The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, IRC offers life-saving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in more than 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted by conflict or disaster. IRC leads the way from harm to home.
Background:
The Syria crisis is often described as the worst humanitarian catastrophe since the end of the Cold War. Inside Syria, 7.6 million people are internally displaced and 12.2 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, with 4.8 million in hard-to-reach areas. This is no short-term humanitarian episode. The devastating human consequences to huge numbers of people will endure for decades. IRC is offering a robust humanitarian response to the Syria crisis supported by more than 1,250 staff in the region. IRC is undertaking programs in Syria and the neighboring countries of Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan in the fields of health, child protection, education, women’s protection and empowerment, cash assistance, water and sanitation, and livelihood programming. Our work in these challenging settings gives rise to some of the most pressing issues facing contemporary humanitarian action, including questions of access, security, funding and coordination.
IRC’s Syria program implements directly where it has access and prioritizes strategic health partnerships to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in hard to reach areas. Combining direct and partner-supported implementation, the IRC is able to respond to the health crisis in Syria with expanded health programming in five governorates - Idleb, Aleppo, and Hama in North, Dara’a and Quneitra in South. With this approach, the health program’s services are able to reach beneficiaries in diverse settings and with varied needs including individuals of all ages, IDP informal and formal camps and host communities, large cities to rural villages, as well as besieged and hard to reach areas.
JOB OVERVIEW/SUMMARY:
The Pharmaceutical (Pharma) and Medical Commodities Manager will support the day-to-day management of pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and medical equipment within IRC’s Health program portfolio in North and South Syria. S/he will facilitate compliance with selection, quantification, procurement, quality, warehouse and health facilities’ stock management, as well as rational use of medicines and medical material for the entire health program. The Pharmacy Manager will support all procurement, information management, transfers, storage and distribution are compliant with donor and IRC policies and regulations while maintaining best practices with cooperation and collaboration with Grants team. S/he support implementing partners as well as IRC’s Syria-based implementation teams to apply pharma management best practices. This position will be supervised by the Pharma Coordinator with close coordination to the Health Coordinator and will work with the Senior Health Manager/s, warehouse teams, pharmacists, health partners, and operational support teams.
MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:
Pharmaceuticals and Supplies Management:
- Monitors the availability of medical products to avoid stock-outs and financial losses generated by expired items; Collaborates with the Senior Health Manager/s to define stock security levels in IRC’s directly implemented facilities;
- Participates in defining strategies for supply, management, distribution and use of medical products in line with IRC’s recommendations and policies; under the supervision of the Pharma Coordinator and in collaboration with Health and Supply Chain Managers, support development/use of new pharmaceutical stock management systems and software;
- Participates in developing and implementing the pharmaceutical supply chain standard operating procedures;
- Applies Good Distribution Practices for Pharmaceutical Products (GDPs) at stock level, and good dispensing practices in end user units;
- Manages medical stock data and indicators, analyzes and interprets performance to support the necessary programmatic decisions or course corrections in collaboration with Health and Supply Chain staff (consumption, stock levels, stock-outs, pre-stock-outs, over-stocking, donations, expired products, disposal, etc.);
- Manages entire cycle of all pharmaceutical, medical supplies and equipment procurement to ensure alignment with donor and project requirements appropriate technical specifications matching need; and integrity of all bid, tender, and delivery processes.;
- Conducts regular audits and follow up on recommendations on GDPs: the layout of the warehouse, storage, product arrangement, reception, distribution and transport.
- Supervise the store release, distribution, and transfer of all stock to the required field site locations;
Technical Support and Capacity Building:
- Carries out regular follow up / team meetings with Pharma officers and any other Pharma team in the field sites in Syria to maintain regular work plans in line with project objectives and identified capacity building needs; through these meetings will ensure:
- A clear and coherent distribution flow with adapted tools and standard product lists,
- Good Distribution Practices and Good Dispensing Practices in the supported pharmacies,
- A quality-assurance system incorporated into the health facilities and medical stores
- Follow-up and consumption analysis system, including communication network within medical teams as it relates to stock levels, stock-outs, pre-stock-outs, use of new products, and prescription status
- Mentor field-based staff (e.g. pharmacists, medical store officers, health officers) on the proper management of medical stock through remote trainings, in-person trainings (in Syria and Turkey), and on-job coaching;
- Provide indirect supervision of staff responsible for pharmacy management in the field; and direct supervision for the Pharma staff in Amman.
Technical Support and Monitoring for Partner Implemented Activities:
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with pharmacy focal points in each health partner organization;
- Support IRC partners and supported facilities to comply with national and international standards (including drug stock management guidelines, essential drug list, and standard equipment).
- Work in collaboration with partners to develop and finalize stock orders in line with project requirements and donor regulations; Collect, verify, document, and manage all technical specifications for partner stock orders;
- Manage the gift in-kind (GIK) process and documentation in line with IRC procedures and in collaboration with the Grants Team;
- Develop proposals and reports as it relates to the distribution of medical commodities to supported partners;
- Work under the supervision and with the support of the Pharma Coordinator and in collaboration with the relevant Health and MEAL staff to develop and implement M&E strategies, tools, and plans for monitoring of partner pharmaceutical management;
- Work closely with the M&E team and third party monitors to set in place the plan to conduct routine monitoring visits to partner health facilities by the Pharma team in the field;
- Manage monitoring and analysis of partner medical commodity data including consumption rates, rational use, stock outs, and planning for re-orders;
- Provide technical assistance and lead capacity building efforts to strengthen partners’ abilities to adhere to Good Distribution Practices and Good Dispensing Practices in the supported pharmacies;
- Work in coordination and collaboration with partners’ M&E departments to provide support to their internal capacity and practices for monitoring pharmaceutical management.
Key Working Relationships:
Position Directly Reports to: Pharma Coordinator
Indirect Reporting: Health Coordinator
Other Internal Contacts: Health Information Manager, Senior Health Managers, Supply Chain and Warehouse Managers, Health Officers, clinical teams
Other External Contacts: IRC’s local partner organizations, other local INGO and NGOs
JOB REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor Degree in Pharmacy;
- At least 4 years’ experience working with local or international NGOs in related capacity;
- Demonstrated experience with warehousing, supply chain and pharmaceutical management;
- Strong skills and knowledge of health information systems with ability to analyze and interpret health data;
- Ability to plan, prioritize, coordinate and manage human resources;
- Previous experience facilitating training and participating in capacity building initiatives with staff;
- Excellent analytical and written skills;
- Demonstrated strong interpersonal and intercultural communication with success working both within a team and independently;
- Excellent working knowledge of computer software packages (MS Word, Excel, Outlook, etc); previous experience with District Health Information System (DHIS) database packages and/or pharmacy management software preferred;
- English and Arabic fluency required (oral and written);
- Willingness to travel to Syria as cross-border staff with legal documentation and approvals;
- Excellent organizational and time management skills with ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines;
- Ability to be flexible, adaptable, creative, and innovative in a challenging and fast-moving multicultural environment.
Working Environment: position is based in Amman, Jordan
