Employment opportunity

Chemonics International Inc., Contractor for USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program – Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) ensures uninterrupted supplies of health commodities in support of USG-funded public health initiatives around the world. The project provides direct procurement and supply chain management support to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), and Population and Reproductive Health. In supporting USG-funded global health activities, PSM develops and manages a wide array of services for health commodity procurement and related systems strengthening technical assistance encompassing different elements of a comprehensive supply chain. The project seeks to recruit (on a one-year contract renewable) for the following position:

Position Title: Distribution Center Logistics Director (1 Position)

Reporting: Country Director

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

The Distribution Center Logistics Director will work with the Country Director and Deputy Country Director to lead in-country technical assistance for GHSC-PSM in Zambia for improved warehousing, inventory management, and distribution of public health commodities for the central medical stores, ZAMMSA, the Ministry of Health (MOH), and the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ). The director will be responsible for developing technical strategies, setting standards, providing technical assistance, and monitoring the progress of implementation for a component of the project focused on distribution center logistics technical assistance. The director will also serve as a member of the senior management team and will develop and communicate the vision and strategic direction of the project.

Specific Tasks

Technical Implementation

• Lead and coordinate technical assistance activities for ZAMMSA and GRZ to enhance distribution center logistics and processes to promote continuous availability of quality pharmaceutical commodities, to include products related to HIV/AIDS, malaria, family planning, and maternal and child healthcare commodities,
• Promote technical assistance for ZAMMSA to meet international standards and practices for pharmaceutical warehouses, such as guidelines of the World Health Organization,
• Refine and develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for warehousing, order management, distribution, inventory control, receiving of stock, and returns,
• Promote implementation and adherence to SOPs, implement use of cloud-based education tools to train ZAMMSA staff, test and assess their competence,
• Provide oversight of technical assistance for optimization and simulation analysis activities to support ZAMMSA to make informed decisions on policies and allocation of resources to enhance the warehousing and distribution of health commodities centrally and nationally,
• Strengthen ZAMMSA governance and leadership to enable agile management and responsiveness to organizational needs. Review country supply chain strategic planning and provide technical assistance for a regional warehouse model,
• Increase ZAMMSA’s Customer Service Center (CSC) capacity to review incoming data, determine the appropriate quantities to issue, and process orders and queries,
• Provide technical assistance to ZAMMSA, MOH, and Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA) to take active steps towards adopting GS1 and supporting serialization to enhance commodity security,
• Work with Data Analytics team to develop and refine a dashboard of key performance indicators (KPIs) for efficient warehouse operations and provide technical assistance to institutionalize management of performance,
• Provide technical assistance to improve ZAMMSA’s Warehouse Management System (WMS) capabilities and to ensure that all systems developed (hub capacity tool and order routing portal a.o.) support the decentralization policy of the government,
• Provide technical support for the roll out of the electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) system nationally to support commodity security initiatives,
• Encourage technical teams under his/her supervision to identify, experiment and implement innovative supply chain solutions and best practices.

Management

• Supervise the managers/Advisors under his/her responsibility, develop roles and responsibilities, design and monitor professional development plans, conduct annual performance appraisals, develop SMART goals and periodically monitor progress towards objectives,
• Provide oversight of a team of technical specialists to optimize warehousing space, enhance distribution services, increase storage capacity in country, and strengthen organizations involved in leading supply chain logistics in country. Keep staff abreast of current best practices such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) and GS1,
• Support development and management of annual work plans and budgets for distribution center logistics based on GRZ and USG priorities,
• Develop scopes of work for short-term technical assistance (STTA) in collaboration with the PSM Zambia field team and HQ. Provide technical oversight of consultants and review associated outcomes and deliverables to ensure quality and timely submission to the client,
• Represent PSM project at various technical meetings with collaborating partners, senior government officials, and/or donor agencies,
• Ensure that staff understand and adhere to established policies and procedures. Support quick and just resolution of any disciplinary issues that arise,
• Verify that USAID regulations, Chemonics policies, and quality management best practices are enforced consistently,
• Exhibit Chemonics values and build culture of “Living our Values” within the team,
• Carry out additional responsibilities as may be assigned from time to time in consultation with the country director and deputy country director.

Minimum Education Qualifications, Experience and Competencies:

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, logistics, or a related field required; and Master’s or other advanced degree preferred,
• Minimum of ten (10) years of experience managing or providing technical assistance for distribution center logistics, to include warehousing, inventory management, WMS implementation, and distribution,
• Experience in the application of GS1, the SCOR model, Lean, ISO, and supply planning concepts required,
• Experience working in a fully or semi-automated warehouse operational environment will be an added advantage,
• Experience providing technical assistance for management of public sector health commodities in an international setting preferred,
• Experience managing supply chain operations in a private sector setting preferred,
• Good interpersonal skills will be key for this position,
• Knowledge of USAID funding and its contractual and reporting requirements preferred,
• Strong project management skills and leadership and motivational abilities,
• Strong written and oral communication skills,
• Excellent problem solving and decision-making skills,
• Written and spoken English proficiency.

Location of Assignment: Lusaka