Supply Chain Advisor at John Snow Inc - JSI

Description

• JSI is a global nonprofit dedicated to improving people’s lives around the world through greater health, education, and socioeconomic equity for individuals and communities, and to providing an environment where people of passion can pursue this cause. We are more than 3,000 public health care and education experts driven by a passion to improve health and education services for all. Our fundamental goal is to ensure that all individuals can live their best and healthiest life, regardless of age or circumstances.
• This role will support the Supply Chain Technical Support Mechanism for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Programs (SCTSM), a five-year project aimed at improving NTD supply chains in Africa. The SCTSM project is a five-year project (November 2023 to October 2028), funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, that is being implemented as a partnership between JSI and inSupply Health. The project is primarily working in eight African countries that have been selected to be part of this new mechanism; these include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania.

Overview

• JSI is hiring a Supply Chain Advisor to be based in Abuja. The role is primarily intended to support the strengthening and efficiency, transparency, and coordination of the in-country NTD supply chain to ensure the timely and effective delivery of essential medicines leading up to mass drug administration campaigns. The selected candidate will work closely with the MOH NTD Unit, WHO and other relevant stakeholders within the country to strengthen the supply chain and implement effective supply chain interventions, including proper inventory management of health commodities, accurate forecasting and quantification, and visibility and use of logistics data at all levels of supply chain.
• The candidate will also work closely with other relevant government entities, stakeholders and implementing partners to ensure we are leveraging and not duplicating existing efforts to strengthen the supply chain and identify opportunities for integration and synergies. The candidate will also work closely with other project team members based in Tanzania, Kenya and the US.
• Our ideal candidate will be a flexible and adaptive thinker who is self-driven and self-managing, yet team-oriented with a demonstrated ability to build relationships and partnerships, and find robust, creative solutions to problems. S/he has a strong background in supply chain management and health system strengthening, demonstrated implementation experience, an affinity for data and analytics, and places users at the center of designed solutions.

Responsibilities
Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to:
In-country project implementation and coordination:

• Work collaboratively with other project staff, the MOH NTD Program, and other country partners to identify country-specific challenges, pitfalls, and bottlenecks concerning the supply chain management of NTD supplies, especially donated preventive chemotherapy-related medicines.
• Work closely with the NTD Program, and other partners to provide technical guidance and support for implementation of short-term and long-term supply chain solutions, as identified in country roadmaps and implementation plans to improve inventory management, product availability and wastage reduction.
• In collaboration with the MOH NTD Program and other stakeholders, support the completion of the Joint Application Package (JA ) for WHO by strengthening the collection and compilation of treatment coverage and medicine request data to ensure timely and accurate reporting.
• In collaboration with the Regional and US-based project team members, build in-country capability for long-term 36-month forecasting.
• Advocate for the adoption of new approaches and strategies if needed with the NTD Program and other relevant stakeholders to improve NTD supply chain performance and efficiency.
• Work independently to produce quality deliverables, manage workplans, teams and clients, serving in a variety of roles as required. Roles may vary widely and range from technical support to coordination and management.
• Work collaboratively, influence and build relationships with clients and partners, including government institutions, non-governmental organizations, donors, and others to articulate their supply chain problems, collaboratively develop solutions and approaches for their implementation, execute activities, and monitor performance.
• Participate in project calls and meetings to share lessons from country implementation and contribute in the adaptive learning sessions to strengthen project interventions and approaches across all project countries.
• Support documentation of processes, success stories, experiences and sharing of lessons learned within the project and ensure their dissemination.
• Travel within the country of posting to guide and support the implementation of the project and organizational objectives.

Utilization and Analysis:

• Implement data review team (IMPACT teams) models and frameworks (data-driven, people-centered frameworks) that can serve to drive supply chain improvement.
• Find opportunities to integrate NTD supply chain data into the established data review teams or other data use teams at various levels within the country.
• Leverage data to inform root cause analysis, problem-solving, and action planning for NTD supply chain improvement, building on JSI and inSupply’s experience in other geographies.

Engagement and Collaboration:

• Collaborate with government institutions, non-governmental organizations, donors, and other partners to promote data utilization and evidence as core methodologies for understanding problems and driving actions, decisions, and performance improvement of preventive chemotherapy supply chain and program objectives.
• Actively participate in project technical calls and meetings, maintain regular communication and coordination with other regional and US-based project team members, and ensure timely completion of deliverables.
• Foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within the team, integrating Human-Centered Design (HCD), Quality Improvement (QI), adaptive learning, and other relevant approaches to refine tools, methodologies, and strategies. Serve as an early adopter and advocate for trying and demonstrating new approaches

Duties

• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications and Experience
Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in Pharmacy, Public Health, Healthcare Supply Chain, or any health-related field focusing on commodity management and supply chain data use and visibility.

Experience:

• At least five years experience in global health, health systems strengthening or development, with a minimum of three years’ experience in health supply chain management.
• Experience in the theory and practice of health supply chain management competencies including forecasting and quantification, supply chain assessments, designing or strengthening eLMIS, inventory management systems and storage, and distribution solutions is required.
• Demonstrated experience in implementing supply chain solutions and building relationships with the Ministry of Health, state and local governments.
• Familiarity with the international donor community, including bilateral and multilateral donor agencies and private foundations.
• Specific expertise in preventive chemotherapy supply chain and/or NTD program, logistics management information systems, implementation of digital health solutions, and/or designing and supporting data use and data review approaches for supply chain improvement is highly desirable. Candidates with this experience will be given priority.
• Proficiency in quantitative and analytical skills, including data mining, analysis, interpretation, and presentation.
• Strong teamwork skills, self-management, proactive, and clear communication abilities.
• Strong experience in building partnerships, and prior experience working at national and sub-national levels in Ethiopia is desirable.
• Proven ability to lead, manage, and build capacity in teams.
• Excellent writing, communication, prioritization, and organizational skills.
• Proficiency in Google Suites and MS Office packages, particularly Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Proficiency in English.
• Ability to coordinate multiple tasks and work independently