Description

Every day, public procurement professionals across North America are challenged to fulfill the needs of their entity as balanced against the needs, wants, and desires of their stakeholders, ensuring that all procured commodities are acquired in the right manner, based on the correct criteria, and within the appropriate price range. Designed to provide entry-level public procurement professionals with the tools they need to ensure the appropriate goods and services are procured, NIGP’s Foundations of Sourcing and Contracting Core Certificate empowers learners with applicable, implementable solutions to some of the procurement function’s most challenging topics. Addressing the actionable solutions to sourcing and contracting methods, specification development, evaluation methods, and negotiations, Foundations of Sourcing and Contracting promotes the tenants and key principles of the public procurement function, empowering learners with NIGP-advocated best practice guidance to become more skilled in their role as they perform the procurement function on a foundational level.

Target Audience

For individuals who meet or exceed the following:

• Entry-level public procurement and central warehouse professionals who serve as assistants, coordinators, buyers, or equivalent functions within their respective entities.
• Non-procurement managers and supervisors who are responsible for either the procurement function or staff who provide procurement functions under delegated authority.
• Professionals who are employed by governing entities and special authorities (such as K-12 and higher education, publicly-owned utilities, transportation providers, and other publicly-funded or created organizations) that either serve within or manage the procurement function.
• Suppliers or representatives of suppliers seeking to understand the public procurement function from a holistic level, including the policies, standards, and procedures by which public entities must function.

The Certificate Holder

Upon successful completion of the certificate, the certificate holder will be able to:

• Identify the appropriate source selection method and describe the components required to successfully meet the needs of the end user.
• Identify advantages and disadvantages of contracting for commodities.
• Assist the end user in developing and preparing effective and open specifications, pricing strategies, and terms and conditions to promote maximum competition in the marketplace.
• Evaluate offers, make awards and/or negotiate an optimal contract solution.
• Identify and describe the different types of evaluation methodologies and their associated application.
  
• Explain the process of receiving, opening and analyzing offers, methods for award, and award strategies.
• Identify and select the most responsive offer(s) and responsible supplier(s).
• Prepare to conduct a negotiation by engaging in market research, determining negotiating strategy and goals, and selecting the negotiating team.
• Conduct and document negotiations with each selected offeror to determine the proposal that best meets entity needs.
• Establish a performance assessment plan to ensure that all stakeholders are complying with the procurement as established in the contract.

Completion Requirements

In order to successfully complete the NIGP Foundations of Sourcing & Contracting Core Certificate, learners must:

• Complete any pre-work materials provided prior to the course start date.
• Attend and participate in the entirety of the instructional event.
• Complete the post-course evaluation survey available in Aspire.
• Complete the final assessment examination with a 77% or higher within a 120-minute time period.
  

Pre-Work Requirements

Prior to entering the classroom environment, students will be enrolled in the following self-paced courses to learn and practice necessary concepts.

Competency Alignment

This certificate is designed as an exercise-based learning experience and is tied to NIGP’s Public Procurement Competency Framework. Upon completion of the certificate requirements, learners will have demonstrated the successful knowledge, skills, and abilities in alignment with the following competencies:

• Sourcing & Contracting Methods
• Specification Development
• Evaluation Methods
• Negotiations Strategies