Health Commodities Specialist at Palladium International

Project Profile
Palladium has been awarded a sub-contract from Pathfinder International to help implement the USAID Afya Pwani project in Kenya.  The project’s purpose is to contribute to the USAID/Kenya Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) Development Objective 2, “Health and Human Capacity Strengthened” in Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, Mombasa, and Taita Taveta counties, while engaging with the larger USAID efforts to make devolution successful and support the country’s economic growth. Afya Pwani’s goal is to contribute to USAID/Kenya’s Sub-Intermediate Result 2.2.2, “Improved county-level accountability, institutional capacity, leadership, and management of health service delivery,” with an aim to “Improve and increase access to and utilization of quality health services in Kenya through strengthened service delivery and institutional capacity of county health systems.”
Afya Pwani is being implemented by a consortium of three partners (Pathfinder International, The Palladium, and Plan International. Pathfinder International is the lead partner.  
The project has three sub-purposes: 
1)    Increased access and utilization of quality HIV services.
2)    Increased access and utilization of focused MNCH/FP/WASH & nutrition services.
3)    Strengthened and functional county health systems.
In this collaborative arrangement, Palladium provides leadership  for the third sub-purpose (strengthened and functional county health systems), which has five key outputs:
•    Output 3.1: Partnerships for Governance and Strategic Planning, including Healthcare Financing
•    Output 3.2: Human Resources for Health (HRH)
•    Output 3.3: Health Products and Technologies (HPT)
•    Output 3.4: Strategic Monitoring and Evaluation Systems, including EMR
•    Output 3.5: Quality Improvement Systems

Palladium currently has constituted a team of 10 multiskilled healthcare professional to work within the Afya Pwani project to help achieve these outputs.  The team is led by a Senior Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) Advisor/Team Leader and based in Mombasa, Kenya, covering work in Mombasa, Kwale, Taita Taveta, Kilifi, and Lamu counties.  Palladium staff in Nairobi and our international offices will provide routine technical and administrative support and assistance

Key Responsibilities
•    Support the county and sub-county commodity management teams in management and coordination for health products and logistical management systems. 
•    Provide technical assistance on deployment of health commodities logistics and management information systems (EMRs) in facilities in the 5 counties.
•    Support CHMTs undertake planning and budgeting for health commodities through forecasting and quantification.
•    Support capacity building through training/mentorship/OJT of healthcare workers in commodity management to improve quality of care.
•    Support counties to strengthen pharmacovigilance activities by training staff on ADR and poor quality medicines identification, documentation and reporting.
•    Will be involved in establishing a framework through which continued mentorship can take place to support Supply Chain Quality Improvement System.
•    Serve as a member of the County commodity coordinating technical working groups.
•    Generate and/or coordinate the development of various reports regarding performance against quality indicators, as appropriate to the individual position

Educational background and Experience
•    Graduate Degree in BSc. Pharmacy 
•    Professional certification in supply chain management from a recognized institution
•    3+ years’ experience in supply chain and commodity management
•    Experience in working for USAID funded projects 
•    Experience and knowledge in global health areas including HIV/AIDs, RMNCH,TB,
•    Proven problem solving experience; 
•    Proven experience in workforce management and change management;
•    Ability to work with minimal supervision
•    Well-developed and effective organizational skills, including to ability to multi-task, and work in a high-pressured environment; 
•    Prior experience with IQCare EMR for supply chain management will be an added Advantage
•    Practical experience in use of Microsoft office packages
•    Familiarity with the project operation area will be an added advantage