Job Opportunity for Manager Supply Chain Management at Evidence Action in New Delhi

Job Title: Manager, Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Employment Status: Regular Full Time

Position location: New Delhi

Grade: Level 5

Number of positions: One

Last date for submission of applications: December 28, 2022

About Evidence Action

Evidence Action aims to be a world leader in scaling evidence-based and cost-effective programs to reduce the burden of poverty for hundreds of millions of people in the poorest places. Last year Deworm the World reached 280 million people with deworming medications, partnering with governments to launch, scale, and sustain mass school-based deworming programs. Meanwhile, Dispensers for Safe Water provided 4M people across rural Africa with clean water, saving thousands of young lives. The approach relies on an innovative and human-centric design to deliver clean water at the source.

In addition to running these scaled programs, Evidence Action leverages its unique Accelerator to develop the next generation of programs. These programs are rigorously tested to ensure exceptional scale, cost-effectiveness, and clear evidence of impact. In 2019 we launched an ambitious new strategy, intending to double our impact over the next five years, with much of that impact coming from new programs identified and scaled through the Accelerator.

Evidence Action has a presence across 7 countries, with major offices in Nairobi, Kenya; Delhi, India; and Washington, D.C. Evidence Action’s programs have been recognized by GiveWell, the Skoll Foundation, the Life You Can Save, Giving What We Can, and covered in the Economist, NPR, and the New York Times.

In India, Evidence Action’s technical consultant EAII Advisors provides technical assistance to national and select state government’s ministries of health, education, and women and child development to implement the school and Anganwadi based National Deworming Day program and Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation program to improve children’s health, education, and long-term development.

EAII Advisors invites applications for the position of Manager, Supply Chain Management to be based at the New Delhi office.

About the position

The Manager, Supply Chain Management (SCM) will report to the Director, Programs at the Delhi Office. S/he will be required to work in close coordination with other departments and team members at the Delhi Office for appropriate functions. The Manager, SCM will be responsible for the drug supply chain technical assistance (TA) component of the NDD and IFA programs at the national level and across all implementation states, a critical component for ensuring our programs’ primary objectives of achieving high IFA and deworming coverage. The Manager, SCM will work closely with the organization’s Deputy Director-Programs and State Program Managers (SPMs) to ensure state governments have strong supply chain systems for drugs required for implementation of EAII supported program. Key goals include:

• Improving the supply security of quality-assured drugs specific to program at the state level;
• Strengthening drug distribution planning and implementation to ensure consistent supply availability at the state, district, block, PHC and community levels; and
• Strengthening state governments’ reporting systems/tools and capacity to monitor key supply chain indicators and activities, including adverse event monitoring.
• S/he must have the requisite supply chain expertise and knowledge of national and state governments’ drug supply chain systems, as managed through states’ Corporations and National Health Missions (NHMs). S/he must be highly proficient in project management, having the experience and skills to guide state-based program staff. S/he must have strong analytical skills that enable him/her to collect, analyse and action on data to meet the goals mentioned above. The Manager, SCM must also be highly proficient at managing government and stakeholder relationships at the national and state level.

Responsibilities:

• Technical Assistance and Program Management for the NDD and IFA programs
• Together with state/national team, develop tools and establish mechanisms to ensure state governments place timely purchase orders that accurately reflect drug consumption and demand.
• Support state teams and governments in developing and implementing drug distribution plans at the district, block and below block levels.
• Strengthen internal monitoring systems and monitoring through the government’s e-Aushadhi platform to track supply availability of IFA variants, albendazole and any other drug (related to EAII program) as applicable, at the district, block, PHC and community levels. Support state teams in triangulating and reconciling internal and government supply data and sharing key findings and recommendations with government officials for necessary corrective action.
• Oversee drug recall activities starting from template design to compilation of all state data at national level with the support of state teams for the NDD program.
• Ensure states have adverse event (AE) guidelines and monitoring systems in place for albendazole and the IFA variants.
• Coordinate with state teams to effectively use field staff to support core supply chain key activities at the district and block level.
• Build relationships and help liaise with states’ National Health Mission (NHM) and medical corporation staff on procurement and quality testing activities.
• Carry out field visits to provide program and technical support as needed.

Strategic Planning and Support

• Work with national and state-based team members to critically assess the effectiveness of and prepare/adapt the supply chain strategies to achieve higher program coverage, ensuring alignment with government guidance and with a high commitment to quality and cost-effectiveness.
• Identify cost-effective and sustainable solutions for supply chain processes to ensure uninterrupted availability of drugs from the regional warehouse to the community level in partner states.
• Across both programs, identify and share best practices to facilitate cross-state, cross-program learnings.
• Conduct drug risk assessments before NDD rounds and routinely for IFA supplies, including risks in the manufacturing process and delays in production lead times.

National Level Engagement

• Review weekly data analysis (HMIS, E-Aushadhi, LMIS, etc) of states and provide monthly feedback.
• Update existing supply chain tracker and present key findings
• Develop training module for strengthening of supply chain system and building capacity of drug storekeepers and data entry operators.
• Liaise with key drug suppliers on drug availability, lead times, and costs.
• Maintain an inventory/records of drug manufacturers, suppliers.
• Contribute to the donor reporting against to key performance indicator related to supply chain management.
• Disseminate Evidence Action’s results and lessons learned on supply chain strengthening in key forums with government and development partner stakeholders.

Requirements

Essential Qualifications, Experience, and Competencies

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in logistic and supply chain management, business or science
• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience, ideally in an analytic or management role related to supply chain management
• Demonstrated experience in day-to-day management of project activities, preferably in the context of scaling health and nutrition interventions in India;
• Demonstrated experience working with national and state governments in India;
• Expertise in using Excel including dashboard creation and other relevant software/ERP systems;
• Excellent spoken and written English. Ability to synthesize information clearly and produce good quality documents keeping to tight deadlines;
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize findings and actionable recommendations for government and development partner stakeholders;
• Strong resource pool of drug manufacturer, supplier;
• Ability of dealing with supply chain related issues towards providing solutions;
• Availability and willingness to travel within India up to 40% of the time.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to engage with internal and external stakeholders within India and globally;
• A critical, analytical, and process-oriented thinker with a willingness to form and adjust opinions based on evidence;
• Exceptional ability to work with minimal supervision, while also proactively communicating relevant progress updates and bottlenecks requiring attention or support from leadership; 
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to engage with internal and external stakeholders within India and globally;
• A critical, analytical, and process-oriented thinker with a willingness to form and adjust opinions based on evidence;
• Exceptional ability to work with minimal supervision, while also proactively communicating relevant progress updates and bottlenecks requiring attention or support from leadership; 

Disclaimer: The duties and responsibilities described are not a comprehensive list and that additional tasks may be assigned to the employee from time to time.

Benefits

Compensation: Competitive and commensurate with the individual’s credentials, experience, and previous pay scale.

All contracting arrangements will be made through EAII Advisors Private Limited. EAII is an equal opportunity employer. Employment at EAII is based solely on an individual’s merit and qualifications directly related to professional competence. EAII does not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, caste, creed, colour, religion, gender, origin, disability, marital status, or any other basis protected by law.

All candidates applying for the position should upload a resume along with cover letter mentioning current and expected salary.

We may end this search process earlier than the specified close date in case of exceptional candidates. Due to resource constraints, we will only be able to contact shortlisted candidates.