Senior Program Officer, Health Product Management (GF-PCU) at Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria

Project Overview

• The Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN), through funding from The Global Fund (GF), will be implementing the Grant Cycle 7 (GC7) grant, a combined TB &HIV effort pivotal to transforming TB & HIV programs.
• Under the leadership and coordination of the National AIDS and STDs Control Program (NASCP), the National TB and Leprosy Control Program (NTBLCP), and the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), this Project will increase the identification of all forms of TB cases in the community and ensure prompt access to high-quality, patient-centred prevention and treatment through a Nationwide coverage of TB Public-Private Mix active TB case finding effort, and Community TB testing.
• The HIV component of the grant will focus on four states (Ebonyi, Anambra, Kwara, and Gombe) for end-to-end HIV comprehensive services, community PMTCT scale-up in all states, PrEP in the four GF-supported states and in other states where PEPFAR IPs will be operating, and support harm reduction program (specifically needles and syringes) in 12 states.
• Other focus areas include Health Systems Strengthening/Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH) and National level support activities.

Position Overview

• Under the supervision of the AD-HPM, the Senior program officer-HPM will provide technical, strategic advice and programmatic direction for the capacity building of government agencies in developing and implementing the grant’s logistics and supply chain aspects.

Description and objectives:

• Under the supervision of the AD-HPM, the Senior program officer will work with the AD in the implementation of all pharmacy and supply chain activities under the grant. S/He will ensure
• Internal capacity among the various departments, implementing agencies (IAs) and all government tiers in all procurement and supply management aspects, including health products management. S/he will provide technical support and leadership to Nigeria’s efforts to strengthen the supply chain process to reduce stock-outs, lower costs, and eliminate wastage and expiries.

Responsibilities:

• Analyse stock reports of all health products, RUTF, mama kits and provide feedback for management decisions.
• Identify supply chain capacity gaps in managing health products RUTF, mama kits etc) at the SR level and design and implement action plans to address them.
• Participate in biannual National stock taking of health products, RUTFs and others.
• Monitor 4PL performance contracts, including delivery, receipt, warranty, damages, and insurance (develop and maintain trackers) and provides reports that will inform payment of the 4PL.
• Coordinates sample movement in 4 states; ensuring timely pickups and drop-offs of samples to designated laboratories in collaboration with the lab SPO.
• Design and maintain a tracker for sample movements and provide weekly updates to the laboratory and HPM teams.
• Generate and maintain a tracker for the HPM work plan and ensure implementation aligns with the plan.
• Track facilities consumption data to ensure an adequate stock level of products; health products RUTFs, mama kits.
• Participate in the vendor selection process for local procurements of health products.
• Represents IHVN at relevant stakeholder engagement through meetings and conferences.
• Prepares weekly and monthly project updates, reports, and monthly activity plans.
• Perform other duties as assigned

Required competencies:

Core requirements:

• Demonstrated coaching and mentoring ability.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with people of different backgrounds.
• Good communication (oral and written) and facilitation skills.
• Proficiency in the use of MS Office – (Word, Spreadsheet, and PowerPoint), HPMT, other applicable software, and video conferencing are required.
• Ability to evaluate and interpret data and prepare quality program reports.
• Considerable knowledge of general health and development programs in developing countries and Nigeria.
• Sound understanding of inventory control systems.
• Experience must include managing health commodity logistics information systems, including forecasting/quantification.
• Experience coordinating logistics of health products or samples shipment from one location to another will be an added advantage.
• Be familiar with developing PSM indicators and issues surrounding monitoring and evaluation of the PSM.
• Familiarity with technical and health management approaches relevant to the work of the National AIDS & STI Control, National TB Control Programs, National Malaria Control Program and RH, especially at the state, LGA and community levels.
• Knowledge of the fundamental principles and approaches to Health systems strengthening.
• Sensitivity to cultural differences and understanding of the political and ethical issues surrounding HIV programs.
• Ability to evaluate the relevance of data or information and work with staff to resolve differences in interpretation of information.
• Ability to manage multiple projects at the same time, with minimal supervision and under pressure of tight deadlines.
• Sound knowledge and experience regarding M&E, statistics and quality assurance/quality improvement and their specificities for developing countries.
• Ability to represent the project to donors, government officials and the NGO community.
• Ability to manage tight deadlines and deliver high volumes of work with minimal supervision.
• Well-developed computer skills.

Education and Experience:

Academic training:

• A degree in B.Pharm /Pharm D, MSc, or similar degree with more than five years post National Youth Service experience with at least three years progressive experience in managing a PSM cycle, including rational health commodities selection, forecasting/quantification, quality assurance spanning the PSM cycle, warehousing/storage, distribution, and LMIS.
• S/He must have at least five years’ experience in supply chain management of TB, HIV/AIDS medicines, and commodities.
• Familiarity with the Nigerian public sector health system, NGOs, and CBOs is highly desirable.
• A Postgraduate qualification/Masters level training in Public Health will be an advantage.
• Registered with the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria and have evidence of current practicing license.
• Must be familiar with the NHLMIS platform and monitoring and interpreting supply chain indicators.
• Knowledgeable on Pharmacovigilance and the available reporting channels.
• Experience in the provision of LMIS and Pharmaceutical care training.
• Must have at least five years’ experience with program planning, assessment, and implementation of HIV programs.
• Previous experience in HIV-related operational research is an advantage.
• Good knowledge of current trends and normative guidance (national and international) in HIV clinical care and service delivery.