Background:

USAID Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities in Ukraine (AGRO) Activity is a seven-year cooperative agreement between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Chemonics International, Inc. It began on November 15, 2019.

The AGRO Activity is to accelerate the economic development of rural Ukrainian communities with the greatest need through a better governed agricultural sector that encourages more productive, modern, and profitable micro, small, and medium agricultural enterprises (MSMEs) that are successfully integrated into competitive markets both in Ukraine and internationally.

The Activity objectives are aligned with the three elements of the market systems conceptual framework: the core value chain, supporting functions, and rules and regulations.

To effectively address the food crisis that emerges in Ukraine and internationally, AGRO works for the restoration of the agricultural sector, in particular its modernization, efficiency improvement, and diversification, which contributes to the long-term economic recovery of Ukraine and the improvement of global food security.

Within the USAID Agriculture Resilience Initiative (AGRI-Ukraine), AGRO will provide assistance enabling Ukraine to store roughly 1.5 million tons of grain as part of the USAID's broader efforts to maintain the rate of production and export of grain from Ukraine to other countries of the world.

AGRO operates on the basis of the market system conceptual approach (https://beamexchange.org).

In September 2022, the estimated cost of the Activity was extended to US$120,000,000, since August 2023, the budget has been increased to  to US$205,000,000,  and its implementation period was extended through November 13, 2026.  AGRO employs over 77 long-term CCN employees.


Position Description:

To contribute to achieving AGRO’s overall goals, the  Procurement Manager is to provide a wide range of professional support to the AGRO Activity activities through acting as the focal point for a wide range of purchases of goods and services.


Principal Duties and Obligations (Essential Functions):

As Procurement Manager, the Employee is responsible for the following principle duties and obligations:

• Support SIF Team and technical staff with drafting procurement contracts and other related documents, including for inkind subawards;
• Work closely with in-kind grants and procurement specialists to ensure timely procurements, administration and procurement contracts closeout oversight in alignment with requirements for in-kind grants and Chemonics policies
• Prepare and announce RFQs/RFPs, receiving proposals, and screening proposals and budgets for allowability and reasonability;
• Serve as nonvoting member of selection committees to facilitate evaluation of proposals;
• Draft selection memos and sole-source justification and negotiation memos;
• Ensure that solicitation procedures as well as executed contracts are fully compliant with USAID regulations and Chemonics’ policies and procedures;
• Obtains proper signatures on contracts per field office signing authorities;
• Coordinate overall logistics for procurements  and grants with a non-monetary component, in coordination with SIF managers and  AGRO’s operations team.

• Ensure that suppliers and contractors are fully compliant with contract terms and conditions in terms of reports and/or invoices, as well as with USAID regulations and Chemonics’ policies and procedures;
• Check deliveries and invoices against purchase order for type, quantity, and condition;
• Prepare purchase requests and orders, supplier agreements, and subcontracts for procurements and ensure compliance with USAID regulations and Chemonics’ policies and procedures;
• Drafting memos regarding service providers’ and vendors’ performance;
• Enter and update information on purchase orders into procurement database;
• Assist with record management by filing, scanning, and maintaining documents;
• Maintain and routinely update AGRO Activity’s agreements database;
• Use Microsoft Teams as needed to carry out tasks and collaborate with other activity staff;
• Participate as directed in collection and analysis of Monitoring and Evaluation (MEL) data;
• Prepare sections of reports, plans, success stories and similar documents as requested;
• Participate in regular activity Collaboration, Learning and Adapting (CLA) discussions;
• Comply with Chemonics’ standards of business conduct;
• In collaboration with the AGRO SIF Director, SIF Team Lead and Finance and Administration Director, review how the subrecipients/contractors manage procurement, source, origin, inventory, care, maintenance, and disposition of subaward/contract purchased equipment, and assist in improving their processes as necessary;
• Liaise with other AGRO staff and supervise subrecipients so they are provided with suitable advice and assistance on procurement management, including finance and administration, as well as on all relevant technical components;

Perform other appropriate tasks as requested.


Terms of work, SOW Timing and Reporting Relations:

One-year fixed term employment agreement with possible extension each work year up to the end of the Project implementation (November 13, 2026), subject to availability of respective tasks in the successive Annual Work Plans of the Project.

The Procurement Manager works in a SIF Team under a direct supervision of, and reports to the SIF Team Lead and/or his/her designee, or other person(s) as designated by the Chief of Party.


Work place location: Kyiv Office (Kyiv, Ukrane, remotely if required).

Periodic travel to other parts of Ukraine is possible.


Required Skills and Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, the Employee must be able to perform each essential duty, obligation and responsibility satisfactorily. The qualifications listed below are representative of the required knowledge, skills and/or abilities needed to perform the principal duties.

• Higher education in a relevant field at least to the bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience. Master’s preferred;
• Minimum five years of experience in design, administration, and management of contracts under USAID projects required; experience managing subawards and subcontracts under USAID programs with grants component  is a plus;    
• Knowledge of the USAID contract lifecycles, applicable rules and regulations required; knowledge of Chemonics policies and procedures related to grants and subcontract management is preferred;
• Ability to work quickly and creatively without sacrificing compliance or quality to operationalize SIF activities;
• Demonstrated excellent ability to effectively interact with local professionals, international donor organizations, civil society and private sector, host country government counterparts, and other implementing partners;
• Native speaker of Ukrainian; demonstrated strong writing and oral presentation skills in English;
• Experienced user of MS Office 365 applications;
• Demonstrated success working in a multinational, multilingual team under pressure and tight deadlines.

Application Instructions

Send electronic submissions to [email protected] by September 30, 2024. Please submit your CV and cover letter with Procurement Manager and your name in the subject line of your e-mail. No telephone inquiries, please. Only finalists will be contacted.

Chemonics is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factors.