National Consultancy – Supply Chain Consultant, Freetown, Sierra Leone, 12 months, Office-based – for Sierra Leonean nationals only

UNICEF Sierra Leone is recruiting a qualified national consultant to support enhancement of the availability, management, and accountability of commodities procured for FHCI and other programmes.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. 

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. 

And we never give up. 

For every child, health

Please access UNICEF Sierra Leone information here and here

How can you make a difference? 

The purpose of this consultancy is to enhance the availability, management, and accountability of commodities procured for FHCI and other programmes. This consultancy has two primary objectives:

1. Support the National Medical Supplies Agency (NMSA) strengthen its warehousing, inventory, and distribution functions.
2. Support supply chain quality assurance processes and initiatives to improve management and accountability for drugs and medical supplies.

The consultant will aim to:

1. Identify gaps and challenges in warehousing and inventory management practices—particularly in the processes of receiving, storing, and issuing drugs and medical supplies, including appropriate record-keeping (both manual and electronic). This is to ensure that NMSA supply chain data is accurate, reliable, credible, compliant, accountable, and supports evidence-based supply decisions.
2. Provide technical support to the NMSA team to address the identified gaps and challenges, strengthen supply chain operations, and implement priority quality assurance interventions.

 

Specific Tasks:

The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Support supply chain functions at the NMSA warehouses ensuring compliance with standard operating procedures and best practices in warehousing and inventory management.
• Support data management functions and the effective use of mSupply for managing warehouse information.
• Support the NMSA quality assurance activities, ensuring adherence to and maintenance of established operational standards.
• Evaluate current practices and processes in warehouse, inventory, and data management, identifying gaps and challenges, and providing technical support to resolve them.
• Work to enhance the skills of NMSA warehouse staff through training in effective and best practices for warehousing, inventory, and data management.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

• A first-level university degree in one of the following fields is required: Pharmacy, Health Supply Chain Management/Logistics, Biological Sciences Public Health or any field of health or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of two years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: Health Supply Chain Management, Supply and Logistics, Public Health/Nutrition Planning and Management with Supply Component, or Maternal and Neonatal Health Care with Supply Chain Management.
• Professional technical knowledge/ expertise in health supply chain systems, including forecasting and supply planning, procurement, inventory management, warehousing and distribution, and information management.
• Good knowledge and experience in using computer software applications, including word processing, spreadsheets, and corporate software packages.
• Strong communication and report writing skills, with the ability to present complex findings in a clear and accessible manner.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

If you would like to know more about this position, you are strongly encouraged to review the complete Job Description here:  VA TOR – Supply Chain Consultant.pdf

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check. 

Remarks:  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. 

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.