Supply Chain Pharmacy Manager

Background

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity, and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

Responsibilities

The Supply Chain Pharmacy Manager is a key position to the success and delivery of quality health programs. He/she will be the guarantor of the medical commodities being purchased, transported, stored and distributed by IRC.

Main responsibilities

• Work closely with health team to understand requirements.
• Provide support to local partner organizations, to assist them in meeting the medical supply chain requirements of their partnership agreements with IRC such as best practices in medical stock management and distribution.
• Leads on assuring the Medical Quality Assurance system; working closely with the Global QA team & Pharma procurement team on prequalification of local vendors, pharmacovigilance and GDP compliance.
• Contribute to (drafting and review) donor proposals and budgets that include pharmaceutical/medical supply components, in close collaboration with Health Coordinator, IRC grants and finance staff.
• Support procurement managers in defining specification for pharma transport supplier sourcing  that meets GDP requirements.
• Maintain medical equipment asset list, report on location status and maintenance needs.
• Work with the IRC Ukraine supply chain team to identify ideal location(s) for the pharma and medical warehouse(s), support in setting up the warehouse in compliance with Global and IRC Standards.
• Work with GSC and country SC to develop SOPs for the management of the pharma warehouses.
• Collaborate with Warehouse Manager and SC Coordinator to ensure smooth reception of international medical supply orders, with particular attention to efficient customs clearance.
• Ensure quality of field pharmaceutical supply chain, including storage, export/import, distribution, medicines management within healthcare facilities; healthcare waste management, controlled drug management, etc.
• Leads on medical consumption monitoring to support the health team in planning their next orders.
• Works with partners to ensure implementation of commodity tracking system for medical commodities
• Work with the medical warehouse officers to conduct regular inventory spot checks. Report any discrepancies and propose improvements in stock reporting accuracy for medical inventory.
• Ensure warehouse/storage conditions of medical items meet GDP standards, provide improvement plans if necessary.
• Support in recruitment and training of medical procurement and warehouse officers.
• Capacity build partners in the above.

Job Requirements:

Education:

Qualified Pharmacist or

University degree or equivalent professional experience in Logistics/Supply Chain with Health background, or equivalent professional experience with background in medical logistics.

Work Experience:

·         Minimum of 2 years’ professional Pharmacy experience, preferably in a supply chain / logistics environment including large supply pipelines.

·         Experience in medical procurement and in pharmaceutical supply chain management (procurement, import/export, warehousing, stock control, transport, distribution)

·         Experience working in the NGO sector, within complex/large scale country programs and in emergency response/humanitarian environments

·         Experience in conducting pharmacy, supply chain or health assessments, particularly in emergencies

·         Experience in capacity-building and supervision of logistic staff

·         Experience working with a variety of agencies and coordination groups in a humanitarian setting

·         Experience relating to Essential Medicines, National Drug Policies, Quality Assurance, or clinical pharmacy is desirable

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

·         Strong planning, management, and decision-making experience, with the ability to organize a substantial workload comprised of complex, diverse tasks and responsibilities.

• Strong practical knowledge of essential drugs, consumables, and equipment
• Flexible work attitude: be flexible and yet focused & reliable in an environment of changing demands
• Effective people and program management skills in acute emergency contexts: the ability to train, lead and manage staff productively under stressful circumstances

Language Skills: English proficiency required. Ukrainian and/or Russian would be an asset.