Supply Chain Specialist (Governance & Partner Collaboration), P-3, Fixed Term, Post#96130, Copenhagen, Denmark

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

Strategic Office Context and Purpose for the Job

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education, and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Strategic office context:

Strengthening the capacity of UNICEF, governments, and other partners in designing, implementing, and monitoring resilient and sustainable supply chains is essential in achieving equitable access to lifesaving supplies for children, their families, and communities. As part of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, UNICEF remains a reliable partner in supporting governments and partners to improve their supply chains even in complex fragile, and humanitarian contexts.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of global, regional, and national supply chains to shocks and disruptions, and emphasized the need to invest in stronger and more resilient supply chain systems that are agile enough to meet increasing demand for essential products, vaccines, and services. These shocks were evident across many supply chains, with global immunization programmes seeing a drop in coverage rates followed by a protracted stagnation as immunization services could not be effectively delivered. There is consensus on the importance and need to ensure countries have uninterrupted access to vaccines and medical supplies for which robust supply chains and related processes are imperative. The coordination of inputs, actions and investments across supply chain stakeholders can be complex in countries as many players provide support in multiple areas which can lead to duplication or sub-optimal use of resources. It is therefore critical that local coordinating bodies are strong enough to play a coordination role effectively to ensure that supply chains deliver supplies where they are needed.

Effective in-country coordination and governance are essential in ensuring that countries are always ready to receive, customs clear, store, distribute and administer vaccines to target populations at service delivery points. The supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic further emphasized the need for structured and effective coordination mechanisms at country level to ensure that product availability and services are maintained. As the drive to leave no one behind with immunization (and other primary healthcare commodities) continues, strengthening of in-country coordination mechanisms through the leadership of National Logistics Working Groups (NLWGs) and Sub-National Logistics Working Groups (SNLWGs) remain imperative as new vaccines are introduced, and cold chain capacity upgrades initiated. These coordination mechanisms have a critical role in ensuring that these supply chain interventions and investments are not duplicated but are instead coordinated optimally to ensure supply chain performance and equitable distribution of the health products at national and sub-national levels. (S)NLWGs play a key role in identifying resource needs in a comprehensive manner including enabling the coordinated delivery of technical assistance and capacity building programmes.

UNICEF and other partners contribute to the performance of (S)NLWGs by playing advisory roles as key members of the NLWGs which typically comprise of the government, health, and logistics professionals. UNICEF also provides technical assistance to the (S)NLWG leadership through capacity building and technical assistance support. More importantly, UNICEF maintains representation in working groups at national and sub-national level where it provides the necessary technical assistance including identification and communication of upstream and downstream operational matters that need attention, ensuring the continued delivery of supplies to the last mile.

This position will continue UNICEF’s efforts in strengthening in-country coordination mechanisms and technical working groups including (S)NLWGs in countries. The incumbent will be key in ensuring the equipping, capacity building and strengthening of (S)NLWGs by.

1. Improving country capacities to formulate and update immunization-related policies, strategies, drive innovations, and investments for global and country programmatic impact.
2. Catalyzing set-up of new and re-establishment of non-functional National and Sub-National Logistics Working Group (S)NLWGs)
3. Strengthening supply chain governance by improving (S)NLWGs’ workforce (technical, leadership/management and strategic), operational, strategic and institutional capabilities including supply chain performance monitoring and appropriate response.
4. Increasing government and partner use of data and other supply chain functions’ systems to enable higher coordination to drive decision making across key processes.

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision and guidance of the Supply Chain Manager – Systems Design & Innovation in SCSC, and closely working with Health Specialist Programme Group the incumbent will work in close collaboration with the relevant UNICEF Supply Division Centres, Programme Group, People that Deliver (PtD) and other stakeholders to ensure the strengthening of in country coordination mechanisms and (S)NLWGs as outlined above.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

• Using findings from learning needs assessment, Effective Vaccine Management (EVM) Assessments, Maturity Model Assessments etc., and in coordination with iSC2 partners and UNICEF leads, contribute to the design and implementation of workforce development (such as capacity building interventions, professionalization initiatives, mentorship programmes, etc.) across end-to-end supply chain functions including (not limited to) stock management, data control towers, forecasting and supply planning, in-country distribution, Cold Chain Equipment (CCE) performance monitoring, decommissioning and maintenance, adoption of digital analytics tools and developing digital dexterity capabilities etc.
• As part of the Continuous Improvement Plans (cIPs) and in coordination with relevant in-country partners (including (S)NLWG members), contribute to development/updating and dissemination of a ‘starter pack’ to improve the functionality and institutionalize the setup and governance of NLWGs and SNLWGs through Country Office Focal Points. This will lead to strengthened in-country partner coordination, resource mobilization, programme and investment alignment.
• Development and sharing of multi-country evidence on NLWG/SNLWG-led supply chain interventions and sharing of experiences of collaboration with in-country ISC coordination and management.
• In coordination with different global and regional partners (such as ISC2, CoP, Vaccine Procurement Practitioners Network (VPPN), IAPHL, and Technet-21), organization of learning and development activities on data use and data analytics, soft skills, digital dexterity, leadership and management, forecasting, cold chain inventory analysis, maintenance among other priority areas of learning and development.
• Representing UNICEF in the Gavi Immunization Supply Chain Committee (iSC2)/BMGF meetings and other similar forums to report progress and advance the organization interests, influence/shape the global/regional agenda and align priorities and resources with other development partners to attain collective impact.
• Undertake lessons-learned reviews on successful and unsuccessful deployment practices and experience at the global level, and ensure they are shared as appropriate to improve system strengthening M&E function.
• Ensure collaboration and coordination of inputs across relevant SD centres and PG.
• Performing other ad-hoc supply chain strengthening related activities as required or any other duties as requested by the supervisor.

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

Education:

• A completed Advanced University Degree (Master’s Degree) in one of the multiple areas of Public Health, Human Resources, Business Administration, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Operations Research, Economics, Public Policy, Engineering, Leadership, or other related fields is required. A bachelor’s degree combined with a minimum of seven years of relevant work experience will be considered in lieu of the above.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in Organizational Development, Logistics/Supply Chain Management, International Development preferably with strong experience in Learning and Development, Capacity Building or Human Resource Management with at least four years being in developing countries is required. Experience in public health supply chains in developing countries is considered an asset.
• Proven conceptual understanding of public health supply chains including immunization supply chains/programmes.
• Proven experience working in public health supply chains in LMICs specifically in capacity development is a distinct advantage.
• A good understanding of coordination mechanisms in country particularly technical working groups or other coordinating bodies
• Strong practical experience generating and sharing of multi-country evidence, enabling country to country exchanges, and facilitating collaboration among diverse stakeholders at global and country level.
• Developing, applying/disseminating/ globally developed tools, methods, and training materials to support NLWGs improve their decision making and local coordination efforts to improve   supply chains particularly around data management and demand planning.
• Proven experience working with developing country governments is required.
• Experience in humanitarian assistance and development programs, and a mix of field and regional or headquarters postings are advantageous.
• Experience working with UN agencies, or any other international organization is an advantage.

Language:

Fluency in English is required. Fluency in French is a distinct advantage. 

Working knowledge of another UN language is advantageous. 

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…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others.

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 and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. 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. 

Remarks:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, all eligible and suitable are encouraged to apply.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be cancelled.

All selected candidates will 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.

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.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.