Job Opportunity for Procurement and Administration Manager, Program Operations at Room to Read in New Delhi

Position Overview: 

The Global Procurement and Administration Manager is responsible for leading the development, streamlining, and management of core organizational procurement processes and systems that impact countries of operation and global offices. The Manager will roll out a revised procurement policy and procedures.  The Manager will help to ensure that Room to Read receives the highest quality of desired goods and services at the best value possible. By developing new training and onboarding processes at the country and global office level, Room to Read can ensure the procurement of goods and services are done in a manner that follows both Room to Read’s values and ethics, as well as being compliant with local, national, and international laws and regulations. To achieve this goal, the Manager will support the following near-term objectives: 1) finalize recently updated procurement policy and procedures, including drafting of SOPs and opportunities to streamline workflow processes; 2) conduct a consultative review process with key internal stakeholders; 3) generate awareness and understanding of newly revised policy and procedures by designing (virtual) training course leveraging Room to Read’s Intranet or other relevant technology channels to support roll-out to each country and global office; and 4) increase compliance with Room to Read’s policies (procurement, whistleblower). 

The Manager will be responsible for the efficient and effective organization and coordination within a diverse group of team members associated with procurement workflow (Country-level Administration or Procurement assigned Officers, support Global Office Department focal points, etc.) through a scheduled global roll-out of training and awareness of policy. This is an opportunity to strengthen procurement operations’ performance, compliance, and expertise within the Country Office and across global offices. The ideal candidate will have a strong technical background with the ability to create the appropriate systems and controls to support all supply chain and planned procurement operations in line with Room to Read standards and program requirements. This position is based in New Delhi and reports to the Associate Director, Program Operations.  

Core Duties & Responsibilities: 

Global Procurement Policy & Procedures 

• Oversee Global Procurement policies and processes including response queries, review, approval process. 
• Support review of procurements that get raised to all the offices in Africa, Asia, and global offices . 
• Visit country offices at on a regular basis in both Asia and Africa to work with the Administrative; officers/Managers to provide onsite support on procurement and administration-related issues. 
• Develop and implement a separate procurement audit process that would be a check to see if processes are being followed. 
• Assist in hiring new country office administrative and procurement staff.  

Operation Policies & Procedures 

• Lead in developing key special projects that help create or improve important global processes and procedures. 
• Help country offices in developing various country specific work process guidelines (SPOs -standards operating procedures) related to Office and program operations. 
• Ensure country offices have clear systems and processes in place to run its business effectively and efficiently.  

Country Operation Facilities and Administration Support 

• Available to fill in for critical missing country or regional management positions/people during surge procurement needs. 
• Help lead country expansion process, including establishing new offices including field offices and project set-up.  
• Support country offices on management of their leases and facilities. This includes the following responsibilities: developing guidance and providing training on facilities management; guiding offices through office relocation processes, including helping offices to complete checklists for assessing potential new office space and to estimate relocation costs, and ensuring review and approval by the senior management team. 
• Providing guidance to country offices on general best practices for organizing their office space. 
• Maintaining and revising, as needed, associated policies, procedures, and training materials.  

Functional Training 

• Create from current and new procurement policy and procedures material and “on paper” work into a living and breathing digital procurement training program. 
• Expertly deliver Procurement training material and coordinate subject matter experts to deliver other specific training (e.g. finance or Program Operations staff). 
• Develop train-the-trainer system to build procurement capabilities, especially with the Administration Officers. 
• Identify new training needs and advise on development of materials and method of delivery 
• Collaborate across Room to Read and be the single global point of contact for global procurement training rollout and content creation.  

Compliance  

• Act as a channel of communication to receive and direct compliance issues to the appropriate resources for follow-up and resolution. 
• Provide on-site support wherever required. 
• Collaborate with internal auditors and other stakeholders whenever required to develop appropriate controls. 
• Analysis of causes and trends of policies violations and set up procedures and plans to manage a crisis or compliance violation 
• Keep abreast of all regulatory issues relevant to Room to Read including USAID and other key donor’s rules, regulations, policies and standards.  

Capacity Building  

• Serve as focal point for mandatory training and on-boarding processes on Room to Read’s key policies and procedures and develop appropriate compliance culture in Room to Read.  
• Provide training to all country offices and  global offices staff  to ensure procurement is being done as per the policy. 
• Identify core capabilities/capacity needs for country office Admin Officers across country programs and staff, liaising with the global offices functional teams to plan capacity building  
• Coordinate, and at times lead, the delivery of capacity building plans to develop the requisite operational competencies in operational staff. 
• Coach and mentor operational staff (specifically the country offices Program Operations Directors) and link into wider organizational talent development mechanisms as necessary.  

Planning and Coordination  

• Participate in the annual planning process, including managing the determination of resource allocation for procurement success with country office stakeholders, leading analysis and presentation of results to management on key procurement risk issues, and coordinating the implementation of any process enhancements in collaboration with Finance. 
• Encourage and facilitate collaborative behavior across departments in working towards the planning and delivery of the procurement needs in annual plans and budgets, improving coordination, communication and maximizing the cooperation between country offices and the global offices in the development and delivery of the procurement plans. 
• Strengthen knowledge management and cross-departmental/cross-office coordination and communication through continued collaboration with designated departmental leads on operational aspects of custom projects that lead to on-time, on-budget implementation. 
• Participate with global offices departmental leadership to improve advancement in procurement management systems, policies, procedures through creation of tools and processes required for the improved implementation of future software (e-procurement) needs. 
• Ensure implementation and management of key organizational and operational decisions, policies and actions agreed across departments at the global offices (US and Field Based) and country offices.  

Qualifications and Experience:  

Requirements: 

• BS/BA in Business, Procurement, Supply Chain, Logistics, HR, Organization Development, or a related field required 
• 7 years overall work experience with at least 4 years of experience in Procurement or Training roles, with demonstrated success in project management and presentation skills 
• Extensive demonstrated experience related to procurement of goods and services with government and NGOs or international donor funded projects. 
• Demonstrated skills in process identification, project management, and workflow design of training activities 
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills 
• Effective verbal and written communications skills, with an ability to express complex concepts in business terms and simple process flows 
• Ability to lead and collaborate with cross functional project teams on large-scale projects from vision through implementation 
• Ability to conceptualize, document and present creative solutions across all levels of the organization, with a strong ability to establish and maintain stakeholder trust and confidence 
• Strong analytical capabilities and interpersonal skills 
• Requires customer orientation, commitment to flawless execution and detail orientation 
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex concepts into simple process flows 
• Legally eligible to work in India. No sponsorship provided.   

Preferred:  

• Experience with USAID procurement is highly desirable.  
• Work experience in multiple countries will be strongly preferred.  

Location(s)

Global Office Asia – Main – New Delhi 

To be successful at Room to Read, you will also: 

• Have passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact a dynamic nonprofit organization 
• Be a proactive and innovative thinker who achieves results and creates positive change
• Have a very high level of personal and professional integrity and trustworthiness  
• Embrace diversity and a commitment to collaboration 
• Thrive in a fast-paced and fun environment  

Room to Read is proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to identifying and developing the skills and leadership of people from diverse backgrounds. EOE/M/F/Vet/Disabled