Procurement Manager

Role Overview

The Procurement Manager owns both the strategy and the day-to-day execution of procurement and inventory management at the Science for Africa Foundation, reporting into the Chief Operating Officer and working closely with Finance, Legal, Risk and Compliance, ICT and programme teams. The role turns departmental plans into a realistic procurement pipeline, runs tenders and contracts that stand up to funder scrutiny, and keeps supplier performance and spend under continuous review. Its value to the Foundation lies in delivering measurable savings and dependable turnaround times while protecting the organisation against supply, compliance and audit risk.

Key Responsibilities

• Translate the Foundation's strategic objectives into a procurement strategy and annual plan, coordinating requirements, budgets and lead times with Finance and departmental leads, and maintaining a prioritised pipeline that reduces last-minute and single-source purchases.
• Run end-to-end sourcing: market and spend analysis, tender preparation and advertising, agreed evaluation criteria and weightings, negotiation, supplier debriefing, and award recommendations supported by conflict-of-interest declarations and evidence-based scoring records.
• Develop category strategies for high-value and recurring spend, using framework agreements and prequalified suppliers, and report savings and cost avoidance against baselines and methods agreed with Finance, taking total cost of ownership into account.
• Manage contracts through their full lifecycle, including commercial negotiation, coordination of legal review, variations and extensions, renewals, transitions and close-out, supported by a live register of commitments, cumulative expenditure, notice dates and performance issues.
• Keep procurement policies, SOPs and workflows current, recommend amendments in line with Foundation and funder changes, monitor adherence, and maintain internal controls that keep the function audit-ready.
• Maintain the supplier database through open and ethical prequalification, apply proportionate due diligence on ownership, conflicts, financial and delivery capacity, insurance and business continuity, and hold regular service-level reviews with corrective action and escalation for persistent underperformance.
• Assess and register procurement risks, ensure segregation of duties and compliance with the Approval Framework, and escalate material risks, control breaches, delays and unapproved commitments to the COO with a recommended action, named owner and resolution date.
• Lead, coach and set objectives for the procurement team and for colleagues across departments who handle procurement, deliver training and policy interpretation, coordinate grantee procurement guidance with Grants Operations, and act as business owner for procurement within the procure-to-pay system, including user acceptance testing, data quality and adoption of digital workflows.
• Oversee asset disposal alongside the COO and CFO, advising on appropriate disposal methods and documenting and reporting on disposal activity.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Business Administration or a closely related discipline; a Master's in Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Finance, Economics or a related field is an advantage.
• Professional certification as a Certified Procurement and Supplies Professional (CPSP-K) with valid registration with the Kenya Institute of Supplies Management (KISM), or an internationally recognised qualification such as MCIPS or CPSM.
• A minimum of seven years in procurement, including at least five years in a managerial position.
• Working knowledge of procurement law and compliance requirements, and hands-on experience with ERP and integrated procurement and finance systems.
• A track record of delivering measurable savings, managing complex service contracts, and leading procurement process or system improvements that cut across departments.
• Experience in a donor-funded, international or research-support organisation, including collaboration with programme teams and familiarity with funder requirements, is desirable.
• Strong negotiation and contract drafting skills, financial analysis and cost control capability, and the ability to present procurement insight clearly to executive leadership and oversight bodies.
• Demonstrated leadership of a procurement team, with the credibility to build relationships across internal departments, suppliers and external reviewers.
• Strategic and analytical mindset, sound judgement on risk and internal controls, and a genuine commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability in purchasing decisions.

What We Offer / Why Join

• A culture grounded in Respect, Accountability, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Excellence, where these values shape how work is done and how colleagues interact.
• Direct exposure to senior leadership, including regular engagement with the COO, CFO, Executive Management and the Board through dashboards and procurement reporting.
• The scope to shape the function itself, from policy and SOP design to digital procure-to-pay workflows and capacity building across the Foundation and its grantees.
• The opportunity to support science funding and research delivery across Africa by keeping the goods, services and supplier relationships behind those programmes running reliably.