Deputy Country Director Full-Time

Chemonics seeks a deputy country director for the ongoing USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program – Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) project in Mozambique. The GHSC-PSM project is the primary vehicle through which USAID 1) procures and provides health commodities, 2) provides technical assistance to improve partner countries’ management of the supply chain, and 3) collaborates with key international stakeholders to support global health initiatives. The GHSC-PSM project in Mozambique is responsible for the procurement and delivery of HIV, malaria, family planning, and maternal and child health commodities to 5 regional warehouses, 11 provincial warehouses, and directly to the district and health facility level for laboratory commodities. The deputy country director informs the overall technical vision and long-term strategic direction of GHSC-PSM in Mozambique, to ensure delivery of critical health commodities to support the national health system. We are looking for individuals who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people around the world.

Responsibilities include:

Work planning, development, and implementation monitoring

• Develop annual work plans to ensure a secure and sustainable supply chain for pharmaceuticals (ARV, TB medicines, Essential medicines), laboratory supplies and other products as needed;
• Work closely with field-office department directors to periodically evaluate project progress against work plan and budget, identify issues and risks related to timely implementation, and undertake appropriate interventions to meet work plan objectives and client requests;
• Produce monthly and quarterly activity reports, technical success stories, and review all regular technical reports, including task order specific reports for U.S. government and headquarters clients, as well as M&E quarterly reports produced by the field office before submission to headquarters or USAID;
• Troubleshoot communication issues, facilitate clear, concise, and streamlined communication within the local teams, with the Chemonics home office, USAID, and other relevant stakeholders;
• Identify learning and exchange opportunities for the project to share technical knowledge (e.g., conferences, technical workshops, regional training events);
• Support USAID and GHSC-PSM headquarters during COP and MOP planning processes, facilitating procurement and forecasting information required for client presentations and deliberations.

Technical guidance

• Provide technical oversight, supervision, and strategic guidance to the highly experienced Forecasting, Supply and Distribution Planning (FSDP) and Procurement teams;
• Ensure that team staffing and performance aligns with goals and plans to achieve project results;
• Ensure timely submission of all deliverables for teams under direct supervision;
• Identify short-term technical assistance needs, develop scopes of work for technical assistance (TA) providers, and review associated outcomes and deliverables of TA activities to ensure quality and timely submission to the Client;
• Encourage technical teams under direct supervision to identify, experiment and implement innovative supply chain solutions and best practices;
• Foster technical collaboration between field office technical teams and headquarters counterparts

Forecasting, Supply, Demand Planning (FSDP), and Procurement

Work with the FSDP and Procurement directors to:

• Ensure that sourcing and procurement activities support USAID and Ministry of Health objectives and are aligned with GHSC-PSM project-wide objectives;
• Facilitate and support the development and execution of a long-term strategy to improve quality and timeliness of procurement activities and ensure that operational objectives are achieved;
• Ensure that best practices in procurement and supplier management are implemented and that procurement activities comply with donor regulations and guidelines;
• Maintain strong working relationships and lead rigorous contract negotiations with strategic suppliers to ensure that cost, quality, and delivery targets are met;
• Facilitate communication and troubleshoot issues among field office teams and between the Field Office and relevant GHSC-PSM Global Supply Chain teams;
• Provide timely responses to procurement questions from donors and beneficiaries;
• Analyze commodities expenditures, monitor commodities budget execution, and report to USAID mission accordingly;
• Identify needs and opportunities for improvement of procurement systems and/or procedures and contribute to the development and implementation of solutions to meet those needs
• Ensure that annual quantifications are conducted, supply plans updated, and stakeholders effectively informed about order status
• Work effectively within field-office and Global Supply Chain teams to ensure on-time delivery, reduce commodity cycle times, and meet needs of the client

Representation

• Support the country director to maintain working and consultative relationships with the Ministry of Health, Central Medical Stores, USAID, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Implementing Partners, and others;
• Represent GHSC-PSM Mozambique as technical lead in external fora including meetings with stakeholders related to the provision of technical assistance to build the capacity and capability of national health and supply-chain systems;
• Serve as acting country director in the absence of the country director

Qualifications:

• Minimum 10 years professional experience and 5 years providing technical guidance and oversight in health commodity supply chain management;
• Experience as country director, deputy director, or technical component leader on USAID-funded pharmaceutical supply chain projects or similar experience at home office level, combined with short-term technical assistance missions;
• Thorough knowledge of international procurement principles, methods, and best practices;
• Experience with donor regulations and procedures that govern USAID-funded procurement preferred;
• Extensive knowledge and practical experience with International Commercial Terms (lncoterms) and with transport of health commodities, including temperature-sensitive products;
• Extensive experience in procurement of laboratories commodities (reagents, consumables, equipment, and maintenance) and knowledge of various contracting mechanisms such as service-level agreements and reagent rental agreements;
• Experience with procurement of pharmaceuticals and commodities for the prevention, treatment, and monitoring of HIV/AIDS and/or malaria commodities as well as family planning, reproductive health, maternal, newborn and child health, and nutrition commodities;
• Thorough understanding of GHSC-PSM procurement and forecasting systems (ARTMIS, PipeLine) and processes and use of these systems to track, monitor, and manage procurements and commodity budgets preferred;
• Demonstrated experience in quantification and supply planning of health commodities
• Demonstrated ability to lead the development and monitoring of the implementation of project work plans;
• Demonstrated ability to monitor performance against key performance indicators;
• Demonstrated ability to build staff competencies in supply chain management;
• Demonstrated ability to promote implementation supply chain management best practices and innovations;
• Strong English writing, editing and analytical skills;
• Willingness to relocate to Mozambique for a minimum of two years, preferably until November 2023;
• Advanced computer skills in Microsoft Office, especially Microsoft Excel databases
• Demonstrated leadership, versatility, and integrity
• Portuguese proficiency or ability to learn preferred