Locations: Addis Ababa
Organization: Management Sciences for Health (MSH)
Job Description
OVERALL RESPONSIBILITIES:
The SCS Activity Community Health Supply Chain Advisor is responsible for leading technical activities aimed at strengthening the last-mile supply chain systems supporting health programs. The advisor will work closely with government counterparts, implementing partners, private sector and local stakeholders to improve commodity availability, management, data visibility, and sustainability of community health supply chains. The advisor will provide strategic guidance, capacity building, and systems strengthening support to ensure uninterrupted supply of essential medicines and supplies to the communities through the nearby service delivery points.
The Advisor is expected to provide high level technical leadership that properly links health program expectations at MOH level to the subnational and community levels through well-functioning supply chain. In addition, the Advisor will support other USAID community partners which support drop-in-centers through local implementing partners (LIPs) in case of HIV and others. The Community Health Supply Chain Advisor will report to the USAID SCS Activity Pharmaceutical Management Lead.
SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:
Under supervision of the Pharmaceutical Management Lead and in close collaboration with technical teams in SCS Activity as well as performance improvement coordinator and boosters of our sub-partner, the Community Health Supply Chain Advisor will carry out the following tasks.
1. Community empowerment
- Provide technical assistance to MOH, EPSS, and RHBs to strengthen community health supply chains for health program commodities.
- Work with government counterparts and other stakeholders to create enabling environment for community/service recipients to understand, demand and utilize supply chain related services
- Collaborate with stakeholders on data collection, analysis, and feedback loops for community-level supply chain performance improvement.
- Compile, evaluate and maintain the health commodity-related evidence to support advocacy, policy dialogue and planning with the MOH, RHBs and Woreda health teams and implementing partners.
- Provide support to MOH to ensure supply chain considerations are addressed in policy documents and planning and implementation of health programs.
- Support the implementation of Community Led Monitoring (CLM) to ensure the availability of quality health program medicines and services at SDP level.
- Actively engage with stakeholders and represent SCS in health program and supply chain coordination platforms, including CLM coalition meetings.
2. Provide Logistics Support for Community partners
- Closely work with USAID, MOH, EPSS and community partners to optimize and strengthen the logistics management systems of health commodities for community intervention.
- Coordinate with USAID, government counter parts and community partners on the development of standard operating procedures (SOPs), guidelines, and resupply models for the community health programs.
- Support and strengthen the integration of community-level logistics data into the national logistics Management Information System (LMIS).
- Closely work with USAID, SCS leadership and community partners to strengthen coordination and collaboration among partners
- Collaborate with community partners to design capacity building training, assessment and supportive supervision to strengthen the availability, management and use of health commodities.
3. Decentralized Drug Distribution (DDD)
- Closely work with MOH, EPSS, RHBs and other stakeholders to expand access for health program medicines using community outlets.
- Work with government counterparts and other stakeholders to engage community pharmacies to serve as dispensing outlets for health program medicines.
- Closely work with MOH, EPSS and other stakeholders to establish systems for storage and inventory management, LMIS, distribution and resupply models for community pharmacies.
- Collaborate with stakeholders to establish a system for patient referral and linkage between public health facilities, community pharmacies and other community outlets.
- Coordinate the development of SOP, implementation guidelines etc to standardize the supply chain management and services of community pharmacies.
- Facilitate capacity building activities, assessments and supervisions to support the provision of client centered services.
In addition, the Community Health Supply Chain Advisor will
- Serve as a liaison for USAID implementing partners on their supply chain related needs
- Document lessons learned, success stories, and innovations for local and global dissemination.
- Support the implementation of LMIS to ensure proper recording and reporting of essential medicines
- Exhibit MSH values and build culture of “Living our Values” within the team
- Carry out additional responsibilities as may be assigned from time to time by Supply Chain Management Lead.
QUALIFICATIONS
A)EDUCATION/TRAINING-
- Advanced degree in Pharmacy or Public Health or in related fields.
- Additional qualification in supply chain management is a plus.
B) EXPERIENCE –
- Minimum of seven years of experience in supply chain management of priority health program commodities
- At least two years of experience in community partners engagement and related commodities management at national level.
- Experience working in USG or other donor-funded projects in the management of health program commodities, including HIV/AIDS, is a plus
C) KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
- Deep understanding of the operational and programmatic aspects of major public health programs, such as HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria, and MCH, including their specific laboratory commodity requirements in Ethiopia.
- Updated knowledge on community health needs as well as policies and guidelines in the country
- Comprehensive knowledge of the Ethiopian pharmaceutical supply chain sector and related regulations, especially the supply management of USG procured health program commodities.
- Demonstrated ability to work with other implementing partners in implementing interventions to strengthen the supply management of health program commodities.
- Practical skill in identifying performance gaps, developing interventions to address gaps in the supply management of health program commodities.
- Demonstrated ability to develop action plan, implement and monitor performance using key performance indicators.
- Excellent interpersonal and communications skills.
- Demonstrated leadership, versatility, and integrity
- Fluency in written and spoken English is essential.
D) CORE JOB COMPETENCIES:
- Results seeker – Proactive, meets deadlines, identifies actions, and achieves goals.
- Innovator – thinks creatively, anticipates changes, and produces solutions.
- Adaptor – stays calm under pressure and handles constructive criticism well.
- Complier – follows procedures and encourages others to do as well.
MSH is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, religion, creed, citizenship, national origin, age, veteran status, or disability unrelated to job requirements. MSH will take affirmative action to ensure that qualified applicants are employed and that employees are treated without regard to their race, age, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran and disability status.
