Senior Technical Advisor, Pharmacy & Supply Chain Management at Heartland Alliance

Project Background

Heartland Alliance Ltd-Gte is currently implementing a USAID funded Accelerating Control for HIV Epidemic (ACE) Project in Lagos, Edo, and Bayelsa States. Implementation is targeted at promoting new and underutilized partnerships to accelerate the achievement of the HIV epidemic control in Nigeria through the delivery of high impact HIV prevention, care, and support services to general populations who are living with HIV and those at risk of contracting HIV.

The program is intended to provide evidence-based services that will deliver measurable results by addressing programmatic and systems barriers to epidemic control, including but not limited to, the following areas: HIV Case Finding and Linkage (HTS), Adult Care and Treatment, Pediatric/Adolescent Care and Treatment, Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT), Cervical cancer screening, TB/HIV Care, Laboratory, Health Systems Strengthening to Support Clinical Services, Expertise with the Private Sector and Operations and Implementation Research.

Reports to:  Associate Director, Prevention, Care & Treatment

Job Summary

The incumbent will plan and support the delivery of high-quality pharmaceutical care services and the implementation of an efficient health commodity logistics system for the organization in accordance with donor requirements and stipulated guidelines of the Federal Government of Nigeria. She/he will lead the pharmaceutical care aspects of the HIV prevention, care, and treatment.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Serves as HALG focal point for the provision for high quality pharmaceutical care for clients accessing care within and outside the facilities.
• Develop or adopt pharmaceutical best practice protocol, job aid, standards, etc. to ensure quality STI and HIV treatment for clients.
• Strengthen systems for warehousing and distribution as well as quality assurance and increase the capacity of the field staff in accordance.
• Support State offices technical leads to coordinate and process new ART client medication orders and reorders. This includes verifying/reverifying new or refill prescriptions into the pharmacy information system and CRRIFF.
• Support the Regional logistics team on drugs quantification, supply, redistribution to states and zonal offices and documentation.
• Provide technical support to field team and supported facility to institutionalize pharmacy best practices in HALG supported health facilities including pharmacovigilance and good inventory management.
• Liaise with State and PEPFAR IPs drugs logistics system to ensure adequate and timely supply of ARVs and other medications to the OSS.
• Conduct capacity building and mentoring of State team and local partners’ health facility staff on logistics management of STI and HIV/AIDS commodities.
• Coordinate the routine collection and validation of LMIS reports from the facilities to guide decision making at the central level.
• Coordinate routine resupplies of health commodities and ensure uninterrupted supply of ARVs, STI commodities, rapid test kits, condoms and lubricants to Heathland Alliance supported States/health facilities.
• Support interventions to identify STI and HIV/AIDS amongst key population and strengthen linkage to treatment and care.
• General monitoring and support to HALG States offices and supported local partners’ health facilities.
• Any other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or competency required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy. Advanced Degree in Public Health or Social Science preferred
• Registration with the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria
• At least 6 years’ experience working as a pharmacist.
• Must have knowledge of and experience with HIV care and treatment medication.
• Must have previous experience working in a multidisciplinary team in a clinical setting.
• Proven experience in pharmaceutical quality assurance
• Proven ability to design and implement procedures.
• Must have a broad-based knowledge of and experience with computerized systems in pharmaceutical warehousing and QA.

Other Competencies:

• Time Management – Ability to prioritize tasks, manage time and complete projects in a fast-paced, changing environment with minimal supervision.
• Quality Management - Looks for ways to improve and promote quality; Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness.
• Written Communication - Writes clearly and informatively; Edits work for spelling and grammar; Varies writing style to meet needs; Presents numerical data effectively.
• Adaptability - Adapts to changes in the work environment; Manages competing demands; Change’s approach or method to best fit the situation; Able to deal with frequent change, delays, or unexpected events.
• Cultural Sensitivity – Respects cultural environment in which person is working and does not act in a manner that is outwardly offensive to the local community.
• Non-discriminatory- Do not discriminate persons based on sexual orientation or gender identity, age, preferred jobs, or behavioral habits.

Language Skills:

• Excellent oral and written English communication skills.
• Knowledge of Local Language preferred.
• Demonstrated competency in public speaking.

Computer Skills:

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Outlook/Exchange, Windows operating systems, Power Point.
• Other software routinely used by Heartland Alliance. 

Work Environment:

• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
• The employee will be required to co-locate with local partners usually in the same office.
• The employee is required to travel regularly to often insecure and limited resource environments.