Back Procurement and Supply Chain Management Technical Advisor

SUSTAINING TECHNICAL AND ANALYTIC RESOURCES

FELLOWSHIP TITLE: Procurement and Supply Chain Management Technical Advisor
HOST ORGANIZATION: Vietnam National TB Program, Ministry of Health

LOCATION: Hanoi, Vietnam

POSITION LEVEL: Mid-Career Technical Advisor

STAR-P2-117

TRAVEL: 20% of travel

STAR PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Sustaining Technical and Analytic Resources (STAR) is a project of the Public Health Institute (PHI) supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Global Health (GH) Bureau. Its purpose is twofold: (1) Through individual fellowships, STAR will help strengthen the capacity of diverse American and low-and-middle-income country (LMIC) health professionals at all levels to make innovative contributions to global health (GH); and (2) STAR will create ground-breaking opportunities for both US and LMIC GH academic institutions and other groups, including professional associations, to create systems for open-access knowledge sharing, resulting in effective partnerships. STAR’s individual and institutional participants are contributing to the development of self-sustaining systems and tools that will produce global citizens with the full spectrum of relevant health competencies. STAR is managed by the Public Health Institute and implemented in partnership with Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH).

ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP

The STAR Fellowship is a two-year global health and learning opportunity with:

• Individualized, tailored support to enhance the fellow’s achievement personal and professional goals
• Personalized learning plans and access to learning resources (courses, conferences, mentoring) based on fellow’s learning style and preferences.
• Access to broad professional networks to enhance peer learning and knowledge sharing.

FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

Background:

USAID is a leader in the global fight against tuberculosis (TB) and supports anti-TB efforts in high burden TB countries. STAR Fellowship is a key component of the USAID Administrator's TB Accelerator initiative that aims to reach the UN General Assembly TB Declaration targets as well as to build the capacity and commitment of the host governments to ensure TB self-reliance through evidence-based TB programs.

The Government of Vietnam (GVN) aims to end TB by 2030, working through its National TB Program (NTP). USAID/Vietnam, through the STAR Project, will support the NTP to improve the program effectiveness by developing and strengthening the capacity of TB health professionals to achieve the end TB goal.

Introduction:

The Procurement and Supply Chain Management (PSM) Advisor (Advisor), will provide technical expertise to support the Vietnam National TB Program (NTP) in implementing the National TB Strategic Plans 2020-2025 (NSPs). They will support the NTP to strengthen the national procurement and supply chain of TB drugs and commodities. Specifically, the Advisor will provide technical assistance on planning, developing, organizing, and tracking all procurement and management of drugs, commodities, and supplies needed for the implementation of the NSP activities.

Reporting structure:

The PSM Advisor will be based at the NTP within the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Vietnam and work in close collaboration with USAID/Vietnam and USAID/Washington TB Team. They will receive technical direction from the NPT Manager and/or NTP technical lead (HIV Team Lead), who will serve as their Onsite Manager.

Essential Duties and Outcomes:

Strengthened NTP network capacity to procure and manage the supply chain of TB drugs and commodities:

• Provide technical support to the NTP network, to strengthen the quality of drugs and commodities quantification, distribution, and management.
• Support the NTP supply chain team to coordinate supervision and monitoring of procurement and supply chain management at provincial TB facilities.
• Provide recommendations to improve the NTP drugs and commodities supply chain.

Improved TB drugs and commodities procurement processes:

• Work closely with NTP’s technical teams and partners to develop annual and ad-hoc plans for drugs and commodities procurement.
• Support the NTP in the implementation and monitoring procurement plans to ensure timely initiation of procurement.
• Provide technical support to NTP program and technical staff throughout the procurement process.

Strengthened procurement and tracking systems to reduce or eliminate interruptions in the supply of TB drugs and commodities to NTP provincial and district network:

• Work closely with NTP program and technical staff to develop, implement and monitor drugs and commodities distribution plans to ensure uninterrupted supply of TB drugs and commodities to TB facilities at provincial and district levels.
• Support the NTP to maintain procurement and distribution tracking and reporting systems.

Anticipated learning outcomes: * approximate 10% time

• Demonstrate proficiency across the core global health competencies defined as development practice, cross cultural awareness, communication, capacity strengthening, public health ethics, health equity, gender equality and global burden of disease that is necessary for persons practicing in global health.
• Apply TB and procurement and supply chain knowledge to strengthen program.
• Apply and distinguish international standards within technical/content area to support programming.
• Cultivate leadership skills based on the STAR GH mentorship curriculum to effectively facilitate capacity building and knowledge sharing activities amongst staff and peers.
• Expand access to knowledge and resources through networking and collaborative practice within global health.

FELLOWSHIP REQUIREMENTS

Required:

• Minimum 7 years of pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and supplies procurement and supply chain management technical experience with master’s degree in health sciences, business management, supply chain management, or other relevant field or at a minimum of 9 years of relevant technical experience with bachelor’s degree.
• Experience working with NTP and organizations working on TB network supply chain.
• Experience in conducting trainings and capacity building.
• Experience in summarizing best practices which can be shared across a diverse group of stakeholders on supply chain management.
• Strong interpersonal skills and excellent oral communication and writing skills.
• Strong team-building and collaboration skills.
• Demonstrated flexibility and openness in responding to changing work priorities and environment.
• Vietnamese citizenship or Vietnam permanent residency required.

Additional skills (preferred):

• Bidding qualification is preferable.
• Experience with Global Fund or foreign funders’ procurement policies and implementation is an advantage.