Medical Supply Chain Specialist

Eligibility criteria

Minimum age: 22 years old. Applicants must be nationals of or legal residents in the country of assignment.

Description of task

The purpose of this assignment is to support the development of medical supply chains in Myanmar. Within the delegated authority and under the guidance of NCD Coordinator for Myanmar or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the Medical Supply Chain Specialist will carry out the following tasks:

• Lead the strengthening of country capacity to manage the health supply chain e.g. demand and supply planning, management of medicines, supplies and diagnostics.
• Undertake a financial analysis of medicine utilization at the national and regional/state health authority hospitals to identify and address inefficiencies.
• Advise NCD division on annual procurement plan for NCDs and a systematic bottom up need plan inclusive of township health facilities.
• Assess NCD drugs and supplies quality assurance practices and the country’s approved suppliers, and pre-qualification process.
• Advise on creation of central and satellite pharmacies for provision of free or cheaper essential NCD medicines in public health facilities (hospitals/UHC/RHC/Sub RHC etc).
• Lead capacity building programme on procurement and supply management for staff at the regional/state, township and hospitals levels.
• Lead technical support to the NCD division of the MoHS to address supply chain challenges related to access, storage, and re-distribution of NCD drugs, supplies and diagnostics.
• Advise government procurement teams on ways to minimize supply chain costs, maximize supply chain efficiencies, conform to product quality standards, and establish inventory flows that are responsive to the needs of health facilities.
• Support government procurement teams to review and develop procurement systems, policies and practices which promote cost minimization, timely availability of NCD drugs and supplies, and compliance to good procurement practices.
• Lead development of logistics management information systems (LMIS) for procurement, warehouse management (WMS) and their roll out trainings on their efficient use by staff at all levels.
• Support improvements to logistics data and information flow, reporting into HMIS and routine triangulation with service data to improve overall accountability and use of quality data for forecasting decisions.
• Support development of best practices manual on healthcare supply chain management and development of appropriate training for building staff capacities on these standards.
• Identify key medical, pharmaceutical suppliers and stakeholders in the country providing access to NCD supplies.
• Conduct market sizing and price tracking studies in partnership with pharmaceutical companies, chambers of industry/commerce, national research bodies and other procurement bodies in the public and private sectors.
• Provide knowledge-based advisory on pooled procurement based on price comparison.
• Make an evidence-based case for access to UN mandated procurement facilities based on principles of reduced cost and enhanced quality.
• Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications/Requirements Required degree level: Master degree or equivalent Education - Additional Comments:

Master’s degree in business administration, commerce or equivalent.

Required experience: 60 Months Experience remark:

• At least 5 years of relevant professional work experience in large pharma corporates, international organisation, government managing supply chain, logistics, quality and marketing.
• Experience in developing logistic systems and ability to assess logistics information system needs and their integration in the facility-based distribution.
• Relevant work experience in at least three of the following areas: managing medical supply chains, government supply chain, marketing and distribution, public procurement, quality control and demand forecasting.
• Excellent oral and written skills; excellent drafting, formulation, reporting skills.
• Accuracy and professionalism in document production and editing.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners, including grassroots community members, religious and youth organizations, and authorities at different levels; familiarity with tools and approaches of communications for development.
• Ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging environment; ability to work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national personnel.
• Solid overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.) and email/internet; familiarity with database management; and office technology equipment.
• Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines.
• Desirable: valid national driver’s license and proven ability to drive manual gear 4x4 over rough terrain.
• Sound security awareness.
• Have affinity with or interest in public health, volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN System.
• Knowledge in using project management tool Asana (https://asana.com) on a daily basis is required for this assignment. Certification as an Asana Certified Pros (https://academy.asana.com/series/certified-pro-courses) or Asana Ambassador (https://academy.asana.com/series/asana-ambassador-courses) is preferred. Completion of relevant courses on Asana Academy (https://academy.asana.com) in order to enrol on the Asana Ambassador programme is required within one month of starting this assignment.
• UNITAR prefers the volunteer to be self-sufficient and arrange to be equipped with the requisite professional tools and equipment to carry out this assignment such as laptop with standard Adobe and Microsoft Office software, and a mobile phone.

Language skills:

• English(Mandatory), Level - Fluent
• Burmese(Optional), Level - Fluent

Area of expertise: Logistics and supply management Driving license: No Competencies values:

Adaptability and Flexibility, Commitment and Motivation, Commitment to Continuous Learning, Communication, Ethics and Values, Integrity, Planning and Organizing, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity, Working in Teams

Application procedure:

* Not yet registered in the UNV Talent Pool?

First register your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/signup.

Important: After creating your account, complete all sections of your profile and submit it. Then go to ‘My Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink. Lastly, select the special call to which you would like to apply.

* Already registered in the UNV Talent Pool?

First update your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/profile.

Then go to ‘My Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink to select the special call to which you would like to apply.

This is a national UN Volunteer assignment, therefore only nationals of Myanmar and legal residents in Myanmar with a residency permit, the status of refugee or with the status of being stateless are eligible to apply.

Application deadline: 29 November 2020