Supply Chain Technical Assistant at Malaria Consortium

Job Purpose

The purpose of this temporary hire position is to support and provide technical support to the Malaria Consortium’s Supply Chain Officer, the State Central Medical Store and LMCU respectively, in the SMC implementing states of Bauchi, Borno, FCT, Oyo, Kogi, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kebbi and Sokoto, on the overall supply chain management of SMC drugs, data tools, visibility material and personal protective equipment (PPEs) during the SMC planning and implementation period.

Scope of Work

The Supply Chain Technical Assistant (TA) who shall be situated in the State Central Medical Store or the location where the SMC commodities are kept and shall work directly with the SMC Supply Chain Officer in ensuring good inventory management of all SMC commodities as well as making sure the right commodity get to the intended user at the right time in the right quantity and quality.

Key Deliverables

• Support the Supply Chain Officer (SCO) in the management of SMC commodities (SP + AQ, data tools, visibility materials and PPEs) at the State Central Medical Stores (SCMS), LGA stores and health facilities.
• Provide technical support to the LMCU, CMS, and LGA field staff during the SMC round.
• Conduct routine spot checks and monthly stock count on SMC commodities at the CMS.
• Work with CMS personnel to ensure the inventory tools of the SMC commodities are constantly up to date; and report any discrepancies to the Supply Chain Officer.
• Participate in the LMD/end of cycle spot checks at the implementing health facilities.
• Support the Malaria Consortium’s SCO in the long-haul receipt of all SMC commodities.
• Assist in monitoring delivery of SMC commodities, 3PL activities and escalate any discrepancies in the quantity of commodities delivered and any quality issues.
• Update the inventory tools of the SMC commodities and report any discrepancies to the Supply Chain Officer.
• Supervise the Logistics Assistants during pick and pack of SPAQ, implementation tools, visibility materials and PPEs for each cycle of the 2023 SMC round.
• Ensure all the signed delivery notes/waybills of commodities delivered to the health facilities and the LGAs are returned, vetted, and archived.
• Support the implementation of Commodity Management Review Meetings and Commodity Management Audit - post SMC cycle and round respectively including meeting notes taking.
• Support in the timely coordination (sorting, counting, documenting, and reporting) of SP+AQ reverse logistics from health facilities and LGAs to the state CMS at the end of each cycle.
• Support the SCO in ensuring that personnel at the health facilities and LGA Logisticians make use of relevant tools for reverse logistics.
• Keep records of all batches of SPAQ distributed from CMS to the health facilities and updates the SMC Commodity tracker at the end of each SMC cycle.
• Work with CMS personnel during MDAs to sort out emergency orders after request verification by the SCO.
• Ensure damaged blisters are separated from useable ones and clearly labelled during reverse logistics.
• Contributes towards the timely collection of Pharmacovigilance reports generated at the health facilities during SMC cycles.
• Any other duty as may be assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications and experience

Essential:

• Bachelor’s degree in pharmacy, Public Health, Social Sciences, Project Management, or similar field.
• Experience working in a health institution like hospital or ministry of health, or in health programmes or NGOs will be an added advantage.
• Certification in supply chain or health commodity management is an added advantage.
• At least 1-3 years’ proven experience in managing medicines.
• Ability to work effectively and collaboratively with other staff.
• A collaborative and flexible style, with a strong service mentality.
• Facilitation and coordination skills
• Excellent Microsoft skills

Desirable:

• Attentive to detail
• Highly organised
• Flexible and self- motivated
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• He/she must clearly display the ability to effectively prioritise and adhere to tight deadlines.

Work-based skills and competencies:

Essential:

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Excellent computer skills with proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Ability to work beyond official working hours to meet tight datelines.

Desirable:

• Good coordination skills
• Excellent analytical skills

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Purpose of the assignment

• The purpose of this consultancy is to serve as a member of the State SMC SBCC team of their respective states and provide state-level technical assistance and oversight on demand creation- related activities for the successful coordination of the 2024 SMC campaigns.
• Working with the relevant State agencies (SMEP/PHCDA), the consultants will serve as SBCC focal points and support SMC key activities including microplanning and adaptation of SBCC materials, planning for engagement activities, development of SBCC materials and tools, facilitation, capacity- building of SBCC related personnel, monitoring, and reporting on overall SBCC activities in the 9 PF-supported States.

Scope of Work

• The technical support would cover all the all LGAs of the supported States. The activity will commence with microplanning and conclude after the last cycle of distribution for the year with the submission of a report.

Expected Output / Deliverables

• SBCC campaign workplan
• Adapted demand creation materials within 2 days from the end of each micro plan process.
• Advocacy plan prepared and shared with MC LGA Field Assistants and SPM for consolidation with activity report.
• Weekly update to the State SPM and National Project Manager to collate as weekly update from the campaign state.
• Demand creation report during the SMC campaign submitted to the team lead at the end of the exercise in a state.
• Detailed demand creation specific microplanning and SMC campaign report prepared and submitted to State SPM or consolidation and onward submission.
• Detailed consultancy report on MC report template, clearly highlighting your specific tasks/role during the activity submitted at least 7days after completion of the activity.

Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum of First Degree in the Social Sciences or related fields and at least 3 years post- graduation.
• Excellent leadership qualities.
• Previous training and experience in SMC or similar campaigns (LLINs, Polio Immunization, etc.) campaigns.
• Previous experience supporting the development of behavior change campaigns that delivered results.
• Knowledge of malaria and its prevention, diagnosis and treatment is required.
• Previous experience working in a National and/or State Ministry of Health preferred.
• Experience with a flexible approach to managing and prioritizing significant workloads and multiple tasks, in a fast-paced environment, with tight deadlines is required.
• Excellent training and supervisory skills
• Excellent technical writing and presentation skills
• A proven ability to work as part of a team and independently.

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Specific Objectives

The following are specific objectives for the assignment:

• Guided by the previous security reports from Malaria Consortium, government security agencies and international/local security organization/agencies, conduct desk review of SRA in all 11 MC/SMC implementing states and the FCT;
• Train state security focal persons (SSFPs) to be able to review the state security plans (SSPs) for the states and the FCT.
• Profile the general security situation across the 36 states and the FCT;
• Utilize the information obtained from the assessment to -review the risk profiles of each state, LGA, ward and community where applicable;
• Identify any new risk to implementations at different categories of state, LGA, wards, and community levels;
• Update security risk mitigation plan for states and LGAs in response to information obtained in objectives above where applicable; and
• Update SRAs, SSPs and SOPs for identified implementing states

Methodology for (Sitan /SRA / SP) Review:

• This assignment will include the desk review of previous SRAs, security profiles and SSPs and the use of a combination of key informant interviews (KIIs), administration of questionnaires and consensus meeting with Malaria Consortium staff at country, state and LGA offices; and stakeholders from the states and LGAs, especially the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Officers to obtain the required data and information. These would be followed by a consensus meeting involving the consultants, relevant Malaria Consortium, state and LGA personnel would be held to agree on the relevance, currency, and validity of the obtained data/information. Furthermore, meetings would be held with the National Coordinator of the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) and Country Operations Manager of Malaria Consortium, towards the development of a national security plan (NSP) to support malaria elimination activities.
• Guided by the grading system developed in 2022 (and reviewed in 2023) from the Malaria Consortium Security Adaptation Guideline, Safety and Security Policy and Framework, and findings from the SRA, grade the wards, LGAs and states into red (high), amber (medium) and green (low) areas; to enable Malaria Consortium top management categorize the LGAs and states into:

High Security Risk / Hard-to-reach (HTR) Areas:

Medium risk area; and Low risk area:

• The assignment would require a desk review of existing security documents such as SSPs, SRAs, weekly security updates and any report related to the supported states and the FCT present security situation. Visits to be undertaken to selected communities, wards and LGA/Area Councils of interest to enable a comprehensive review of the security situation within the supported states/FCT which will enrich the reviews.
• Furthermore, the consultants will support the designated SSFPs to carry out rapid assessments based on designed questionnaires, the outcome of which, will also inform on the reviews. Remote support will also be provided in close collaboration with the Malaria Consortium Security Manager / Officers based in the country and zonal offices. The data will be collected using SurveyCTO; while the GIS coordinates will also be obtained, and data analyzed to produce the SSPs and SOPs to support SMC implementation in all security profiling categories for all the supported states and FCT.
• In addition, the engaged TAs would support the Country Office Manager (for the country office) and SSFPs (for the states) to assess the different office locations and advise accordingly.
• A debriefing meeting will be held at state level to validate all collated information with the respective SSFPs and Malaria Consortium’s Security Managers before submission to the Country Operation Manager, Programme Director and Regional Risk Programme Manager’s review and input before finalization and sign-off by the West and Central Africa Programmes Director.

List of Tasks:
The following are specific, but not exhaustive list of tasks to be conducted to meet the goal and objectives of the assignment:

• Conduct a desk-top analyses of the current security profiles of the respective SMC states using existing documents within MC and proffer recommendations for update on same;
• meet with the National Coordinator, NMEP (or his designated officer) and review existing security documents towards the development of a national security plan (NSP) to support malaria elimination activities in Nigeria;
• identify and assess the functionality of all existing security coordination platforms in the states (especially those used by existing donor agencies), identify new ones and their membership and requirements for Malaria Consortium being accepted as a member;
• orientate, debrief and work closely with the Malaria Consortium Security Managers, SSFPs and other stakeholders to understand the SMC implementation and the security context in the LGAs to enable the development of an accurate security strategy
• Develop an updated security risk mitigation plan for SMC deployment and update the SSPs for Malaria Consortium’s operations in the SMC supported states (as per the Malaria Consortium template); and
• review the SRAs, SSPs and SOPs for identified implementing states.

Timelines For Activities:

• The timeline for the assignment is June 2024.

Expected Outputs / Deliverables

The State Consultant will be a security management expert with experience in security assessments and risk mitigation planning. Other requirements include:

• Minimum of 5 years experience working in the context of a complex and challenging operating environments;
• Demonstrable experience in security assessment/evaluation;
• Good report writing skills and communication with stakeholders; and
• Experience working in highly resource-constrained environments.

go to method of application »

Purpose of the assignment

• The purpose of this consultancy is to serve as a member of the State SMC SBCC team of their respective states and provide state-level technical assistance and oversight on demand creation- related activities for the successful coordination of the 2024 SMC campaigns.
• Working with the relevant State agencies (SMEP/PHCDA), the consultants will serve as SBCC focal points and support SMC key activities including microplanning and adaptation of SBCC materials, planning for engagement activities, development of SBCC materials and tools, facilitation, capacity- building of SBCC related personnel, monitoring, and reporting on overall SBCC activities in the 9 PF-supported States.

Scope of Work

• The technical support would cover all the all LGAs of the supported States. The activity will commence with microplanning and conclude after the last cycle of distribution for the year with the submission of a report.

Expected Output / Deliverables

• SBCC campaign workplan
• Adapted demand creation materials within 2 days from the end of each micro plan process.
• Advocacy plan prepared and shared with MC LGA Field Assistants and SPM for consolidation with activity report.
• Weekly update to the State SPM and National Project Manager to collate as weekly update from the campaign state.
• Demand creation report during the SMC campaign submitted to the team lead at the end of the exercise in a state.
• Detailed demand creation specific microplanning and SMC campaign report prepared and submitted to State SPM or consolidation and onward submission.
• Detailed consultancy report on MC report template, clearly highlighting your specific tasks/role during the activity submitted at least 7days after completion of the activity.

Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum of First Degree in the Social Sciences or related fields and at least 3 years post- graduation.
• Excellent leadership qualities.
• Previous training and experience in SMC or similar campaigns (LLINs, Polio Immunization, etc.) campaigns.
• Previous experience supporting the development of behavior change campaigns that delivered results.
• Knowledge of malaria and its prevention, diagnosis and treatment is required.
• Previous experience working in a National and/or State Ministry of Health preferred.
• Experience with a flexible approach to managing and prioritizing significant workloads and multiple tasks, in a fast-paced environment, with tight deadlines is required.
• Excellent training and supervisory skills
• Excellent technical writing and presentation skills
• A proven ability to work as part of a team and independently.

go to method of application »

Purpose of the assignment

• The purpose of this consultancy is to serve as a member of the State SMC SBCC team of their respective states and provide state-level technical assistance and oversight on demand creation- related activities for the successful coordination of the 2024 SMC campaigns.
• Working with the relevant State agencies (SMEP/PHCDA), the consultants will serve as SBCC focal points and support SMC key activities including microplanning and adaptation of SBCC materials, planning for engagement activities, development of SBCC materials and tools, facilitation, capacity- building of SBCC related personnel, monitoring, and reporting on overall SBCC activities in the 9 PF-supported States.

Scope of Work

• The technical support would cover all the all LGAs of the supported States. The activity will commence with microplanning and conclude after the last cycle of distribution for the year with the submission of a report.

Expected Output / Deliverables

• SBCC campaign workplan
• Adapted demand creation materials within 2 days from the end of each micro plan process.
• Advocacy plan prepared and shared with MC LGA Field Assistants and SPM for consolidation with activity report.
• Weekly update to the State SPM and National Project Manager to collate as weekly update from the campaign state.
• Demand creation report during the SMC campaign submitted to the team lead at the end of the exercise in a state.
• Detailed demand creation specific microplanning and SMC campaign report prepared and submitted to State SPM or consolidation and onward submission.
• Detailed consultancy report on MC report template, clearly highlighting your specific tasks/role during the activity submitted at least 7days after completion of the activity.

Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum of First Degree in the Social Sciences or related fields and at least 3 years post- graduation.
• Excellent leadership qualities.
• Previous training and experience in SMC or similar campaigns (LLINs, Polio Immunization, etc.) campaigns.
• Previous experience supporting the development of behavior change campaigns that delivered results.
• Knowledge of malaria and its prevention, diagnosis and treatment is required.
• Previous experience working in a National and/or State Ministry of Health preferred.
• Experience with a flexible approach to managing and prioritizing significant workloads and multiple tasks, in a fast-paced environment, with tight deadlines is required.
• Excellent training and supervisory skills
• Excellent technical writing and presentation skills
• A proven ability to work as part of a team and independently.