Senior Technical Advisor for TB - Abuja Job at MSH Nigeria

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Job Title: Senior Technical Advisor for TB

Job ID: 13-7475

Location(s): Abuja, Nigeria

Grade: J

Center/Office: CPM – General

Project/Program: SIAPS

Employer: Management Sciences for Health (MSH)

Overall Responsibilities: The Senior Technical Advisor (STA) is responsible for providing direct technical assistance to national TB programs/MoH aimed at ensuring universal access to TB medicines through strengthening pharmaceutical systems1, supply chain2 management, management information systems, pharmaceutical services3, and providing technical leadership to donors and Global TB initiatives, such as the Global Fund (TGF) and the Global Drug Facility (GDF). S/he supports SIAPS TB Core and country programs portfolios and in-country teams in the development and implementation of technical activities ensuring their adequate contribution to SIAPS results. S/he is the primary liaison between SIAPS TB Core and the USAID Country Missions, Government counterparts, stakeholders, and partners involved with pharmaceutical management activities and/or implementing related programs in the countries and region. The STA is responsible for the adequate deployment of CPM tools and frameworks and their adequate customization and ownership at the country level. S/he works closely with country portfolio teams, international and national stakeholders to ensure that technical assistance activities are adequately effective and that deliverables are meeting quality standards. S/he supports measurement and documentation of portfolio results. The STA also contributes and supports CPM and SIAPS capacity building and knowledge exchange plans.

Specific Responsibilities:

Work in conjunction with the NTP, MOH, USAID missions, the Global Fund, the Global Drug Facility, WHO, technical partners and bi-lateral programs, local stakeholders to ensure universal access to TB medicines at all levels of the health system to:

• Collect and maintain evidence of the countries' TB medicines supply practices, such as: TB recording and reporting (data pertaining to supply management); inventory management; procurement and distribution lead-times (including MOH, GDF, TGF, etc); forecasting; quantification; supply planning; data flows and data collection tools; data quality assurance; early warning mechanisms for preventing stock-outs/waste.

• Lead the development, implementation, and monitoring of interventions aimed at strengthening the TB medicines supply system and improvement of access to TB medicines; coordinate with in-country donor and government technical assistance programs.

• Investigate the options, design and implement the country's Early Warning System to monitor the supply chain elements performance, lead times, and avoid stock-outs/waste through timely notification to the NTP, MOH, donors and key stakeholders.

• Introduce QuanTB4 to the NTP and implement it as a StopTB-recommended Early Warning tool complementing and building upon the existing country information systems for TB cases and medicines logistics; assist the NTP and key partners to develop SOPs for QuanTB as EWS.

• Identify the country's capacity building needs; develop a capacity building plan, broker TA with the SIAPS and partners' technical assistance programs.

• Collect country data and forecast first and second line TB medicine requirements with NTP and key partners. Document assumptions and get consensus from key stakeholders to finalize forecasting or quantification.

• Establish and maintain the link of the country's EWS with the StopTB/GDF Global Forecasting and early Warning System.

• Generate quarterly activity reports from QuanTB and develop a quarterly reporting mechanism to inform NTP, GF, USAID mission, USAID global, WHO, GDF and other key partners about TB medicine status and potential problems.

• Formulate the supply indicators and establish a mechanism for ongoing indicator data collection and reporting. Monitor pertinent supply chain parameters such as lead times, order/procurement process and performance, supplier performance, order delivery, port clearance etc.

• As requested, promote and assist the NTP and SIAPS in the implementation of the CPM/SIAPS TB tools for strengthening/improving the adherence and use of TB medicines, such as Medicines Use Review for MDR-TB tool, MDR-TB Risk Management tool, and other.

Qualifications:

1. Graduate degree in a health-related field; physician or pharmacist qualification preferred.

2. Specialized training and/or experience relating to pharmaceutical systems, management information systems, supply chain management or pharmaceutical services.

3. Relevant experience in the implementation of international and country TB prevention, care, and treatment programs, strengthening of National TB programs, and experience with management of medicines supply and information systems for TB.

4. Experience with programs supported by bilateral agencies such as USAID and international agencies such as the Global Fund, the Global Drug Facility.

5. Ability to write lucid technical reports and documents in English is required.

6. Competence in use of word processing programs required, and experience with spreadsheets and database applications strongly preferred.

7. Strong organizational skills with the ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously; excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively in a team spirit.

8. Ability and availability to travel in-country and internationally 30% of time or more.

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