Senior Technical Advisor

Senior Technical Advisor: 

Overview

Funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program provides pharmaceutical system strengthening assistance for sustained improvements in health system performance and to advance USAID’s goals of preventing child and maternal deaths, controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and combating infectious disease threats, as well as expanding essential health coverage. The goal of the global, five-year (2018–2023) program is to enable low- and middle-income countries to strengthen their pharmaceutical systems to ensure sustainable access to and appropriate use of safe, effective, quality-assured, and affordable essential medicines and medicine-related pharmaceutical services. 

The Senior Technical Advisor (STA) provides technical assistance for the design and implementation of interventions to strengthen pharmaceutical management systems in MTaPS countries. The STA provides guidance to the technical staff assigned to specific activities to ensure that the work is of the highest quality. The STA works closely with other Technical Advisors to identify opportunities to use new and existing tools and to coordinate technical work.

Specific Responsibilities

Technical Support (40%)

• Provide technical assistance for the development and/or review of technical approaches and strategies for strengthening pharmaceutical management systems;
• Provide technical assistance to support the design and implementation of pharmaceutical management interventions, which may involve work in supply chain management, pharmaceutical systems and/or pharmaceutical services;
• Facilitate the planning, organization, and conduct of training courses covering pharmaceutical management technical areas for external audiences and MTaPS staff as required;
• Manage the project technical activities at the national and facility levels ensuring that all activities are adequately implemented in a timely fashion and that they adequately address pharmaceutical, regulatory and commodity management needs at the different levels of the system to meet the expectations of clients, partners and other local stakeholders;
• Ensure completion of work and the achievement of targets in a timely fashion and within budget. Also, ensure that plan adjustments are made and documented as necessary;
• Support Country Project Director for implementation of activities in compliance with project cooperative agreement, MSH and USAID policies, regulations and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

Knowledge Management (10%)

• Disseminate relevant information on project progress;
• Supervise to developing system to share project information for improvement of the project; 
• Ensure that lessons learned and success stories are well documented and that experience gained is used to improve project implementation.
• Personnel Management and Strategic Decision Making (40%)
• Supervise technical staff and establish clear, specific, measurable performance objectives to staff and hold him /her and team accountable for accomplishing goals;
• Delegate effectively, keep employees informed of their performance status, providing timely, specific feedback on strengths and opportunities for improvement so their; employees can grow professionally;
• Foster a work environment that conveys a sense of unity and cooperation among staff
• Excel at motivating employees and building constructive work relationships and lead by example;
• Focus staff on the most important priorities and facilitate the achievement of goals by eliminating barriers to effectiveness;
• Devote efforts and resources to areas and systems that are efficient and add value;
• Make use of an organizational perspective as well as an understanding of the client, country, project, and employee needs;
• Make decisions carefully and thoughtfully according to the Decentralization and Accountability Model;
• Balance long-range needs with short-term demands in establishing priorities and deadlines; Maximize client satisfaction to support new business development.

Safeguarding MSH (10%)

• Ensure technical, financial, contractual and political integrity are maintained to safeguard MSH reputation
• Ensure effective collaboration, coordination and internal partnerships with other MSH projects, and departments to build synergies across programs for maximum impact.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and Experience

Education:

Required:

• Graduate degree in a health-related field required

Preferred:

• Physician, nurse, or pharmacist qualification

Experience:

Required:

• Seven plus years of relevant experience in international public health particularly in the implementation of reproductive health, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB prevention, care, and treatment in developing countries

Preferred:

• Significant relevant experience in pharmaceutical management (PM) and  pharmaceutical systems development and strengthening in developing country context, including demonstrated expertise in key PM technical areas, forecasting and quantification, procurement management systems, storage and distribution, transportation, LMIS, pharmaceutical services, pharmacovigilance, regulatory system strengthening, governance and organizational systems for pharmaceutical management.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Knowledge and experience managing and supervising technical staff.
• Knowledge and experience with public health programs supported by bilateral agencies such as USAID and international agencies such as WHO and World Bank preferred.
• Demonstrated competence to assess priorities and manage a variety of activities in a time-sensitive environment and meet deadlines with attention to detail and quality.
• Excellent writing and presentation skills in English are essential. 
• Proficiency in French or Spanish is desired, as are languages of other USAID-supported countries. 

Competencies:

• Desire to work effectively in a team-oriented environment.
• Flexible, self-starter, patient, dedicated, and creative.
• Functional competencies: Highly motivated, resourceful, results driven and persistent. Ability to think strategically, gather and analyse information in order to make appropriate decisions. Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Core MSH competencies: adaptability, communication, problem solving, creativity and innovation, timeliness of work, quality of work and team relationships, resource utilization.
• Sound judgment, self-motivated, strong initiative.
• Demonstrated ability to assess priorities and manage a variety of activities in a time-sensitive environment and meet deadlines with attention to detail and quality;
• Track record of, and strong commitment to, transparency and collaboration as demonstrated by sharing knowledge, documenting experiences, supporting creative initiatives, and sharing credit.

Physical Demands:

• Availability to travel domestically and internationally as needed.
• Keyboard use, pulling drawers, lifting papers <10lbs.

Background Information

Management Sciences for Health (MSH), a global health nonprofit organization, uses proven approaches developed over 40 years to help leaders, health managers, and communities in developing nations build stronger health systems for greater health impact. We work to save lives by closing the gap between knowledge and action in public health. Since its founding in 1971, MSH has worked in over 150 countries with policy makers, health professionals, and health care consumers to improve the quality, availability and affordability of health services. Working with governments, donors, non governmental organizations, the private sector, and health agencies, MSH responds to priority health problems such as HIV & AIDS; tuberculosis; malaria; maternal, newborn and child health; family planning and reproductive health; and chronic non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and lung and heart disease. Through strengthening capacity, investing in health systems innovation, building the evidence base, and advocating for sound public health policy, MSH is committed to making a lasting difference in global health.

EEO Statement

Management Sciences for Health is an equal opportunity employer offering employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, citizenship, physical or mental disability, or veteran status.

Reports To

Country Project Director