Senior Technical Advisor: Supply Chain at Anova Health Institute

Key duties and responsibilities:

Provide Technical Support

• Provide technical assistance from a pharmaceutical perspective to all districts, and supervise the implementation at the various levels, down to facility level.
• Lead the adoption and technical implementation of approved DOH, SAHPRA and other relevant bodies, legislation, regulations and policies.
• Provide supervision, coaching and other capacity building to Pharmacy teams and other related stakeholders as and when required.
• Develop focused technical assistance plans that cover focus areas such as:
• Forecasting and ordering, especially for prevention and treatment of HIV/TB and STIs.
• Stock management and replenishment.
• Central Chronic Medicine Dispensing and Distribution programme
• Pharmacovigilance
• Provide guidance to District Pharmacy teams on managing stock levels, appropriate use of bin-cards, accurate documentation, appropriate storage of drugs and organisation of pharmacy departments within facilities.
• Identify challenges across facilities and districts and working with Programme Managers and District Pharmacy Managers, develop innovative ideas to solve them.
• Health Systems Strengthening  
• Participate in strategic planning sessions and develop implementation plans to improve pharmaceutical service delivery, including stock and supply issue monitoring.
• Develop programme specific and general pharmacy plans in accordance with DOH and donor requirements.
• Develop pharmacy specific Standard Operating Procedures and train Anova’s pharmacy teams on their adoption, as well as monitor their correct and consistent implementation across districts.
• Ensure facilities have access to, and are familiar with, all the latest NAS guidelines, as well as relevant national and provincial guidelines, protocols, algorithms and IEC materials in relation to pharmacy.
• Lead the review of programme data related to pharmacy and provide feedback to programme teams and their managers, fostering a culture of evidence-based programming.
• Work closely and in collaboration with other partners to maximize partnership strengths and effectively collaborate to implement program goals.
• Ensure timely reporting of all supported sites programme indicators for internal use, PEPFAR reporting and DOH requirements, according to set indicators.

Pharmacovigilance, Pharmacy Systems and Drug Supply Management

• Lead the implementation and scale up of DOH approved pharmacy related systems such as Stock Visibility Solution and RxSolution across Anova’s supported clinics.
• Support and monitor the implementation of any drug inventory systems, including those dealing with drug inventory, product transfer, quality control and maintenance of item master file.
• Support Programme Managers and their teams to implement Technical Working Groups (TWG’s) guidance and any other relevant protocols.
• Provide supply chain expertise to district pharmacy managers and programme managers to anticipate and mitigate drug shortages.
• Advice district pharmacy teams on inventory tracking systems for all products to ensure product availability and supply integrity.
• Support stockpile audits to ensure correct implementation of approved monitoring systems.
• Work with pharmacy managers to implement necessary changes to ordering and stock monitoring systems.

Team and Stakeholder Engagement, and Reporting

• Be familiar with all Anova policies, SOPs and ensure compliance thereof.
• Support programme managers on the development of performance metrics for the pharmacy teams.
• Identify training needs within pharmacy district teams and motivate for its implementation.
• Represent Anova and participate in partner meetings and National, Provincial and District level, technical working groups, workshops, conferences as and when required.
• Attend team and staff meetings within Anova as and when required.
• Prepare regular and ad hoc reports on supply chain, drug stock, decanting issues, and other relevant themes that contribute to Anova’s reporting to donors and DOH.         

Any other tasks as agreed with line manager.

Minimum qualifications and experience:

• BPharm (Hons) or equivalent from a recognised institution.
• Valid Registration with the South African Pharmacy Council.
• Minimum of ten (10) years’ experience in pharmaceutical supply chain, or healthcare distribution/supplier.
• Comprehensive understanding of HIV/AIDS, TB, and related diseases.
• Computer literate - MS office suite.
• Master’s degree in pharmacy administration, healthcare administration, business, or other relevant subject area will be an added advantage.
• Mentoring and coaching experience.
• Experience in facilitating pharmacy-related training and workshops would also be an added advantage.
• Knowledge of the National Adherence Strategy (NAS).
• Knowledge of latest SA guidelines in terms of ART, TB and HIV management of adults, paediatrics, PMTCT, etc.
• Basic knowledge of data collection tools such as Tier.Net.
• Analytical, attention to detail and problem solving.
• Excellent verbal, written communication, and presentation skills.
• Able to maintain confidentiality and integrity.
• Excellent Interpersonal and team working skills.
• Project management skills.
• Self-motivated and able to inspire team to greater heights.
• Valid driver’s licence and willing to travel to various communities as and when required.