Supply Chain Officer, NOB, FT #122633, Islamabad – Pakistan

UNICEF works in some of the world toughest places, to reach the world most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfil their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Hope!

Pakistan was the sixth country in the world to sign and ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, less than one year after it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989. However, children and adolescents living in Pakistan still face acute challenges.

UNICEF supports the Government of Pakistan to accelerate progress for children, work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and help children realize their rights under the Convention on the Rights of Children. This will be made through, among other things, strong partnerships with provincial authorities, teachers and health professionals, frontline workers and social mobilisers, communities and families, and of course the children and adolescents themselves. 

In particular, UNICEF will work so that:

Every child survives and thrives — being in good health, immunized, protected from polio and accessing nutritious food.
Every child learns.
Every child is protected from violence and exploitation and registered at birth.
Every child lives in a safe and clean environment, with access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. 
To learn more about UNICEF work in Pakistan, please visit the country website www.unicef.org/pakistan and videos on YouTube and Vimeo

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Procurement Services Manager, you will provide technical support for the development and implementation of Supply Chain Systems Strengthening strategies and initiatives for the health sector in Pakistan.

You will also facilitate capacity development initiatives and exchanges of best practices and work with partners and stakeholders to improve performance, reduce costs, stockouts and wastage in national health supply chains. You will also serve as a focal point for Supply chain systems strengthening initiatives for UNICEF Pakistan to ensure their implementation. 

Your key accountabilities and tasks will be..

• Designing and Implementing a Supply Chain Strategy both at Federal and Provincial level and undertake Systems Strengthening of the Health Sector in Procurement and Supply Chain Management.
• With the support of the Procurement Services Manager, development of UNICEF Pakistan Supply Systems Strengthening Strategy, assess the health supply chain and monitor/evaluat improvement of improvements (i.e: maturity model) and cost out specific actions to achieve the components of the strategy including elements of TRVST, System Design and ACE aspects.
• Coordinate with the Health, Polio and Nutrition Section and Supply/Logistics unit on providing technical advice on requirements in the monitoring and evaluation of the Supply Chain strengthening related output of the health and nutrition component.
• Assist in strengthening the national and sub-national nutrition supply chain applying the Access and Coverage Evaluation Surveys (ACE) and monitoring progress
• Working with the Health Section, assist in strengthening/optimizing/re-designing of  national and sub-national  health supply chains  leveraging other programme investments e.g., immunization/ cold chain/essential medicines/nutrition
• Support smooth implementation of Procurement Service and Supply Chains strengthening activities at provincial level in support to partners.
• Through National Logistics Working Groups (NLWGs) or other relevant national bodies, and in coordination with other capacity building initiatives e.g. People that Deliver, contribute to the developing planning capacity of the public sector to improve availability, affordability, clearing, storage, handling, transport, and distribution of essential supplies and services to women, children and marginalized populations leading to the long-term commodity security plan.
• Provide technical support to federal and provincial governments to improve systems for supply demand planning/forecasting, national supply chain information systems, procurement and downstream systems strengthening to improve both availability and visibility on the last mile, especially in the various provincial context
• With the assistance of the Procurement Services Manager, develop and implement concept on collaborated demand planning/forecasting process – bottom-up approach and provide capacity building at provincial level
• Define a strategy in collaboration with UNICEF Programme and government on how to monitor stock pipeline and wastage at the last mile on utilization and quality
• Institutionalize ACE (Access and Coverage Evaluation Surveys (ACE)) and Maturity Model Assessments into government monitoring mechanism to ensure visibility and accountability of health commodities at the last mile.
• Serve as a champion for supply chain systems strengthening activities, including supporting the design, implementation, and monitoring of these systems in line with the  Country Programme and the Government of Pakistan.
• support supply chain monitoring tool to assess baseline and monitor progress of improvements as part of the strategy (the maturity model is a good tool for this). 
• Provide technical support for the implementation of Gavi’s eLMIS Scale Up Strategy, focusing on enhancing the existing vLMIS (Pakistan LMIS) to meet TSS compliance and ensure interoperability with various systems in line with Gavi’s Full Portfolio Planning (FPP) funding.
• Manage capacity building and knowledge transfer internally and externally to optimize national supply chains related to vaccines, Health, and nutrition products.
• Gavi Transition Plan – Pakistan will be entering the accelerated transition phase there is need to support government in identifying fiscal space for transition and develop Institutional Capacity for Procurement and Service Delivery
• Effective collaboration and partnerships with other donors and implementing partners to improve supply chain efficiency in the country.
• Support the Procurement Services Manager, in engagement and coordinatation with other UN agencies, donors, and other non-state actors to address the supply related needs of targeted populations effectively and efficiently. Providing support for identifying supply financing gaps and opportunities.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• A university degree is required in Business Administration, Management, Economics, Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Procurement, Contract/Commercial Law, International Development, Health or related social science field, or relevant first-level university degree (Bachelor’s) in conjunction with a valid relevant professional certification is required.
• A minimum of two (2) years of relevant experience, at the national and international levels, in supply, logistics, procurement, contracting, administration and/or other directly related technical fields is required.
• Understanding of development and humanitarian work.
• Emergency experience is an advantage.
• Health supply chain management experience is an advantage.

Technical Knowledge  

a) Specific Technical Knowledge Required

• Knowledge of Supply Chain Management preferably in the Government, UN and INGO context
• Mastery of technical knowledge (product knowledge, specification, international standards) required for Supply Management/Purchasing/Contracting (e.g.,vaccine, equipment, medical supplies, contracts, customs clearance and taxation, etc. experiences)
• Knowledge of relevant Information Technology software for supply chain management and information system management including electronic Logistics Management Information Systems

b) Common Technical Knowledge Required

• Knowledge of managing inventory, cold chain, and immunization supply chain logistics/deliveries (e.g., programme supplies and logistics) in the Pakistan context and experience with international environment will be an added advantage.
• Knowledge of immunization service delivery mechanisms and vaccine distribution systems.
• Knowledge of forecasting and procurement process from procurement planning, to execution to contract management and administration, including procurement methods and tools of good procurement practice.
• Knowledge of strategic, long term and sustainable forecasting, procurement arrangements and MoHS/Government budgeting and fund release mechanism

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, career support, staff wellbeing programme, childcare room, family support, policies & initiatives, security etc. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.

All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks

• This VA is open to internal and external
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
• UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to delivering the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates will be prioritized.
• Verified educational certificates/HEC Attested Degrees are a pre-requisite for employment at UNICEF. During the recruitment process candidates will be required to present HEC attested degrees/certificates.
• Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.