Procurement Specialist

Employment and Social Development Canada ( ESDC) has a requirement for a senior procurement specialist to deliver strategic procurement advice and ongoing procurement support for the ESDC Long Term Cloud procurement requirement. ESDC is seeking professional services that bring depth of experience within Canadian public sector entities for advising on a multi-phase secure cloud-based IT-enabled initiatives in support of GC complex procurement process, with characteristics of agile procurement for cloud services.

Initial duration of engagement: 1 year
Optional renewal periods: 3 x 1 year

Mandatory requirements

• 7 or more years of experience in the 4 areas of expertise listed below (1 to 4) that are relevant to multi-phase procurement process:
  • (1) Knowledge and experience in the management of client and vendor relationships within an agile/multi-phase procurements from initial development to delivery;
  • (2) Knowledge of prevailing application and infrastructure architectures and emerging technologies that are consistent with Government of Canada standards for complex enterprise solutions and services;
  • (3) Sourcing advice, support and consultation including at a minimum the following activities that relate to agile/multi-phase procurement processes:
    • a. Provision of advice on optimal strategies to engage the vendor community;
    • b. Provision of strategic advice on the end-to-end process for the agile/multi-phase procurement process, including emerging approaches and options regarding agile procurement and optimal vendor relationship management strategies;
    • c. Development of outcome statements to frame industry engagement and consultations;
    • d. Development of relevant agile/multi-phase procurement related documents such as LOIs, RFIs, RFQs, ITQs, RRRs, RCRs, RFPs, demonstration requirements, statement of work, and evaluation frameworks;
  • (4) Demonstrated successful results from working collaboratively with internal stakeholders and external service/solution providers.

• Must have successfully completed, within the last 5 years, 2 secure cloud-based IT-enabled projects requiring an agile/multi-phase procurement process

• Must hold one of the following certifications:
  • Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)
  • Certified Supply Chain Management Professional (CSCMP)
  • Certified in Prince2

• Must be fluent in both English and French

Rated requirements

• Experience as a senior agile/multi-phase procurement specialist for secure cloud-based IT-enabled public sector projects (federal, provincial, or municipal), providing all of the following services:
  • Providing a preliminary high-level implementation approach required to meet the program requirements as the basis for a downstream agile/multi-phase procurement effort;
  • Providing an overall procurement roadmap for potential agile/multi-phase procurement options with a recommended go forward approach;
  • Representing the business functional, operational and organizational requirements for a complex IT-enabled business transformation project in appropriate terms for engagement with the private sector within a successful agile/multi-phase procurement process;
  • Providing an assessment framework for potential commercial options for implementation of a complex IT-enabled project, as well assessing commercial offerings according to the framework;
  • Supporting the overall agile/multi-phase procurement management process including but not limited to preparation of regular and ad-hoc reports, committee and working group presentations;
  • Supporting the post-procurement implementation effort.

• Experience implementing a successful agile/multi-phase procurement approach across 2 initiatives in the public sector, demonstrated though each of the following:
  • Preparing agile/multi-phase procurement roadmap based on flexible procurement scenarios;
  • Preparing procurement plan for multi-stage procurements incorporating initial qualification stage with multi-stage selection of preferred proponent;
  • Preparing draft and final selection methodologies, evaluation plans, evaluation criteria (mandatory and point rated, financial) and evaluation schedules for procurement;
  • Preparing draft and final requirements documents;
  • Preparing and supporting the proof of solution/proposal demonstration process, whereby vendors demonstrate their proposed commercial offering, according to pre-established demonstration requirements;
  • Collaborating in development of appropriate contracting materials;
  • Developing responses to bidder clarification questions during the procurement process;
  • Developing and participating in industry engagement, including direct engagement one-on-one as part of a smart procurement approach;
  • Supporting the procurement process including supporting the evaluation of proposals and associated reporting;
  • Support during the contract finalization process and initial transition to the contracted solution/services.

• Experience providing senior procurement specialist services on behalf of the Government of Canada within 2 agile/multi-phase cloud-based IT-enabled projects
• Experience as a senior procurement specialist in 2 projects within the last 3 years providing secure cloud-based IT-enabled solutions/services procurement
• Experience as a senior procurement specialist engaging with the vendor community in a single agile procurement process by:
  • Engaging with industry through an industry consultative process prior to finalizing requirements and procurement approaches;
  • Engaging with vendors during the procurement process ensuring a fair, open and transparent process; and
  • Engaging with vendors through solution/services demonstration process ensuring a fair, open and transparent process.

General tasks

1. Contributing to the business functional, operational and organizational requirements for effective procurement;
2. Providing a profile and assessment of potential options for delivery of the contemplated cloud services (including reviews of other potential GC cloud solutions and other commercial offerings);
3. Providing a preliminary high-level implementation approach required to meet the ESDC cloud requirements as the basis for a downstream procurement effort;
4. Providing an overall procurement roadmap outlining potential procurement options based on an agile/multi-phase collaborative approach with a recommended go forward approach;
5. Implementing the procurement approach where applicable, including but not limited to:
   • a. Preparing draft and final selection methodologies, evaluation plans, evaluation criteria (mandatory and point rated, financial) and evaluation schedules for procurement;
   • b. Preparing / validating draft and final requirements and statement of work-related documents;
   • c. Collaborating in development of appropriate contracting materials, including terms and conditions, SLAs, MSAs, etc;
   • d. Developing / validating responses to bidder clarification questions during the procurement process;
   • e. Developing and assisting in the production of the material required to effectively conduct interactive and collaborative industry engagement;
   • f. Participating in industry engagement where required including direct engagement one-on-one sessions if required as part of an agile procurement approach;
   • g. Supporting the procurement process including supporting the evaluation of proposals, the proof of solution process and associated reporting;
   • h. Support during the contract finalization process and initial transition to the contracted solution.
6. Supporting the overall program management process including but not limited to preparation of regular and ad-hoc reports, committee and working group presentations;
7. Supporting the post-procurement implementation effort as required by ESDC;
8. Identifying potential problems and propose options/solutions;
9. Conducting post procurement reviews and contractor evaluations/lessons learned;
10. Leading or participating in negotiations and developing procurement process and/or business process maps;
11. Providing objective and independent advice to project directors and other senior management representatives;
12. Contributes to improve procurement processes, information flows, procurement mechanism and procedures to support complex projects among multidisciplinary groups.