Technical Officer (Stop TB - Global Drug Facility GDF)

UNOPS hosts the Stop Tuberculosis Partnership Secretariat (STBP) as of 1 January 2015, in Geneva, Switzerland. The vision of the Stop TB Partnership is to realize the goal of elimination of Tuberculosis (TB) as a public health problem and, ultimately, to obtain a world free of TB by ensuring that every TB patient has access to effective diagnosis, treatment and cure; stopping transmission of TB; reducing the inequitable social and economic toll of TB; and developing and implementing new preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic tools and strategies. The Stop Partnership is uniquely positioned to support the development and further implementation by partners of the current and future Global Plan, acting as a coordinator and catalyst for the range of partners engaged in the fight against TB.

Founded in 2001, the Stop TB Partnership's mission is to serve every person who is vulnerable to TB and ensure that high-quality treatment is available to all who need it. Our partners include international and technical organizations, government programmes, research and funding agencies, foundations, NGOs, civil society and community groups and the private sector.

Under the supervision and guidance of the GDF DTC Team Leader this position is expected to:

1.     Ensure global technical leadership of the GDF

• Provide PSM technical coordination support and serve as a technical resource for global stakeholders, such as international donors (e.g. Global Fund, USAID, UNITAID), policy (e.g. WHO) and technical agencies (e.g., UNION, MSF, KNCV, PiH, CHAI, Chemonics), regional and country bi-lateral projects (e.g. ChallengeTB, EndTB).
• Support the GDF’s technical leadership role and promote PSM best practices and tools on the agenda of global and regional meetings and conferences, such as Joint Program Review, National TB programs meetings, regional UNION Conferences, regional Green Light Committee (rGLC) meetings, and other thematic meetings and workshops related to TB control as requested.
• Support the team lead coordinating the GDF regional events, including workshops and trainings, with global stakeholders to ensure that agendas and curricula reflect the regional and country needs, are aligned with GDF strategy and objectives and are actively supported by the stakeholders.
• Help establish and guide working groups of stakeholders or task forces to ensure coordinated approach to addressing the PSM issues for improved access to TB products, and expedited uptake and proper use of new TB tools as required.
• Support the team lead in managing GDF’s representation at global meetings, specifically those related to the development of financial, procurement, and medicines and other products quality assurance polices and processes for the post-Global Fund realities.
• Provide technical support to GDF’s management in Coordinating relations with multiple donors and global partners, e.g. USAID, CIDA, WHO and Global Fund on technical assistance plans and tools for concerted TA efforts; ensure key findings, recommendations and lessons learned are consistent and aligned in a global approach; manage results and achievements for reporting and policy making/changing.
• Provide technical support for development of the GDF Demand, TA, and Capacity Building (DTC) strategy and its implementation in collaboration with the regional technical advisors.
• Monitor alignment of organizational strategy with global stakeholders to ensure adequate implementation of activities, achievements of outcomes and impact.
• Provide technical guidance and coordination of the RTA for development and updating of GDF priority countries’ work plans, including technical assistance and capacity strengthening action plans/roadmaps, timelines, performance indicators and required resources.
• Monitor and follow-up the work plan implementation and budget execution in close collaboration with RTA, GDF leadership and Stop TB/UNOPS finance.
• Coordinate implementation and monitoring of the DTC activities as part of the GDF approach to co-financing, regional and in-country procurement of quality-assured products and increased procurement frequency in countries.
• Actively promote the GDF as a source of affordable quality-assured TB products, technical assistance, capacity development, and best PSM practices; explore and research options for expanding the GDF client base with specific focus on countries switching to the procurement with domestic funds.
• Provide technical support to review and monitor the supply indicators and in conjunction with the team lead establish a mechanism for ongoing global and regional indicator data collection and reporting; validate and report to the GDF TB medicines and laboratory commodities demand data to inform the GDF procurement and market shaping decisions.
• Support the team lead in communicating the achievements of DTC team globally to demonstrate value for money, results, achievements and impact of GDF technical assistance; and to develop and review technical, policy and advocacy materials aligned with Stop TB strategy to improve the visibility of GDF with countries, stakeholders and global partners.

2.     Implement PSM system strengthening interventions globally

• Lead the information gathering and maintain evidence for the leadership in GDF and their decision making on TB medicines and laboratory commodities supply practices at regional and global levels.
• Provide technical leadership to RTA identifying regional and global technical assistance and capacity building needs, especially focusing on the introduction of new TB tools. Provide recommendations and advice on implementation, and monitoring of interventions aimed at strengthening the supply system and improving access to TB products based on adequate demand forecast and optimized procurement frequency; coordinate with global and in-country donors and technical assistance programs through the GDF regional technical advisors.
• Develop and updating of training and capacity building materials or broker the required work with the Stop TB and GDF partners’ technical assistance programs.
• Coordinate along with RTAs the pool of technical consultants to ensure the provision of quality-assured and impactful missions, capacity strengthening activities and ongoing technical assistance interventions.
• Develop and review processes for regular information updates of country profiles, including regional and country-specific lists of TB medicines, treatment regimens and laboratory commodities; changes in national strategies and guidelines; new TB tools uptake trends; performance indicators; and other relevant information. 
• Coordinate the team of RTAs to ensure NTP ownership of early warning and quantification tools, such as QuanTB, as a StopTB/GDF-recommended tool complementing and building upon the existing country information systems for TB cases, logistics of medicines and laboratory products; and assisting the NTP and key partners developing the SOPs for quantification, forecasting, supply planning and EWS.
• Provide technical support in order to establish standard procedures for collecting relevant global and regional data to generate regular forecasts and quarterly EWS reports, and monitor pertinent supply chain parameters such as lead times, order/procurement performance, supplier performance, order delivery, port clearance, etc. to inform the GDF Country Supply Officers, GF, USAID mission, WHO, and other key stakeholders about status of TB products and potential issues.
• Provide technical support to develop and update GDF tools to improve impact of GDF technical assistance, ensure harmonization with global standards, and address the introduction of new technologies
• Provide technical support to establish systems for ongoing collection of data in priority countries and development of valid evidence to inform GDF units and Stop TB on strategic, market and operational decisions and thus improve the global supply.

3.     Expedite the roll-out of new TB tools worldwide

• Provide technical guidance to RTAs leading countries in the development and implementation of transition plans for accelerated uptake of new TB medicines, regimens, and diagnostic products, including setting attainable PSM goals, timeline and milestones, estimation of potential medicines and laboratory products wastage and performance/uptake monitoring mechanism.
• Coordinate continuous technical assistance and capacity strengthening support throughout the transition period to ensure rational use of TB products and better treatment outcomes.
• Provide technical support to establish systems for collecting data and reporting the indicators related to the uptake of new TB tools.
• Coordinate the provision of grants to facilitate the uptake of new TB tools, budget monitoring and reporting to donors.

• Master degree or Post Graduate degree in a health-related field, such as physician, pharmacist; public health qualification preferred.
• A Bachelor’s degree and two additional years of experience will be accepted in lieu of a Post Graduate/Master degree

• A minimum of 7 (seven) years of progressive relevant experience in providing technical assistance in the implementation of international and/or country level heath programmes, with a strong focus in one of the following areas: health procurement and supply management (TB/HIV/Malaria products preferred); epidemiology and/or bio statistics.
• Experience working with central and facility-level pharmaceutical and/or laboratory management services and information systems - including forecasting and quantification, and early warning systems' tools is preferred.
• Experience living and working with country supply programs in a developing context preferred.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously; excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively in a team spirit.

• Excellent knowledge of English and French with proven ability to communicate (fluently) in English and French (spoken and written) in a clear and concise manner.
• Excellent computer literacy and knowledge of MS Office package.

1. Contract type: Individual Contractor Agreement (ICA)
2. Contract level: International ICA 3 (ICS-11)
3. Contract duration: Ongoing ICA – ‘Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.’

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.