Typical Duties
1. Plans, coordinates, and delivers on the procurement of goods, services, and construction requirements for a wide variety of commodities and services for Okanagan College.
2. Performs complex purchasing assignments such as those related to capital projects related to the MMCD contract.
3. Determines the appropriate process (e.g., Quotation requests, Tenders, Request for Proposals, Request for Qualifications, Requests for Expression of Interest) for the procurement of goods, services and construction that provides the college with the “best value”.
4. Ensures procurement complies with contract and bid law, policy, and legislation to ensure proper audit and business practices for purchasing and contracts are implemented, monitored, and controlled.
5. Performing market research on the web, on BCBid or via networking in preparation for certain contracts.
6. Prepares and/or assists departments in preparing detailed specifications and prepares bid documents or contracts appropriate to the type of process being utilized.
7. Reviews and evaluates incoming requests for completeness, accuracy of budget signing authorities, appropriate budget application, specification detail and compliance with government regulations, College’s policies and guidelines, tariffs, and tax regulation. Considers appropriateness of procurement based on market trends, supply conditions, time constraints, contract duration and changing sources of supply.
8. Provides guidance and advice for clients when creating appropriate evaluation criteria, weighting and methodology ensuring the evaluation processes adhere to best practices, bid law and policy.
9. Prepares and posts the notices for publication of the calls for tenders on the government’s public tendering website “BCBid” for review by proponents.
10. Obtains formal and informal bids and quotations, including Invitation to Tender and Requests for Proposals, from suppliers.
11. Creates, issues, and finalizes contracts, analyzes proposal summaries, informs, and debriefs unsuccessful proponents and prepares contracts.
12. Performs vendor pre-qualification, research availability, quality & price. Evaluates competitive bid documents, recommends the successful bidder to the Manager; and prepares contracts / purchase orders for the successful proponent.
13. Advises on and works to resolve post-award contract issues (e.g., non-compliance)
14. Monitors purchasing cycles to ensure timely delivery.
15. Responsible for continuous improvements
16. Administration of Okanagan College Procurement Card Program across the College
Leads the effective operation of the Purchasing branch
17. Develops and maintains relationships with purchasers, vendors, brokers, couriers, freight forwarders to ensure best practice and value-added solutions in all purchases. From these relationships maintain a comprehensive database of vendors, including vendor lists, evaluations, and documentation. Connect with vendors to ensure the college has the latest vendor/product information.
18. Ensures consistent sourcing and contracting activities adhere to standard document templates and maintains adherence to established procurement processes and best practices.
19. Implements organizational controls to ensure expenditure compliance, identifies, monitors, and mitigates risk in all activities for all business units within Okanagan College.
20. Creates reports and provides statistics on expenses by the College with various contractors and in various domains.
21. Establishes, implements, and updates procedure manuals
22. Reviews and develops content for departmental website and support material
23. Develops and delivers training sessions and materials related to procurement systems, processes, and procedures for college staff responsible for purchasing.
24. Uses judgment, creative problem solving and ingenuity to satisfactorily resolve concerns or complaints received, bringing forward issues that require broader consultation and consideration to the Procurement Manager.
25. Initiates and participates in the development and implementation of process improvements, service standards, tools, and practices to meet departmental and college supply demand and goals.
26. Undertakes purchasing projects as assigned by the Procurement Manager.
27. Liaises with other post-secondary institutions, professional organizations, and other relevant committees or organizations as necessary.
28. Monitors industry developments and trends, supply conditions and changing sources of supply to identify areas of opportunity or impact for the College and makes recommendations to the Procurement Manager
Promotes and ensures a high level of service for the College community
29. Demonstrates excellent customer service to facilitate the provision of procurement services for the College community and monitors and reviews service to provide responsive improvements to the Procurement department.
30. Act as a liaison between the College, its clients and the suppliers on day-to-day process and system matters.
31. Maintains knowledge of current procurement practices and the functions, business processes and changes within the Procurement and Finance departments, maintaining two-way communication with workgroups.
32. Administers and coordinates branch workload to meet deadlines and departmental/college goals.
33. Performs other related duties similar in scope and complexity.
34. Maintains confidentiality of all sensitive information and documentation obtained in procurement activities and provides due diligence when releasing information to vendors, public, government agencies and the internal community, respecting the legislation surrounding the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy
Financial Responsibility
35. Responsible for managing the efficient purchase and finding the lowest cost options to meet the Okanagan College budget. The College’s payments to suppliers averages around $50M dollars on a yearly basis.
