Supply Chain Management Specialist (Pharmaceutical - Retainer)

Organisational Context
The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners' peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world.  Mandated as a central resource of the United Nations, UNOPS provides sustainable project management, procurement and infrastructure services to a wide range of governments, donors and United Nations organisations.  With over 6,000 personnel spread across 80 countries, UNOPS offers its partners the logistical, technical and management knowledge they need, where they need it.  By implementing around 1,000 projects for our partners at any given time, UNOPS makes significant contributions to results on the ground, often in the most challenging environments.


Multi-Country Office Context:
The UNOPS Ghana Multi Country Office (GHMCO), located in Accra, Ghana is responsible for projects in Anglophone West Africa, covering Ghana, Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. GHMCO is responsible for managing strategic and operational risks engagements portfolio, developing and delivering cost effective services contributing to partners’ sustainable results and achievement of UNOPS management results.

Project Information:
The National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) is a body under the Department  of Public Health, Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), Nigeria. It is vested with the responsibility of formulating and facilitating National malaria policy and guidelines, coordinating the activities of partners and stakeholders on malaria elimination activities, providing technical support to States’ malaria programmes, Local Government Areas (LGAs) and other stakeholders in the private sector; mobilising resources, monitoring and evaluating progress and outcomes in malaria elimination efforts across Nigeria. The Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) has received funding to implement a 5 year project pertaining to elimination of Malaria in Nigeria and specific to Four (4) States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory; namely Bayelsa, Edo, Enugu, Kogi and the Federal Capital Territory. The objective is to improve the delivery and uptake of malaria prevention and treatment activities in Eligible States to achieve at least 80% universal coverage of vector control, Seasonal Malaria Chemoprophylaxis (SMC) both at household or population levels and case management in the public sector of the Eligible States. It is anticipated that during the period of the Project implementation, the overall burden of malaria in the country will reduce from current figures of 27% to ≤ 15%. 

The project scope includes (i) acquisition and distribution of Antimalarial commodities (LLINs, RDTs and Antimalarial Drugs) (ii) Capacity building and social mobilisation, (iii) Malaria case management (iv) Monitoring and evaluation and (v) Support to project implementation.  On Account of the Agreement between Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) and the Financier, the FRN has engaged UNOPS to support the implementation of component 1 (i.e. the acquisition of Long-Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLINs), Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) and Anti-Malarial Drugs) on behalf of the NMEP. Under the procurement agreement between UNOPS and FRN, UNOPS will procure and deliver the goods using its procurement rules and procedures. 

Position Information:
Both UNOPS and NMEP agree in principle that participation of locally manufactured  products is critical for sustainability and to spur local job creation. In this regard, for products that are manufactured locally, UNOPS will procure through a national competitive bidding process.

The Supply Chain Management Specialist (Pharmaceutical) is required to support the procurement process and ensure quality assurance of commodities to be procured from both local and international suppliers.

A Supply Chain Management Specialist (Pharmaceutical)  with adequate understanding of the contextual and regulatory considerations for effective pharmaceutical procurement is needed to support the project team on the development of specifications, development of tender documentation,  evaluation of tenders and developing criteria/guidelines for acceptance of products. This is essential to the project’s success. 

The overarching objective of this assignment is to ensure that malaria commodities meet acceptable standards,  are in line with the detailed specifications agreed with the NMEP and also fit for purpose (provide the desired effect to the patient/user). 

The expected deliverables are as follows;

• Detailed product specifications for LLINs, RDTs and Antimalarial Drugs are developed to guide the solicitation process

• Criteria for inspection and acceptance of malaria commodities is developed

• A shortlist of qualified manufacturers and suppliers to be invited for competitive bidding

The Supply Chain Management Specialist (Pharmaceutical) will collaborate with NMEP and the UNOPS Procurement Team to develop the detailed specifications for each product. 

Key Activities & Tasks

She/He will undertake the following activities;

• Where necessary, the Pharmaceutical Supply Management Specialist will support market analysis to establish local manufacturing capacity for some commodities and the extent of competition in each product category. 

• Support the Procurement Team to identify potential and eligible suppliers to be invited for local competitive bidding. The process may may include an advertised Expression of Interest for the supply of LLINs and Antimalarial drugs

• Identify potential risks and mitigation measures for UNOPS to procure locally manufactured Antimalarial medicines in Nigeria

• Liaise with NMEP to develop product specifications (strength, packaging specifications etc) in line with the National Malaria Elimination Program

• Support the development of tender documents and evaluation of tenders

• Define technical and quality criteria to assure the quality of commodities  procured by UNOPS in compliance with the UNOPS QA policy. These will be developed in consultation with NMEP and UNOPS Project Team

• Develop a product assessment criteria for locally manufactured medicines which may include sample/batch testing.

UNOPS will provide the following  support to enable the PSM specialist to complete the task:

1. Support from UNOPS Project Manager in facilitating meetings with the UNOPS Procurement Team and NMEP

2. Support from the Procurement Team to identify potential local suppliers to be invited for competitive bidding, which may include advertising an Expression of Interest (EoI)

The Supply Chain Management Specialist (Pharmaceutical) is required to use her/his own work space and equipment for this assignment. Visits to selected factories may be required and UNOPS will facilitate these travels and bear the cost. 

• Advanced University Degree (Masters or PhD) in Pharmacy is required Or a combination of a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy plus a Masters Degree in Procurement, Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Regulatory Affairs, or any relevant field is acceptable.

• University Degree in Pharmacy (Bachelor’s Degree / First level) with a combination of two (2) additional years of relevant work experience will be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree. 

• A minimum of five (5) years' progressive experience that combines pharmaceutical quality assurance, pharmaceutical supply management and/or production is required.

• Experience in the pharmaceutical regulatory environment and/or pharmaceutical supply management within the Nigerian Public or Private Sector is required.

• Hands-on experience in supporting malaria control interventions in sub-Saharan Africa will be an added advantage.

• Experience in report writing is an asset.

• In-depth understanding of the contextual and regulatory considerations that have to be made in order to assure quality of medicines is an asset.

• Fluency in written, reading and spoken English Language is required.

• Contract type: Local Individual Contract Agreement (L-ICA)
• Contract level:  LICA 10/ ICS 10
• Contract duration: Ongoing Retainer 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.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• 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
• Abuja is a family duty station
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS.
• 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.

Africa Region

AFR helps ensure that projects are executed to the highest standards, providing a shared knowledge base and ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are disseminated between projects across the entire region.