Roles and responsibilities in the procurement process

Procurement officer

Th procurement officer has the primary responsibility for managing and administering the procurement. They draft all procurement documents.

This role is usually filled by a professional project manager.

For simple procurements, this role could be done someone at the school such as a board member or caretaker.

Procurement owner

The procurement owner represents the buyer in the procurement. They review and endorse all procurement documents prepared by the procurement officer (project manager).

School principals are usually assigned this role.

For procurements valued below $100,000, the procurement owner can be the same person as the procurement officer.

Procurement leader

The procurement leader reviews and endorses all procurement documents and decisions.

Your property advisor has this role.

Procurement sponsor

The procurement sponsor reviews and approves:

• conflict of interest management plans
• the procurement plan
• the recommendation report.

They sign the contract with the supplier on behalf of the school.

A school board member has this role.

To maintain the procurement sponsor’s impartiality, the procurement sponsor cannot be directly involved in the decisions that they approve. They cannot be on the evaluation team.

Evaluation team

The evaluation team evaluate offers made by suppliers and make a recommendation for a preferred supplier.

This team should have at least 3 people and may include:

• the procurement officer
• the procurement owner
• a technical expert (such as an architect)
• a board member (this cannot be the same person as the procurement sponsor).

One evaluator should be nominated as the team’s chairperson. This cannot be the procurement officer.