Summary
Date Posted: Thursday, December 19, 2019 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Accelerating the Su¬stainable Control and Elimination of NTDs (ASCEND) is a £200 million invest¬ment from the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID), to advance the impact and su¬stainability of national programmes tackling neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). ASCEND lot 1 (Asia, East and Southern Africa) is implemented by a consortium of technical partners led by Crown Agents, including Abt Associates, Oriole Global Health and the Royal Tropical Inst¬itute. Central to ASCEND 1’s approach is a close collaboration with the Zambian Government and other implementing partners, to enhance the national approach to NTD control and elimination. In Zambia, ASCEND is anchored on the following broad areas of intervention: (i) Treatment and prevention of disability (ii) Strengthening of the national health system (iii) Data management for targeting and monitoring (iv) Cross-sectoral collaboration, in particular within the health sector and WASH/BCC sectors.
About the Position:
The Supply Chain Technical Advisor (TA) will be responsible for providing a wide range of support to the Ministry of Health (MoH) Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) Unit. The office holder will work closely with relevant partners, pharmaceutical and supply chain focal point persons within MoH and Medical Stores Limited (MSL) to coordinate the clearance and storage of medicines as well as distribution to the district health offices. The TA will work closely with the NTD drug donation program managed by the World Health Organization (WHO), and NTD implementation partners to help build a sustainable supply chain management system. This will help to maintain the quality, efficacy and safety of the chemo-preventative drugs used during mass drug administration campaigns in accordance with the NTD elimination and control goals.
Reporting Line:
Primary reporting line to the NTD Manager for administrative purpose and the ASCEND Country Lead for technical or functional purposes. .

Job Responsibilities:
• Work with MSL, WHO and relevant organs of MOH to create an NTD supply chain management system which will chart the procurement, storage and delivery of drugs from the central Medical Stores Limited to all parts of the country.
• Overall NTD supply chain coordination including training on general supply chain management for NTD programme staff and community distributors.
• Support quantification and procurement efforts of medicines. This includes coordination of timely Joint Request Form submission and alignment of NTD supply chain processes with national quantification exercises.
• Operate and maintain an effective inventory management system that fosters accountability of NTD medicines at the end of MDAs and strengthens supply chain audits so as to minimise wastage. Keep all electronic records up-to-date to and ensure efficiency with supply chain and recording.
• Share regular inventory information with ASCEND Country and Regional Teams as well as with NTD program managers.
• Track and support the warehousing and distribution efforts of NTD medicines. Design and implement an effective last mile distribution and reverse logistics management system.
• Support the development of NTD supply chain management guidelines to be used for management of NTD essential medicines.
• Advise the district health offices about the special storage conditions for NTDs and
• Work with provincial and district health offices, implementation partners and target communities in order to better synchronize the Mass Drug Administration (MDA) schedule into the National supply chain system.
• Provide technical assistance (TA) to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs), tools and systems to assist MoH in inventory management and other aspects of supply chain management that will assure the availability and quality of medicines and other commodities.
• Advise on “best practices” relevant to pharmaceutical supply chain management, including procurement, distribution plans, and storage systems.
• Identify bottlenecks in drug and supply management at provincial and district levels, and provide technical assistance to resolve them.
• Participate in identifying and prioritizing capacity development activities for strengthening national and regional level pharmaceutical supply chains, and building expertise in monitoring and supervision.
• Monitor and document progress of activities toward achieving results of supply chain capacity building support and activities.
• Undertake other tasks as maybe assigned by the NTD Manager and ASCEND Country Lead.
• Submit regular performance report to the NTD Manager and the ASCEND Country Lead.

Job Skills: Not Specified

Job Qualifications:
• Bachelor of Pharmacy Degree or relevant discipline with at least five years of work experience. A Master Degree in Supply Chain Management will be an advantage.
• Good understanding of the Zambia National Logistics System (Essential Medicines National pipeline)
• Extensive knowledge of coordinating all of the entities involved in a supply chain including planning of procurement, production, inventory control, logistics and distribution.
• Experience in infectious diseases a requirement, experience in Neglected Tropical Diseases strongly preferred.
• Strong organizational and interpersonal skills and ability to work in a team-oriented setting.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Experience working with DFID or other donor-funded projects preferred.
• Willingness to travel within Zambia frequently.

Job Education Requirements:
• Bachelor of Pharmacy Degree or relevant discipline with at least five years of work experience. A Master Degree in Supply Chain Management will be an advantage.

Job Experience Requirements: Not Specified

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Job application procedure
Suitable and qualified candidates should email one document combining an application letter and CV to recruitment@ascend.crownagents.com  on or before 2nd January 2020. The subject of the email should read Supply Chain Advisor (Zambia). Do not attach certificates and testimonials. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

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