Organization Overview

The International Development Division focuses on improving the lives and economic well-being of people in lower and middle-income countries. We command technical expertise in health, agriculture, climate change, food security and governance—as well as in international evaluation. Our multi-layered health portfolio includes policy, health promotion and disease prevention, health finance, and health systems management. In partnership with government clients and local experts, our high-quality programs in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East are known for impact and innovation.

Opportunity

The Global Health Supply Chain Program Technical Assistance – Tanzania (GHSC TA-TZ) project, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), provides expert technical assistance to Tanzania to strengthen country supply chain systems across all health elements, e.g., malaria, family planning (FP), HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH), and essential medicines. In coordination with in-country and development partners, GHSC TA-TZ assists Government of Tanzania (GoT) by providing strategic planning and implementation assistance; improving the delivery of health commodities to service sites; providing capacity building support to broaden stakeholders' understanding and engagement of the supply chain system; and strengthening enabling environments to improve supply chain performance.

The Demand Planning Specialist will provide strategic, operational and technical leadership related to demand planning; identify and encourage the adoption of leading practices for planning and quantification; mentor and build the skills of relevant stakeholders within the Government of Tanzania (GoT) to forecast demand, and monitor supply plans that will determine the availability of HIV/AIDS, MCH, FP, essential medicines and malaria commodities; and recommend interventions to improve commodity security. Their priorities include enhancing the effectiveness of forecasting and quantification for essential medicines, leveraging techniques that have successfully been applied previously in quantification exercises conducted for vertical programs, and identifying opportunities to introduce innovations and /or continuously improve processes for all programs and essential medicines quantifications.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Provide technical subject matter expertise on all areas related to demand planning: 
  • Assisting PSU and MSD in conducting national essential medicines quantifications, including support of the bottom up quantification process
  • Providing expert technical assistance in forecasting of commodity needs for both vertical programs and essential drugs
  • Coaching stakeholders from the GoT to review and analyze supply chain implications of product selection and changes in testing, treatment, and care guidelines, and adjust supply plans accordingly
  • Providing guidance to estimate the cost of required commodities
  • Assisting partners in identifying financial resources to meet commodity financing needs
  • Coaching the GoT to perform pipeline analyses and monitor in-country supply levels
  • Highlighting potential supply plan challenges, and develop recommendations to address them
  • Consulting with project team members based in field to identify issues in data quality and availability and identifying opportunities to improve data that informs quantification exercises
• Ensure timely submissions of supply plans to GHSC-PSM for all program commodity groups that the GHSC-TA-TZ program supports
• Participate in routine communications with GHSC-PSM, and highlight issues that should be brought to national programs for decision making
• Supervise and support project seconded staff at NACP 
• Participate in annual workplanning process and provide inputs to the operations team to budget for demand planning activities including meetings, trainings, and other activities
• Identify lessons learned, best practices, and success stories 
• Complete and submit timely written technical and trip reports
• Prepare presentations, participate and/or represent the project in stakeholder meetings
• Perform other duties as assigned

Preferred Skills / Prerequisites

• Higher degree in Laboratory technology, Pharmacy, Medical Doctor or other Public Health professions 
• Demonstrated experience leading national quantifications for malaria, family planning (FP), HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH)
• Experience in and knowledge of leading practices related to strategic planning, strategic plan implementation, logistics/supply chain management and or public health commodities management desirable
• Experience working with the Government of Tanzania and other NGOs preferred
• Excellent written and verbal English
• Ability to prepare and present information related to commodity availability 
• Ability to coach and mentor public sector stakeholders to develop strategies and manage implementation of projects
• Ability to work independently
• Previous work experience with USAID-funded projects desirable
• Proficiency in common computer packages (eg.Word, PowerPoint, Excel) relevant to the work
• Able to travel for an extended period of time in country to support technical activities
• Able to travel internationally to attend trainings and conferences as needed
• Extensive experience overseeing and performing project management activities for large complex consulting engagements, preferably in the health sector 

Minimum Qualifications

• (6+) years of experience and a master degree OR the equivalent combination of education and experience

Abt Associates is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse workforce.  Abt Associates provides market-competitive salaries and comprehensive employee benefits. Local candidates strongly encouraged to apply.

Disclaimer:  Abt Associates will never ask candidates for money in exchange for an offer of employment.