Country Support Associate at Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI)
Terms of Reference – Country Support Associate Clinton Health Access Initiative, Vietnam
Position/Title: Country Support Associate – Access Teams
Base Location: Hanoi, Vietnam
Length of position: One year, extendable based on performance and funding
Background
The hallmark of the Clinton Health Access Initiative’s (CHAI) approach is simultaneous and intensive engagement on the demand and supply sides of the market. On the demand side, CHAI’s country teams help governments to overcome barriers to scale up treatment programs. Meanwhile, the CHAI global access teams work to address supply-side barriers to access and foster a healthy marketplace to ensure the sustainable supply of essential medicines and diagnostic commodities. CHAI works to attract new suppliers, lower drug prices, encourage the adoption of stringent quality standards, and facilitate the uptake of important new or improved products. CHAI has played a particularly important role in the marketplace for pediatric antiretroviral therapy (ART), substantially expanding access to the appropriate drugs and diagnostics to meet the unique needs of children.
Description
The Country Support Associate (CSA) will work to ensure the continued scale-up and effective management of high-quality treatments for HIV/AIDS patients, focusing primarily on antiretroviral therapy (ART) for pediatric patients. Specifically, the CSA will travel frequently between countries in the South East Asia Region, helping to optimize policies and processes to ensure access to high quality ARVs and diagnostics. The CSA will also work to ensure that countries have adopted best practices in forecasting and procurement of ARVs, diagnostics and other essential medicines.
The CSA will be based in Hanoi, Vietnam and will work closely with the Vietnam Authority for AIDS Control (VAAC) and Drug Administration Vietnam (DAV) to ensure the continued scale-up and effective management of high-quality treatments for HIV/AIDS patients, primarily pediatric ART. CHAI first partnered with the Government of Vietnam in 2006 to enable the country access to affordable drug and lab commodity prices through CHAI’s Procurement Consortium, and continues to support the government on a number of initiatives to scale up access to HIV, TB and malaria care and treatment. The CSA will support Vietnam as well as other countries in the region.
We are seeking a highly motivated individual with outstanding credentials, analytical ability, and communication skills. The candidate must be able to function independently and flexibly and have a strong commitment to excellence. CHAI places great value on relevant personal qualities: resourcefulness, responsibility, tenacity, independence, energy, and work ethic.
Main Responsibilities
- Serve as a trusted advisor to governments on a variety of drug-related and access-to-medicines topics (e.g., drug quality and pricing, procurement, forecasting, new product introduction, product tradeoffs)
- Work closely with donors and procurement agents to understand funding flows, ordering cycles, and delivery timelines, and support CHAI country teams in the region to ensure an uninterrupted supply of pediatric products
- Independently manage project workstreams supporting various aspects of countries’ efforts to strengthen institutional capacity in procurement and supply chain management (PSM) of critical HIV commodities through a blend of advocacy, training, and supply chain monitoring to accelerate the rate at which countries in the region transitions to more cost-effective antiretroviral drugs (ARVs)
- Support governments in the region in scaling up pediatric treatment programs, including strengthening national Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) testing systems
- Serve as a liaison between countries and CHAI global teams on pediatric forecasts and ordering cycles
- Disseminate information from CHAI and other sources on pediatric treatment, supply dynamics and access-to-medicines issues
- Facilitate introduction of new, improved, or less costly medicines by advising Ministries of Health on product availability and pricing and by supporting with the development of new product rollout strategy
- Support countries in assessing opportunities for optimization of national treatment guidelines; assist with budget and scenario analysis; help develop strategy to advocate for the changes with key in-country opinion leaders
- Help countries to build their capacity on quantification issues – either through leadership in forecasting workshops, participation in technical working groups, or training of forecasting models – in order to avoid stockouts, reduce waste and minimize costs
- Develop and leverage expertise in procurement and tendering best practices for medicines and other health commodities in developing countries
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree plus 4-5 years of work experience
- Excellent written and oral communications skills
- Strong problem solving skills and analytical capabilities
- Detail-oriented with strong organization skills
- Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, set priorities, and work independently
- Ability to be effective in high-pressure situations and work in a fast-paced, limited-structure, multicultural environment
- Ability to effectively manage complex relationships within the Ministry of Health and partner groups, with care to always act with modesty and diplomacy
- Experience living and/or working in developing countries
- High level of proficiency in relevant computer applications particularly Excel, PowerPoint and Word
- Familiarity with global health issues
ADVANTAGES:
- Experience working for a management consulting firm
- Pharmaceutical / healthcare industry experience
- BSc in Pharmacy or equivalent
- MBA or Master’s degree in Public Health
- Experience working on procurement and supply chain management (ideally in resource-limited settings)
- Experience living and working in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.
- Vietnamese language ability
A one-page cover letter should specify the position sought and highlight why the candidate believes they are the right person for the position. A CV detailing professional experience and relevant qualifications should be provided. Interested candidates should send materials to https://careers-chai.icims.com/jobs/5446/associate%2c-country-support%2c...
Indicate position sought in the subject line.
Applications will be reviewed as they arrive, but must be received by 31 March 2015. Only shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview.