BACKGROUND

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience, and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 170 countries and territories, working with Governments and people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

The 2030 Agenda for SDGs and the pledge to leave no one behind reflect the interconnectedness of health and sustainable development, including widening economic and social inequalities, the climate crisis, rapid urbanization, the continuing burden of HIV and other infectious diseases (e.g., malaria, tuberculosis), the growing burden of non-communicable diseases and the emergence of health threats. The scope and scale of delivering health and well-being for all demands innovative partnerships and financing. As affirmed in the Political Declaration of the 2019 High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) and others are critical partners for delivering on the health-related goals of the 2030 Agenda. Stronger Collaboration, Better Health: Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All outlines how a dozen multilateral health, development and humanitarian agencies, including UNDP, the Global Fund, Gavi and others will collaborate to be more efficient and effective in supporting countries to deliver UHC and achieve the health-related SDG targets.

UNDP’s partnership with the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), in line with UNDP’s HIV, Health and Development Strategy 2022-2025: Connecting the Dots, makes a vital contribution to UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the SDGs and the pledge to leave no one behind.

As a long-standing partner of the Global Fund, UNDP’s value proposition lies in providing an integrated package of development solutions to strengthen institutions to deliver health services. Through its contributions as interim Principal Recipient (PR) and provider of technical assistance to Global Fund grants in 53 countries since 2003, UNDP’s provision of the integrated policy, implementation and capacity development support to countries has yielded significant health and development results in challenging operating environments. Proactive risk management and investing in sustainability are the cornerstones of UNDP’s portfolio management approach in supporting countries with significant national capacity constraints to manage large-scale health programmes. By providing technical assistance to national counterparts during all phases of implementation, strengthening legislation, policies and regulatory frameworks, and building capacities across key functional areas, including financial management, health information systems, procurement and supply chain management, UNDP is able to deliver results whilst sustainably transitioning to national entities. UNDP’s track record as interim PR over the last 20 years and capacity to deliver in challenging operating environments has been critical for strengthening its positioning as a health implementation support partner.

As a trusted, long-term partner of GF, UNDP’s value proposition lies in providing an integrated package of development solutions to strengthen institutions to deliver health services. Proactive risk management and investing in sustainability are the cornerstones of UNDP’s portfolio management approach and providing technical assistance to national counterparts during all phases of implementation, strengthening legislation, policies and regulatory frameworks, and building capacities across key functional areas, including financial management, health information systems, procurement and supply chain management. Within the HHD Group the Global Fund Partnership and Health Systems Team (GFPHST) is a dedicated team providing support to UNDP Country Offices implementing health and development programmes.

UNDP has been appointed as the non-governmental Principal Recipient (PR) by the CCM (Instance de Coordination Nationale) to implement the GF GC7 HIV-TB grant, with the main objective of contributing to the strengthening of the national response to HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis, while strengthening the health system in DRC.

To provide strategic planning, programmatic and operational management and oversight to the GF portfolio to achieve the defined programme goals, targets and effective delivery, a dedicated Project Management Unit (PMU) has been established.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Manager and the matrix technical supervision of the PSM Specialist (P4) in Kinshasa, the PSM Specialist is responsible for leading on quality assurance activities for health products, for leading on the analysis of stock status reporting, and for supporting importation and availability of quality-assured health products.

S/he will work closely with other members of the PMU, the Country Office, and national stakeholders to support the uninterrupted supply of quality-assured health products. The PSM Specialist will contribute to identifying and addressing programmatic and capacity development needs in the area of PSM.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Key duties and accountabilities include:

As the Focal Point for Quality Assurance of Health Products, develops and implements an annual Quality Control Plan for essential health products for HIV and TB, focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Develops the terms of reference and supports the Procurement team with establishing service contracts with quality control laboratories, which comply with UNDP’s Quality Assurance.
• Advise and supports the National TB/HIV PSM and National Laboratory Technician in reviewing the quality-related documents provided to the Country Office as part of the “authorization to ship” process.
• In collaboration with the PSM Specialist(P4) and the National Procurement Specialist, leads on all QA-related discussions, for example with national authorities, BMS/OP/GPSD-health team, GFPHST QA team, and others.
• Prepares and updates a QC plan for health products under the HIV/TB grant.
• Prepares the annual sampling plan for health products.
• Participates and oversees the implementation of the quarterly or bi-annual in-country sampling and quality control (QC) testing of selected health products under the HIV/TB grant, and reports QC findings to stakeholders.
• Receives all quality concerns and complaints (e.g., temperature variances identified during inspection and receipt of consignments) and leads on the investigations and reporting of quality control and quality assurance queries within the supply chain.

Ensures proactive oversight and a robust risk management approach to health product management, focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Participates in periodic PSM and programme technical working group meetings to review the progress of programme implementation, impact on procurement and supply chain chains, and follows up implementation of the recommendations of the technical working groups.
• Supports the development of supervision tools and the implementation of an integrated supervision plan to monitor the traceability and the storage conditions of the health commodities procured under the TGF grants.
• Contributes to performing risk-based assessments, including operational, financial, legal, contractual, reputational and safety, and oversees UNDP procurement activities in order to provide access to products and services, prevent stock outs or expiry of health products.
• Guides the National HIV/TB PSM to prepare the annual quantification and conduct periodic reviews to inform supply plan adjustments.
• Oversees the inspection and receipt of health products at the central level (Goma)
• Monitors the performance of SRs and CDRs and, particularly, their capacity to maintain availability of quality-assured health products at the last mile.
• Periodically reviews, updates and follows-up the approval of the health products management template (HPMT) and detailed budgets based on outcome of the periodic forecasting and quantifications, and conducts budget variance analysis in coordination with the PSM Specialist.
• Leads on receipt, quality review, consolidation and analysis of regular reporting by SR/CDR on stock status including consumption, pipeline, and expiry data.
• Ensures triangulation across consumption, distribution and patient data and analyze the gaps.
• Identify the risks of stock shortages and overstocks and analyze the reasons for this.
• Maintains an up-to-date and global view, of stock and order levels at national and peripheral levels to ensure their continuous availability, while limiting the risk of expiry.

Build and sustain UNDP’s strategic partnerships on PSM, focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Ensures provision of strategic and technical advice to the National Quantification Committees and processes.
• Ensures provision of strategic policy and technical advice to national and provincial stakeholders and implementing partners at all stages of the PSM cycle and to the last mile.
• Contributes to the design/development and implementation of interventions to strengthen the country’s health product management system.

Contributes to knowledge management and systems strengthening activities in PSM, focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Identifies and support national and provincial level capacity development needs in the areas of health product management, including logistics information management systems, sustainable good storage and distribution systems; ensures access to appropriate tools and resources in coordination with other donor initiatives.
• Contributes to information sharing activities with the Global Fund (including Local Fund Agent), the Country Co-ordination Mechanism, the Ministry of Health, other national and provincial stakeholders, Sub-recipients, and Sub-sub-Recipients, NGOs, other CSOs, communities, technical partners, and UN entities.
• Actively participates in UNDP communities of practice and other relevant external networks to gather and disseminate lessons learned on PSM.
• Performs the role of the PSM Specialist, when requested.

Other Duties:

• The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Pharmacy, Public Health, Procurement and Supply Management or related field is required OR
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the above-mentioned fields of study, in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• CIPS level 2 is a requirement for this position. If certification is not available at the time of recruitment, it should be obtained within one year.

Experience, Knowledge, and Skills:

• Minimum of five (5) years (with master’s degree) or seven (7) years (with bachelor’s degree) of progressive relevant professional experience in procurement and supply chain management of health products is required.
• Knowledge and experience of Global Fund’s rules and policies in the area of procurement and supply chain management of health products are an asset.
• Knowledge and experience of UN or UNDP procurement policies and procedures is an asset.
• Demonstrated experience of working with national disease programmes (HIV and TB) in product selection, quality assurance, quantification and supply chain management of health products are desirable.
• Experience working with national HIV and TB disease control programmes in Africa and in the context of the implementation of Global Fund grants is desirable.
• Experience working with an international organization in the area of procurement and supply chain management of health products are an asset.
• Experience in building capacity of national entities in the area of Procurement Supply Management of health products is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in written and oral French is required.
• Good working knowledge of English, both written and oral is desired.

COMPETENCIES

Core Competencies:

• Achieve Results:  LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact
• Think Innovatively:  LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems
• Learn Continuously:  LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
• Adapt with Agility:  LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands
• Act with Determination:  LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
• Engage and Partner:  LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion:  LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-Functional & Technical Competencies:

Business Direction and Strategy: System Thinking

• Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.

Business management: Portfolio Management

• Ability to select, prioritize and control the organization’s programmes and projects, in line with its strategic objectives and capacity; ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business-as-usual, while optimizing return on investment.

Business development: Knowledge Facilitation

• Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share, particularly externally.

Procurement: Procurement Management

• The ability to acquire goods, services or works from an outside external source.

Procurement: Stakeholder Management

• Ability to work with incomplete information and balance competing interests to create value for all stakeholders.

Procurement: Supplier / Relationship Management 

• Knowledge of supplier management concepts, principles and methods, and ability to apply this to strategic and/or practical situations.

Agenda 2030: People: Health

• Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GF)

Please note that continuance of appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

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