Procurement Senior Assistant

Role Overview

You will be part of the East and Southern Africa Multi-Country Office (ESAMCO) team, providing hands-on administrative support for a wide range of purchasing and contracting activities, from routine supply orders to more complex service and infrastructure contracts. Working under the Procurement Manager and with guidance from the Head of Support Services, you will keep procurement processes moving across multiple country offices, ensuring paperwork is complete, systems are updated, and clients receive clear, timely answers. Your work directly affects the speed and reliability of procurement, which helps ESAMCO deliver development and infrastructure projects on schedule.

Key Responsibilities

• Draft and prepare bidding documents, evaluation reports, and contract award submissions, checking that every file follows the required format and includes all necessary content.
• Process procurement requests and transactions in the corporate e-procurement system, including entering data and updating records accurately.
• Prepare Purchase Orders, contracts, long-term agreements, and amendments, coordinating with supervisors to ensure approvals and supporting documentation are in place.
• Review and process incoming invoices for delivered goods and services, verifying completeness, resolving discrepancies, and tracking payments through to closure while keeping clients informed.
• Monitor spending against approved budgets and flag any issues or overruns to the Procurement Manager.
• Receive and route incoming procurement requests, communications, and invoices, maintaining logs and status reports so that work-in-progress is visible and current.
• Publish procurement notices, advertisements, and award information through the appropriate platforms and channels.
• Respond to internal and external queries on procurement steps and procedures, and support training sessions and knowledge-sharing initiatives for staff.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Completion of secondary school (or equivalent) with at least five years of relevant work experience, or a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in any discipline with at least one year of relevant work experience.
• Demonstrated experience working in procurement or a closely related field, including managing documentation, processing transactions, or supporting contract administration.
• Proficiency with standard collaboration and productivity tools such as MS Office or G-Suite, and comfort using web-based management and information systems.
• Strong organizational skills with attention to detail, and the ability to prioritize multiple tasks across different countries and projects.
• Experience working with UN system organizations or in multicultural, developing-country environments is an advantage.
• Prior experience in development or humanitarian settings is desirable.
• A recognized professional procurement certification such as CIPS, or progress toward one, is an added advantage.