Health Commodities and Logistics Advisor - USAID KIGALI- RWANDA

POSITION ATTACHMENT 1

I.                   GENERAL INFORMATION

1.      SOLICITATION NO.:                 SOL-696-16-000007

2.      ISSUANCE DATE:                      September 30, 2016

3.      CLOSING DATE/TIME:             October 21, 2016  at 1:00 p.m. (Kigali Time)

4.      POSITION TITLE:                      Health Commodities and Logistics Advisor

5.      MARKET VALUE:                      Position is classified at GS-13 with annual salary range of

$73,846 to $93,542 p.a. Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market rate.

6.      PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:             2 Years.  Level of effort is full time (40 hours per week).

7.      PLACE OF PERFORMANCE:  Kigali, Rwanda

8.      SECURITY LEVEL REQUIRE:             Facility Access Clearance Level

9.      STATEMENT OF DUTIES:

BACKGROUND

Over the last two decades, concerted efforts focused on reducing maternal and child mortality have produced substantial improvements in health in many developing countries. In Rwanda, the achievements have been remarkable. Maternal mortality and under-five mortality are today approximately only one-third of the mortality rates in 1990, with the current maternal mortality ratio at 210 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, and the current under-five mortality rate at 50 child deaths per 1,000 live births (Demographic and Health Survey, 2014-2015). This progress has been driven by focused and systemic improvements throughout the Rwandan health sector.

Despite the significant achievements made to date, there is more to be done. USAID is continuing to focus on its Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths (EPCMD) initiative in 24 priority countries, including Rwanda. It is estimated that in Rwanda, scaling up key interventions can lead to 123,000 child lives and 6,800 women’s lives saved by 2020. However, identifying and addressing the remaining challenges in Rwanda will require increased focus—on key interventions to address lagging indicators, on geographic areas that are facing the greatest challenges, and on segments of the population that require increased access to services.

USAID/Rwanda's Health Team oversees a budget of over $75 million annually. The health portfolio covers child survival (immunization, integrated management of childhood illness), reproductive health (family planning, safe motherhood, fistula), infectious diseases (HIV/AIDS, malaria), and health systems strengthening. It is led by a US Direct Hire (USDH) Office Director and Deputy, and is comprised of three sub-teams: Health and Social Welfare Promotion (HSWP), Health Service Delivery (HSD) and Health Systems Strengthening (HSS). The 22-member staff manages an integrated portfolio of activities with a vision to build capacity in Rwanda for sustained and improved health outcomes by providing innovative and responsive technical and financial assistance.

A key area of assistance for USAID/Rwanda includes technical assistance in supply chain management and procurement of public health commodities. Rwanda’s public health supply chain system relies on central services for national quantification, procurement, and policymaking through divisions within the Ministry of Health. Health technical programs work with the central warehouse to establish national guidelines, finance, and procure the right quantities of essential commodities. Product integration for in-country ordering, distribution, and data collection allow for efficiencies at the district pharmacy and service delivery point levels. Ensuring data quality and utilization, collaboration between programs and supply chain levels, and building capacity in supply chain management skills, are critical to strengthening Rwanda’s public health supply chain system and ensuring commodity security, so that patients and clients receive appropriate medicines and health products in a timely manner. The Health Commodities and Logistics Technical Advisor position will directly affect this outcome.

BASIC FUNCTION OF THE POSITION:

The Health Commodity and Logistics Technical Advisor (Advisor) provides technical, management and coordination services to support USAID/Rwanda's Health Team.

The focus of USAID/Rwanda’s supply chain program is technical assistance in health commodity procurement and supply chain system strengthening. In collaboration with the central warehouse and the Medical Procurement and Production Division (MPPD), activities address central functions for procurement, data management and utilization, supply chain integration, warehousing and distribution efficiencies, business process improvement, and long term strategies for supply chain sustainability.

The Advisor will be a member of the Health Systems Strengthening team, and will be responsible for accurate planning, implementation, management, monitoring, results reporting, advocacy, and performance improvement of USAID commodity procurement and logistics activities. The Advisor will serve as the US Government (USG) focal point for all HIV-related commodities procured with The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funds, malaria commodities procured with The President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) funds, and all other family planning and maternal and child health commodities procured by the USG in Rwanda. The Advisor will serve as the Activity Manager for USAID/Rwanda’s Global Health Supply Chain – Procurement and Supply Management project Rwanda activities, providing management and strategic planning support. S/he reports to the HSS Team USDH lead and works in close collaboration with the 22 other staff members on the health team as well as with local government counterparts. The Advisor may provide technical mentorship to USAID Health Office staff whose portfolio includes elements of commodities and supply chain management. 

MAJOR ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Advisor works closely with the Health Team, sector partners, and other donors to provide technical expertise, program management and coordination on planning, implementation, and technical monitoring of health commodity procurement and logistics. Specific responsibilities include:

I. Technical Advice in HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Maternal/Child Health and Family Planning

Commodity and Supply Chain Management: (40%)

1. Provide advice and technical support to USAID-supported commodity activities, including HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and malaria.
2. Analyze and report on field data and relevant technical developments in commodities and logistics to Mission staff and management.
3. Maintain high level of technical expertise and knowledge of HIV/AIDS, malaria,

MCH and family planning logistics management and independently analyze and apply current technical data to the local context.

4. Prepare analytical progress reports, technical analyses or briefs for USAID Senior Management and PEPFAR Senior Management Team. Use data for program negotiations and policy dialogue with the Government of Rwanda (GOR) and other partners on how findings generated may impact USG and GOR policy.
5. Participate in workshops, special committees and other activities as a technical advisor to the Mission and make recommendations on program directions and management.
6. Provide leadership in strategic planning for the USG commodities program in Rwanda
7. Support the Rwanda Ministry of Health (MOH) in coordination of forecasting, quantification, and procurement of USG supported commodities.
8. Identify and address key activities for GOR to prepare for procuring important health commodities, making the health supply chain more sustainable. Areas of focus may include contract management, fiduciary control measures, and business planning.
9. Keep informed on national and international initiatives and policies and state of the art developments related to health commodities and logistics in HIV/AIDS, malaria and family planning, particularly constraints and opportunities to ensure an appropriate Mission response to the changing Rwandan environment.

II. Program Management: (40%)

1. Serve as Activity Manager for selected USAID programs to provide technical direction and administrative oversight for projects budgeted at more than $25 million/year, including: establishing routine communications, conducting and documenting site visits and inspections; maintaining current files on the status of partner activities, resources and work plans; ensuring contract and award management compliance with USAID regulations; identifying successes and barriers to achievement, recommending future actions; ensuring financial records compliance.
2. Provide strategic guidance to implementing partners to ensure their programs are aligned with GOR and USG policies and objectives.
3. Facilitate program implementation by interfacing with GOR and USG to ensure all administrative and bureaucratic requirements are followed and/or fulfilled if necessary. Work to hold stakeholders accountable for implementing important activities around procurement, distribution, policy planning and management.
4. Assist the Health Team in maintaining program technical and administrative documentation related to commodities.
5. Contribute to development of all Mission reports including: country operational plans, annual work plans, quarterly accruals, semi-annual and annual portfolio reviews, data quality assessments and site visit reports.
6. Prepare regular and ad hoc program reports for the Mission, USAID/W, and the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), including special technical or field briefings as required.
7. Support USAID reporting, including preparing portions of key documents such as the PEPFAR Annual Performance Report and USAID’s Performance Plan and Report (PPR).
8. Assist the Health Team in monitoring program results by identifying or modifying key progress indicators for short and long term results; providing quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis; reporting to stakeholders; and making recommendations based on the findings.
9. Mentor USAID/Rwanda Health Office staff whose portfolio includes elements of commodities and supply chain management.
10. Monitor USG logistics partners according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) they have signed with the GOR, USAID and with other implementing partners.
11. Facilitate the design and creation of MOUs and joint work plans where necessary
12. Ensure that all USG-supported supply chain activities are coordinated with other areas of the health system and GOR.
13. Assess the performance of USG implementing partners and advice on the best practices, procurement mechanisms and priority activities to ensure efficient and effective supply chain activities in Rwanda.
14. Monitor the political environment and other donor activities to inform USAID/Rwanda's funding and programmatic decisions.

III. Coordination: (20%)

1. Work with the Health Office, other Mission Offices, Mission management, other USG agencies, implementing partners, local NGOs and GOR staff at all levels to support strengthening institutional capacity.
2. Collaborate with other Health Team staff in support of USAID/Rwanda in the preparation of program planning and reporting documents for the Mission and USAID/Washington.
3. Serve as a liaison between the Health Team and USAID/W (Bureaus of Africa and Global Health), OGAC and PMI/Washington for specific program elements under his/her responsibility. Keep the Health Team fully informed of developments and program issues.
4. Coordinate with other USG-supported programs in health and other sectors to capitalize on linkages and maximize synergies for greater development impact at the community level.
5. Assist in coordination and planning discussions with the Ministry of Health and other GOR offices, donors and implementers.

10.  PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The USAID/Rwanda Health Office is a fast-paced, short turnaround environment in a professional office setting.

 

11.   POINT OF CONTACT

Anne Gakuba, email at agakuba@usaid.gov.

II.                MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

a.       Education: (20 points): A Master's degree in public health, public health supply chain and logistics, pharmacy, business administration or related field.

b.      Prior work experience (30 points): Minimum seven to ten years relevant experience in public health, or related field including experience in strategic planning and activity design, program planning and budgeting, and monitoring and evaluation with a minimum at least five years' experience, in an international or resource challenged setting, directly managing pharmaceutical and public health supply chain activities, including designing, implementing, monitoring & evaluating activities in the delivery of supply chain and pharmaceutical management programs. Also, the candidate should have relevant strategic planning and design of programs to build national systems and proven ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and to proactively build consensus.  

c.       Language Proficiency (20 points): Level IV fluency in written and spoken English is required. Basic knowledge of French is a plus but not required.

d.      Job Knowledge (15 points): Knowledge of USAID’s family planning, malaria or HIV-related commodities programs, particularly in a decentralized context in the developing world is desired. Familiarity with, and sensitivity to, socio-cultural and institutional factors affecting program development and implementation in Sub-Saharan Africa. A strong understanding of diplomacy and attentive listening skills. A working knowledge of the US Government and its processes or process of a donor development agency in the health field is preferred, but not required.  Candidates who do not have such knowledge must demonstrate an ability to quickly learn about these areas. 

e.       Skills and Abilities (15 points): Demonstrated ability in program management, analytical and decision making abilities, with exceptional attention to detail. Ability to readily analyze, understand, and discuss issues around supply chain management. Strong quantitative and data analysis skills, and a high degree of computer literacy for data analysis, report writing and presentation. Demonstrated ability to identify priority actions, generate and complete work plans within short time frames. Demonstrated ability to follow through with assigned tasks in a timely and responsible manner and the ability to be responsive to competing requests from a range of stakeholders. Ability to communicate technical information clearly to both technical and non-technical colleagues. Demonstrated flexibility and openness in responding to changing work priorities and environment. Demonstrated ability to work in a complex political environment and ability to manage host government interests and expectations. Strong interpersonal and communication skills necessary in the interaction with implementing partners, GOR and US government colleagues including the ability to exercise judgment in balancing technical, administrative, bureaucratic and political considerations. Ability to apply professional etiquette to interactions with local and international staff within USAID, across USG agencies, GOR, contractors and grantees, and with other development partners. Ability to travel internationally and within Rwanda.

III.             EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS

USAID/Rwanda expects to award a two year personal services contract. Applicants meeting the required qualifications for the position will be evaluated based on information presented in the application and obtained through reference checks. USAID reserves the right to conduct telephonic interviews with the most highly ranked applicants and make the interview a deciding factor in selection.

The incumbent must be:

●     A US citizen, US Resident Alien or Third Country National

●     In possession of, or able to obtain, a Facility Access level security clearance;

●     In possession of, or able to obtain, a State Department medical clearance for assignment to Kigali, Rwanda.  Details of how to obtain US Department of State medical clearance will be provided.

●     Complete Foreign Affairs Counter-Threat (FACT) Training before arriving in Kigali, Rwanda.

●     Available and willing to work outside the regular 40-hour workweek when required or necessary.

●     Applicants must address all the below elements as part of their offer in response to this PSC solicitation.

IV.              APPLYING

For applicants to be considered for this position the following guidelines will be adhered to and forms completed, signed and submitted, to allow the evaluation committee to thoroughly and objectively review your application vis-a-vis the requirements of the position.

i).  Marking Applications:  To ensure consideration of applicants for the intended position, please reference the solicitation number on your application, and as the subject line in any cover letter, as well as using the address/delivery point specified in this solicitation.

ii). CV: An up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV) or resume.  Your CV/resume must contain sufficient relevant information to evaluate the application in accordance with the stated evaluation criteria.  Broad general statements that are vague or lacking specificity will not be considered as effectively addressing particular selection criteria.  Applicants are encouraged to write a brief appendix to demonstrate how prior experience and/or training addresses the minimum qualifications and evaluation criteria set forth in the solicitation.

iii).  Form AID-302-3: The submitted form must be signed and completed as much as possible and may reference the CV/resume for a greater detailed explanation of work experience rather than repeat it in the Form AID-302-3.  Form AID-302-3 is available at the USAID web site, http://auslnxapvweb01.usaid.gov/forms/formsnumeric.html, or at USG offices

iv). References: Three (3) to five (5) references, who are not family members or relatives, with working telephone and e-mail contacts.  The references must be able to provide substantive information about your past performance and abilities.  Reference checks will be made only for applicants considered as finalists.  If an applicant does not wish for the current employer to be contacted as a reference check, this should be stated in the applicant’s cover letter.  The interviewing committee will delay such reference check pending communication with the applicant. 

Submittals shall be in accordance with the attached information at the place and time specified.  In order to be considered for the position a candidate must meet the Minimum Qualifications listed in the solicitation.  Consideration and selection will be based on a panel evaluation of the applications vis-a-vis the Evaluation Criteria.  Applicants should note that the salary history for the purposes of the AID 302-3 form is the base salary paid, excluding benefits and allowances such as housing, travel, educational support, vehicle use, etc.  Applicants are reminded and required to sign the certification at the end of the AID 302-3 form.

Applications must be signed and dated.  In addition, hard copies of certain documents may be requested. Applicants are responsible for submitting the AID 302-3 form, so as to reach the Government office designated in the solicitation by the closing date and time specified in the solicitation.  An application received after the closing date and time will be considered late, unless there is acceptable evidence to establish that it was received by the Government institution prior to the time and date specified in the solicitation and in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.412.

USAID/Rwanda reserves the right not to award any contract as a result of this solicitation.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Methods of Submission of an Application:

Electronic submission is authorized and the most preferred. Electronic application packages are to be submitted by email to: KIGALIHR@USAID.GOV. Please quote the number and position title of this solicitation on the subject line of your email application. Be sure to include the announcement number at the top of each of the additional pages.

v). Late Submissions:  Qualified individuals should note that applications must be received by the closing date and time at the address specified in the cover letter or they will not be considered eligible for evaluation or award, unless Contracting Officer determines that the documents were mishandled by the receiving agency. The closing time for the receipt of applications is 5:00 pm, local time, on the date specified on the covering letter to this solicitation. You are directed to Federal Acquisitions Regulation, Part 15.208 “Submission, modification, revision, and withdrawal of proposals” for further information.  USAID/Rwanda reserves the right not to award any contract as a result of this solicitation.

V.                 LIST OF REQUIRED FORMS FOR PSC HIRES

Once the CO informs the successful Applicant about being selected for a contract award, the CO will provide the successful Applicant instructions about how to complete and submit the following forms.

Medical History and Examination (DS 6561)

Declaration for Federal Employment (OF 306)

Foreign Activity Date (AID 6-85)

Finger Print Card (SF-87 or FD 258)

VI.              BENEFITS/ALLOWANCES

As a matter of policy, and as appropriate, a USPSC policy, and as appropriate, a PSC is normally authorized to receive benefits and allowances in accordance with the AIDAR Appendix D; however, as conditions at post change, benefits and allowance may also be changed.

A.     Benefits

• Employee's FICA Contribution
• Contribution toward Health & Life Insurance
• Pay Comparability Adjustment
• Annual and Sick Leave
• Medevac Insurance
• Annual Increase (pending a satisfactory performance evaluation)
• Access to Embassy medical facilities
• Cost of Travel to/from Post

B.     Allowances (If Applicable):

·         Post Differential (Section 500)

·         Living Quarters Allowance (Section 130)

·         Temporary Lodging Allowance (Section 120)

• Post Allowance (Section 220)
• Supplemental Post Allowance (Section 230)
• Separate Maintenance Allowance (Section 260)
• Education Allowance (Section 270)
• Education Travel (Section 280)
• Post Differential (Chapter 500)
• Payments during Evacuation/Authorized Departure (Section 600)
• Danger Pay Allowance (Section 650)

VII.           TAXES

USPSCs are required to pay Federal income taxes, FICA, Medicare and applicable State Income taxes.

VIII.        ACQUISITION AND ASSISTANCE POLICY DIRETIVES (AAPDS) AND CONTRACT INFORMATION BULLETIN (CIBS) PERTAINING TO PSCs

1. AAPDs and CIBs contain changes to USAID policy and General Provisions in USAID regulations and contracts. Please refer to this web site – http://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/aapds-cibs to determine which AAPDS/ CIBs apply to this contract.

2. AIDAR:  The Agency for International Development Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR) Appendix D - Direct USAID Contracts with U.S. Citizens or U.S. Residents for Personal Services Abroad found at: http://www.usaid.gov/policy/ads/300/aidar.pdf is the primary regulation governing USPSCs for USAID.

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