Procurement and Contracts Assistant Full Time NEW

1/ CONTEXT AND MISSION

A/ About Expertise France

Expertise France is the public agency for the design and implementation of international technical cooperation projects, a member of the AFD Group. The Agency intervenes around four priority areas:

• Democratic, economic and financial governance.
• Peace, stability and security.
• Climate, agriculture and sustainable development.
• Health and Human Development.

In these areas, Expertise France carries out engineering and implementation missions for capacity building projects, mobilizes technical expertise as well as a project coordinator involving public expertise and private know-how.

With a turnover of €450 million in 2024 and more than 350 ongoing projects in 140 countries of intervention, Expertise France is the leading public agency for French international technical cooperation.

B/ Expertise France in Ethiopia

With more than 120 million inhabitants, hosting the African Union headquarter, Ethiopia is a key country on the continent. In recent years, the country has seen a constant strengthening of its bilateral cooperation with France and benefits from the largest European programme in sub-Saharan Africa.

This has resulted in an increase of more than 140% in the Agency’s portfolio in 2024, which now stands at €32 million and is expected to exceed €45 million by the end of the year. The country is also home to two strategic regional projects in education and heritage, and a team of 3 ITE, which is being reinforced by 6 additional ITE.

The Expertise France country team should increase to nearly 50 people.

To support this development, the Agency has decided to structure a country directorate and a project support unit in Addis Ababa, as of September 2025.

C/ Position and Reporting Line

Based in Addis Ababa, the position of Procurement and Contracts Assistant is under the direct reporting responsibility of the Procurement and Contracts Manager (PCM).

The managerial report is: PCM / Support Service Coordinator / Country Director / Geographical Department / Operations Department.

The functional link of the Procurement and Contracts unit is provided by the Legal Affairs Department (LAD) at the headquarters in Paris.

The PSU is made up of four main units: Procurement and Contracts, Logistics, Administrative and Financial, and Human Resources.

The Procurement and Contracts Assistant will be integrated into the Procurement and Contracts unit, supervised by the PCM, and two Procurement and Contracts Officers.

The position of Procurement and Contracts Assistant does not involve direct supervision of staff.

2/ JOB DESCRIPTION

Main missions:

The Procurement and Contracts Assistant provides support in the organization and management of activities related to procurement procedures and the supervision of relations with suppliers. His responsibilities also include the filing and archiving of documents as well as the monitoring of financial and contractual monitoring tables.

He/she will work closely with the unit’s manager to ensure the follow-up and proper management of contracting procedures and partnerships, in accordance with the regulations in force

Main activities

a) Support contracting planning

• Collect and consolidate the expression of needs and identify the necessary additional information
• Develop the Procurement Plan (PP) for the PSU and Projects
• Develop and maintain contractual monitoring tables

b) Administration of the Procurement and Contracts unit

• Participate in meetings involving the unit and requiring the drafting of minutes
• Support in the conduct of procurement procedures
• Support the implementation of the procurement procedure, including the management of the dematerialization of the procedure for any purchase below 40,000 euros excluding VAT, and possibly, above this threshold
• Take charge of the publication, processing and modification of dematerialized consultations on the Expertise France platform in conjunction with the Procurement and Contracts Officers and the Legal Affairs Department at headquarters
• Organize negotiation and evaluation sessions in collaboration with the Projects
• Propose analysis grids, and participate in the drafting of award reports and all documents relating to the award procedure
• Participate in the verification of the compliance of bidders as well as in internal Due Diligence procedures in conjunction with the Internal Control Department at headquarters
• Contribute to the planning of the contracts’ awards and the contractual and financial monitoring related to the execution of contracts and framework agreements through the implementation of Project and PSU dashboards

c) Filing and archiving:

• Implement the filing and archiving of contractual documents in accordance with internal procedures on the matter
• Provide, as part of procedural audits, all the documents required by the auditor, in conjunction with the Procurement and Contracts Officer

d) Supplier relations and purchasing environment

• Participate in the follow-up of relations with suppliers and service providers in collaboration with the Procurement and Contract Manager
• Write purchase orders for the various service providers/suppliers for the PSU and the Projects

This list of responsibilities is not exhaustive. The Procurement and Contracts Assistant will also support the Procurement and Contracts team in any task required for the proper functioning of the department.

3/ EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS

• Employee contract under local law, via a third-party employer company
• Duration of the contract: Fixed-term contract of one year renewable with the possibility of renewal or extension and/or perpetuation before the end of the contract depending on the performance evaluation and available budget.
• Job Location: Addis Ababa
• Start date: December 2025

Qualifications and experience

• Higher education in management sciences, finance, administration, commerce, law or equivalent.
• At least 3 years experience in contracting public procurement (supplies, services and works)
• Experience with grants and public contracts
• Experience in financial reporting with a donor (European Union / AFD) in the field of French and/or international regulations being a plus

Competencies and technical skills

• Knowledge of public procurement regulations is appreciated
• Knowledge of the rules applicable to works operations under public project management is a plus
• Teamwork and ability to work in demanding context
• Strong capacity for autonomy, independence of mind and impartiality;
• Interpersonal skills, teamwork;
• Perfect proficiency in Pack Office
• Organized, rigorous and methodical
• Excellent writing and synthesis skills
• Excellent written and oral expression in English. Knowledge of French would be a plus.
• Discretion.