Job Description

 Action Against Hunger – Somalia seeks an experienced Pharmaceutical and Supply Chain Manager for overall country pharmaceutical and supply chain operations. The Pharmaceutical and Supply Manager will be responsible for leading the pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical supply chain, quality control of all pharmaceutical, medical supplies and equipment for all Action Against Hunger projects in Somalia. Additionally, the job entails warehouse management and digital supply solutions, project procurements, assets and transportation and freight management. The post holder will also spearhead digitalization of Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Systems.

Purpose: The position holder is responsible for management of all medical, nutrition and pharmaceutical related products. He or she will be responsible for technical guidance, review as well as consolidation of all country orders at national level, quantification of needs, quality control, stock monitoring, inventory management (warehouses), distribution and logistics, LMIS, monitoring, evaluation & research rational use of medicines, pharmacovigilance, human resources management and resource mobilization.

Engagement: Internally the position holder will collaborate closely with the Head of Health and Nutrition Department, Damal Cafimaad Project Team Leads, Cafimaad Plus Consortium Director, Technical Managers and field team to create, ensure a healthy supply chain. Externally, he/she will closely liaise with Humanitarian Procurement Centres (HPCs) the Ministry of Health at Federal and State level, Regional Health Offices, staff at health facility and partners.

Delivery:  Develop and implement a supply plan for medical equipment, drugs and nutrition therapeutic commodities; to include monitoring and procurement for ongoing projects. Provide monthly reports on the medical drugs and equipment to include quantification data and analysis. Work closely with regional health office focal in the technical definition of medical drugs and equipment to include capacity building. Address all risk related aspects to nutrition therapeutic commodities, medical drugs and equipment and address all quality assurance aspects

II.  Essential Job Duties

1. Ensure documentation of all stock movement and implement asset tracking systems (25%)

• Ensuring the regular and appropriate use of management documents (stock sheets, delivery notes, computer tools, etc.)

• Ensuring/analysing data collection (stock, consumption) from the facilities and, where relevant, from the Dispensation Sites, and entering the data into the appropriate monitoring tool.
• Analysing this data to optimise the management of drugs/medicines and medical equipment (needs assessment, cold chain, expiry dates, stock surplus/shortage, etc.)
• Working closely with the technical managers and regional health office to verify stock and consumption status against programme data (primary healthcare database) and assess the appropriateness of prescriptions.
• Being able to provide, in real time, all reliable stock data, consumption, use of drugs/medicines and health products for the project.
• Raise alerts on near to expire drugs and medical supplies
• Support the field teams in donation of drugs and medical supplies in good time (eg. Overstock, near expiry etc)
• Backing up all computer data at least once a month on Action Against Hunger shared points.

2.  Ensure proper stock keeping and storage procedures are utilized at all levels, including the facility level (25%)

• Ensure compliance with Good Storage Practices for medical products at all facilities
• Ensure hygiene of the premises: regular cleaning of floors and shelves, refrigerator maintenance, no food or sugary drinks, etc.
• Twice-daily monitoring of temperature and humidity during working days
• Ensuring that everything possible is done to combat factors leading to the damage of medical products
• Classification of products according to the rules recommended by Somalia health authority.
• Ensuring compliance with special storage conditions required for certain specific products (cold chain, products considered to be narcotics)
• Ensure that all persons in the supply team are aware of the medical items they handle through training and coaching on quality, sensitivity and the various products’ storage conditions
• Conduct regular supervision on Good Storage Practices
• Supervise the stock/pharmacy management of end user units in the project

3.  Manage pharmaceutical and equipment procurement with logistics department (25%)

• Manage all pharmaceutical procurement in country or internationally
• Liaise with local health and administrative authorities for obtaining import permits and tax exemptions.
• Ensure evidence-based assessment of needs & requirements and preparing international orders for the project.
• Provide input for national and international orders: draft 1st procurement request based on Average Monthly consumption and Somalia health authority standard medical supplies list.
• Support the technical lead in making decisions on the choice of molecular substitutions as part of the procurement process.
• Supporting coordination in defining procurement frequency.
• Supporting the Logistics department in evaluating the local market and any possible local emergency procurement
• Collect information about suppliers
• Collect information for any possible external audit of the local market
• Facilitating sourcing activities during procurement (selection of sources, etc.)
• Assess the national market of drugs and medical supplies
• Maintain the list of validated suppliers and available drugs and medical supplies
• Ensure the follow up of drugs and medical supplies procurement requests and back orders

4.  Improving technical capacity of health facility staff and Regional Health Office on supply chain management (25%)

• Providing technical support through training on stock management, rationale use of medical products, critical analysis of consumption data
• Supporting the district management team in setting up training on stock management in health facilities (intended for the stock officer of the supported health facilities)
• Capacitate the team of supervisors in pharmacy supervision

III.  Supervisory Responsibilities

No supervisory responsibilities for the position. However, it requires strong collaborative and partnership skills to enable working with equivalent or senior level Regional Health Office focal persons.

IV. Fiscal Responsibility

N/A

V. Physical Demands

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit for long periods and to concentrate on work, including typing, and turn out heavy volumes of work accurately, within short time frames under stressful situations in the context of a moderately noisy office with interruptions.
• To travel to the field, the employee must attest to a level of physical fitness capable of enduring physically difficult, highly stressful situations which may include the necessity to walk long distances, to eat a limited diet and/or to reside in potentially uncomfortable housing or tents.
• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

VI. Working Conditions, Travel and Environment

• The duties of the job require regular job attendance of at least five days per week. Must be available to work outside normal office hours or at the weekends as required by contact with the missions, mission security, or other obligations.
• Must be able to travel as required for standard domestic and international business travel as well as to the missions if appropriate. While visiting the field, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well is to infectious diseases.

VII.     Gender Equality Commitments & Zero Tolerance to Abuse

• Foster an environment that reinforces values of people of all genders equal access to information.
• Provide a work environment where people of all genders must be evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance.
• Promote a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all stakeholders, particularly for children, beneficiaries, and members of staff.
• Help to prevent any type of abuse including workplace harassment and sexual abuse and exploitation.
• Respect beneficiaries’ women, men, children (boys and girls) regardless of gender, sex orientation, disability, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age, or marital status.
• Value and respect all cultures.

Experiences and Qualifications

• A minimum of eight years of medical supply chain management experience at primary level health service delivery.
• A minimum of eight years of experience in developing operational and supply chain capacity, transport management systems and stock replenishment systems.
• At least three years of demonstrated experience in a conflict-impacted, fragile settings such as Somalia or any other similar environment.
• Knowledge of quantification
• Capacity in needs assessment and supply of drugs/medicines to health facilities
• Experience in management of large-scale pharmaceutical warehouses.
• Experience in LMIS
• Experience in Digital pharmaceutical solutions.
• Good understanding of the functioning of the national supply chain
• Skills in capacity building via individual or group training
• Team Management
• Good command of Excel, Word and Outlook is essential

Skills Required

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