Liberia: National Drug Service Technical Advisor

Position Title: National Drug Service (NDS) Technical Advisor
Reports to: Supply Chain Manager, PIH Liberia
Location: Monrovia, Liberia

Organizational Profile:

Partners In Health (PIH) is an international health organization relentlessly committed to improving the health of the poor and marginalized. PIH partners with local governments to build local capacity and works closely with impoverished communities to deliver high-quality health care, address the root causes of illness, train providers, advance research, and advocate for global policy change.

PIH currently has implementation programs in Haiti, Rwanda, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Peru, Mexico, Russia, Sierra Leone and Navajo Nation. Through our partnership with Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, we support a wide range of programs in dozens of other countries around the world.

General Responsibilities:

This position is seconded to the Liberian Ministry of Health (MoH) National Drug Service (NDS). The Technical Advisor will support the NDS Interim Management Team (IMT) in area of supply chain and operations thus enabling the efficient management and distribution of pharmaceutical and laboratory commodities from the national level to the county level, working with both the GOL and PIH clinical/operations teams to evaluate and support supply chain needs. The Technical Advisor will focus on assisting NDS staff on the daily distribution and classifying/organizing of drugs and clinical supplies in addition to supporting and implementing systems such as inventory management and ordering processes to address the needs of GOL/NDS and PIH. Along with daily support to NDS staff, this position will act as a point of contact and work directly with the PIH Clinical Operations staff, Nursing Director, Supply Chain Manager, Pharmacy Lead, Medical Director and the County Pharmacists/County Depot as well as health facility staff to troubleshoot, bridge, and expedite the functioning of the supply chain system.

The ideal candidate for this position will have related work experience in a resource poor setting and the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks, and should be comfortable working with culturally diverse colleagues. S/he should possess solid interpersonal and communication skills; this position requires a highly organized individual with strong attention to detail and excellent follow-through. S/he will take initiative and ownership of projects and be able to perform in a fast-paced, high-demand work environment.

This position is Monrovia-based and will require occasional travel to field sites. It involves extensive interaction with international and domestic staff.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Provide technical assistance and support NDS logistical and stock management processes to ensure accurate, efficient management of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies in Monrovia are distributed to the SE counties, enabling real-time visibility of supply chain from vendor/donor locations through warehousing in Monrovia to distribution to county depots.
• Work with Supply Chain teams to execute and follow-up on orders, requisitions, distributions, and data reporting from NDS to county facilities. Respond to urgent clinical and equipment requests from Partners In Health’s staff.
• Work closely with NDS IMT administrators, program managers, and other stakeholders to identify, gather requirements, and solve problems for drug distribution, data collection, reporting, and use.
• Work closely with the PIH clinical team to identify needs and gaps in the systems and create solutions to build clinical distribution capacity and supply chain systems.
• Take ownership supporting procurement efforts between multiple specialized cross-site programs and NDS.
• Communicate with clinical staff on status and expected delivery date of requested materials.
• Prioritize efforts to prevent stock-outs of essential products.
• Conduct assessments and produce reports on issues and challenges as well as lessons learnt and best practices with recommendations for improvement to ensure lead time and/or stockouts are decreased.
• Provide support to the NDS team in completing regular physical inventories and compiling accurate results.
• Perform regular visits to NDS warehouse sites to review/audit use of inventory systems and expedite distribution of requested materials.
• Identify logistical bottlenecks and propose the ways to fill in the gaps and ensure proper distribution mechanisms are put in place.
• Identify areas for training and skill-building to strengthen the supply chain system.
• Represent PIH on the national supply chain technical committee
• Perform such other duties as may be assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred
• Preferred 3-5 years working in supply chain, logistics, clinical operations, procurement, systems implementation, or related field
• Strong technical knowledge in the following areas; health infrastructure; supply chain management; clinical work-flows/operations, project management, inventory management, quality management, or product data management
• Willingness to take initiative; experience creating and implementing new systems and building relationships
• Ability to work as part of a collaborative and dynamic team and share tasks as needed
• Able to respond calmly and creatively in emergency situations and quickly problem-solve
• Must be flexible, reliable, responsive, and resourceful, highly organized and detail-oriented
• Exemplary interpersonal skills; ability to collaborate effectively with culturally diverse staff across departments and country
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel, Word, and PPT
• Strong interest in healthcare and international development and a desire to improve patient health through system change. Interest in social justice strongly desirable
  Partners In Health is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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