d.    Effective communication and interpersonal skills including (i) full working knowledge of English (ii) fluency in at least one national language and good reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills in the other, and (iii) the ability to interact and coordinate with MOE procurement department staff, contractors, government officials, consultants, and the World Bank staff.

e.    Familiar and received the training on World Bank Procurement Regulations;

f.     Strong computer skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint),

g.    Proposal and report writing skills,

h.    Effective Project Management skills,

i. Must be able to travel provinces

Submission Guideline

Interested Afghan candidates should submit their letter of interest (cover letter) along with the updated resumes to:

HR, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Deh Afghanan, Gul Bahar Center, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Street, 7th Floor, First Corridor, First Office, Kabul, Afghanistan

no later than 31st July 2021. Candidates who have access to the Internet can send their applications to the below email.

You are requested to send your letter of interest along with the updated resume. Please mention the post title and vacancy number in the subject line of your email (NO APPLICATION WILL BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT SUBJECT LINE. THE APPLICATION MUST HAVE SUBJECT LINE INDICATING TITLE AND VACANCY NUMBER). However, do not email us heavy-sized files such as your certificates, recommendation letters, etc. We kindly request all the applicants to mention their graduation date of the university and must clearly write the date of experiences in the CV. THOSE WHO DO NOT FULFILL THE APPLYING REQUIREMENTS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR THE SHORTLIST. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted with and called for the test and interview. The test & interview dates, time, and place will be determined and communicated with the shortlisted candidates only sooner after the deadline of the vacancy announcement.

Ministry of Education is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

MoE does not and will not discriminate in employment and personnel practices on the basis of race, sex, handicap, religion, ethnic origin or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

Candidates with disabilities and qualified female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

Note: for EQRA Project Positions recruitment process please visit the Ministry of Education website: (www.moe.gov.af)

Functional Area

Management

Countries

Submission Email

eqrajobs@gmail.com

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