Country Director, Addis Ababa

Closing Date: Monday, 11 March 2013

The Partnership for Supply Chain Management (PFSCM) is implementing the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) contract for USAID as part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). SCMS will strengthen or establish secure, reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable supply chains capable of meeting the care and treatment needs of people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS. In coordination with in-country and international partners, we will: assist programs to enhance their supply-chain capacity; ensure that accurate supply-chain information is collected, shared, and used; and provide quality, affordable, health care products to those who need them. SCMS will offer services in focus countries identified by the USG team, with SCMS field offices established in selected countries as required by the scope of work in the country.

Overall Responsibilities

The Country Director (CD) leads and manages the SCMS project in Ethiopia. S/he is accountable for overall project strategy and success, including delivering on key project results. The CD has full accountability and authority for the development, execution, and monitoring of the SCMS project in country, including (1) vision and development of technical strategy, work plans and performance management plans; (2) overall project management, including ensuring that the field office follows standard SCMS and MSH administrative, procurement and financial procedures; (3) documentation and communications; (4) development and management of productive relationships with client(s) and stakeholder(s) and; coordination with other MSH projects. The CD represents SCMS and MSH to US Government agencies, the Ministry of Health (MOH), other governmental agencies and cooperating partners within Ethiopia. S/he promotes collaboration and best practices in strategic planning and coordination of supply chain activities, including forecasting, procurement, storage, distribution, and information management for ARVs, HIV tests, lab commodities and other related HIV/AIDS commodities.

The emphasis of the SCMS project in Ethiopia is to support the Pharmaceuticals Fund and Supply Agency (PFSA) in establishing and managing a sustainable procurement, distribution and supply management system for HIV/AIDS and related commodities. The CD will lead development of new initiatives and activities; coordinate expanded health systems strengthening work with current partners; and ensure that the field office is adequately resourced to manage operations. To this end, s/he will both organize and provide in-country technical assistance as needed.

Specific Responsibilities

Project Management and Leadership

Along with the SCMS Project Management Office (PMO) and MSH HQ, participate in office start-up and project expansion.Liaise with other MSH projects in country and the MSH Country Operations Management Unit (COMU) as needed to ensure coordination of technical activities and optimal operational support.Supervise field office staff by ensuring they have updated, relevant job descriptions; ensuring they have work plans specific to their roles; conducting performance reviews at least annually; providing on-going mentoring and coaching; managing all personnel issues and liaising with PMO and MSH HQ when needed.Participate in staff recruitment as needed.Ensure that staff follow SCMS and MSH SOPs, work instructions and directives.

Client Relations

Build and maintain strong working relations with key SCMS internal and external stakeholders, beneficiaries, suppliers and partners. Provide effective and timely responses to inquiries and concerns.Create and sustain a culture of commitment and accountability to SCMS clients and project stakeholders through:Proactively and continuously consulting with clients at all stages of development and implementation of work plans via various communication methods;Ensuring that project targets and deliverables are developed based on client expectations and needs;Ensuring that clients are clearly identified in the projects' strategic document and work plans and that client needs and expectations are articulated;Ensuring that the field office has a clear strategy for communicating with clients (i.e. monthly updates and/or meetings, regular joint planning sessions, submission of reports, etc.)Actively monitoring client satisfaction through discussions and other means.Meet client expectations by realizing or exceeding expected project targets and deliverables on time and within budget as per the Clients' Performance Monitoring Plans.

Project Implementation and Monitoring

Support PFSA to define and verify supply chain-related strategic priorities and desired outcomes including development and implementation of their ERP to be achieved through maintenance of an agreed joint annual workplan and the provision of technical assistance. Work closely with PFSA, the USG team (USAID, CDC), PEPFAR and USG Implementing Partners, especially the USAIDââ€â€šDELIVER project and others in an ongoing way to achieve these objectives.Manage the development and execution of SCMS strategic plans that address these priorities and outcomes.Develop, manage and maintain the annual project work plans; effectively translate strategic vision into a set of discreet activities.Ensure field office staffing is adequate to effectively carry out annual work plans.Manage technical activities and build sustainable local systems to facilitate smooth HIV/AIDS commodity forecasting and quantification; compliance with SCMS Field Office Managed Procurement (FOMP) SOPs; monitoring of supplier order fulfillment; order tracking; customs clearance and freight forwarding; storage and distribution of products in-country; and logistics management information systems.

Communication & Information Sharing:

Review draft trip reports, technical reports, and other deliverables from STTA visits within the time frame provided in SOWs, provide internal approval and submit to USAID as appropriate.Lead regularly scheduled communication with the PMO and home-office based country support teams via conference callsEnsure and oversee the further development and implementation of the SCMS Performance Management Plan (PMP) to monitor and evaluate the achievement of agreed-upon MOH and USG priorities, outcomes, strategies and activities.Develop innovative methods to capture and demonstrate project impact through evidence and project data.Ensure effective communication with partners concerning supply chain management through regular sharing of data and related information.Generate or oversee technical reports, monthly updates, quarterly reports and other documentation on field program progress and activities for submission to the local USAID Mission, USAID Washington, the PMO and home office. Adhere to reporting guidelines and deadlines.Support and participate in joint coordination and planning forums and technical working groups with other implementing agencies involved in developing public health sector supply chains in Ethiopia

Technical Assistance & Health Systems Strengthening:

Engage and coordinate with relevant stakeholders to build capacity of national staff so as to achieve effective and sustainable supply chains.Identify and select strategies to build local human resource capacity that take into account existing and planned country human resource capacity development activities.Define scopes of work (SOW) for short-term technical assistance in collaboration with USAID. Obtain necessary approvals from in-country partners and modify SOWs as required.Together with relevant program managers, organize, manage and evaluate short-term technical assistance (STTA) activities; monitor STTA deliverable and follow up.

Global Supply Chain & Product Procurement:

Oversee commodity forecasting, annual supply plans and quarterly supply plan updates; submit plans in accordance with SCMS SOPs.Ensure effective client management processes are in place to develop specifications and procurement plans with PEPFAR technical working groups and implementing partner clientsEnsure that the SCMS FOMP team manages Price Requests and Quotations in a timely and efficient manner.Ensure that the Ethiopia office understands and adheres to SCMS policy and strategy for FOMP.Ensure effective vendor management of local and international suppliers to achieve required quality standards and on-time delivery of commodities

Project Financial Management:

Assume full accountability for and oversight of SCMS project funds in Ethiopia; supervise project operations and monitor the performance of the COMU finance team.Ensure that financial systems, controls and oversight are in place to mitigate financial risk.Ensure all field office disbursement of funds (expenses and advances) are in compliance with USAID, MSH and SCMS policies; review field accounts prior to submission to PMO; ensure finance and budgeting procedures are adhered to and ensure budgetary procedures are completed in a timely manner.Ensure all members of the field office management team with delegated financial approval have the appropriate training to carry out their fiduciary responsibilities and maintain control systems to ensure delegated authority is responsibly applied.Determine level of effort for project activities and quantify the financial resources required to implement them.Monitor budget implementation and expenditures on a monthly basis and ensure that budget expenditures contribute to the accomplishment of work plan activities. Note when planned activities and associated budgets are not completed and develop response.

Qualifications:

Post graduate degree in public health, international health, business administration, project management, logistics, supply chain management or related field (MD, MPH, MBA, M Pharma, MHA, etc.); or equivalent experience.Seven plus (7+) years of progressively responsible related experience is required; Country Director or Deputy Country Director experience is preferred.Demonstrated strategic planning and visioning skills.Demonstrated subject matter expertise in technical content relevant to the project.Demonstrated leadership and management abilities.Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with senior-level colleagues; particular competence interacting with Government agencies, NGOs, private sector groups, USAID CAs and donor organizations in a productive, proactive and comfortable manner.Experience in supply chain management, human resource development, organizational development or capacity building required.Familiarity with USG procurement rules and regulations is a plus.Proven ability to lead and work as part of a team in a diverse, multicultural setting; ability to self-manage own use of time.Ability to manage multiple tasks within tight deadlines and prioritize effectively, while delivering high quality work.Experience working with international donor agencies, particularly USAID.Ability to prepare and deliver public presentations on project/program management, supply chain management and human resource capacity.Experience with work planning and budgeting.Strong organizational and analytical skills.Capacity to work independently and take initiative on one's own.Excellent written and verbal English language skillsAbility to work comfortably with Microsoft Office software, specifically Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Microsoft Project also very helpful.Ability to travel for extended periods of time in-country to support technical activities.Willingness and ability to travel internationally, including to the US.

How to apply:

Please apply at https://jobs-msh.icims.com/jobs/6351/job.

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