Clinton Health Access Initiative - Vaccines Stock Management/Temperature Monitoring

Clinton Health Access Initiative - Analyst - Vaccines Stock Management/Temperature Monitoring

Overview :

Clinton Health Access Initiative :

Founded in 2002 by President William J. Clinton, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to strengthening integrated health systems around the world and expanding access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria and other illnesses. Based on the premise that business oriented strategy can facilitate solutions to global health challenges, CHAI acts as a catalyst to mobilize new resources and optimize the impact of these resources to save lives, via improved organization of commodity markets and more effective local management.

By working in association with governments and other NGO partners, CHAI is focused on large scale impact and, to date, CHAI has secured lower pricing agreements for treatment options in more than 70 countries. In addition, CHAI's teams are working side-by-side with over 30 governments to tackle many of the largest barriers to effective treatment and care.

In India since 2004, CHAI has worked with the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) & State Aids Control Society (SACS) on various HIV-related initiatives & with the Central Tuberculosis Division (CTBD) on TB related initiatives. Since October 2012, CHAI has been leading an - Essential Medicines- (EM) program aimed at arresting diarrhoea and pneumonia related mortality in Madhya Pradesh, and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

This effort is anchored in demand generation and capacity building activities with emphasis on innovative and easily scalable interventions targeted at the public and private sector. CHAI is now expanding its support to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in improving immunization outcomes with a focus on improving Vaccine Delivery Systems.

Vaccines Program :

Vaccination is widely acknowledged as one of the most cost-effective and focused disease interventions. In addition, the unprecedented wave of new vaccines expected over the next decade has the potential to dramatically reduce the global burden of disease.

Although India has made significant progress in the last decade in improving vaccine coverage and introducing new vaccines, many challenges remain.

CHAI is launching a new vaccines program to support the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare on its Universal Immunization program (UIP) in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Our focus will be to support the UIP program in improving availability, efficacy of vaccines and efficiency of vaccines systems through strengthening Cold Chain Management and Vaccines Delivery & Logistics.

This would entail working on various work streams such as Cold Chain Expansion, Rehabilitation & Optimization; Improving Temperature Monitoring, Stock Management and Vaccine distribution Systems; Improving Repair & Maintenance systems of Cold Chain equipment.

For its new vaccines program in Madhya Pradesh, Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is looking for a highly qualified, dynamic, energetic person with exceptional people skills and experience of working in challenging environments, to support its new India Vaccine Program.

This role is specifically in the work streams of :

- Equipment Temperature Monitoring

- Vaccine Stock Management & delivery.

Background on the role :

Temperature Monitoring :

- Vaccines need to be stored in specialized cold chain equipment such as ILRs (Ice Lined Refrigerators) which should maintain a temperature between 2-8 degrees Celsius.

- If vaccines are exposed to temperature excursions (i.e., below 2 or above 8 degrees) and the excursion goes unnoticed or appropriate action is not taken, the efficacy of vaccines is put into serious question.

- This could potentially be fatal for the child being injected with this vaccine as he/ she does not end up receiving a potent vaccine against the particular disease. Hence, it is of critical importance that equipment temperature monitoring systems are robust and appropriate actions is taken in case an excursion occurs; ideal situation being prevention of temperature excursions.

Stock Management & Delivery :

- Vaccines are stored at various levels of the supply chain namely, State & Regional Vaccine Store, District Vaccine Store, Community Health Centers and Primary Health Centers.

- Robust stock management practices and response protocols (for health workers) need be in place to ensure that no level of supply chain experiences stock-out of vaccines.

- Further, to ensure that vaccine reach each level, and specifically the last mile sessions sites on-time, delivery systems from one level to another need to be optimized.

Responsibilities :

- Support the Program Manager to identify and define CHAI's overall strategy within the program area, develop clear operational plans for execution, and continually identify opportunities for CHAI to add value and maximize impact

- Support the conduct of a Temperature Monitoring Study across all levels of the supply chain to identify drivers/ root causes of temperature excursions.

- Support the conduct of baseline Stock Assessment to understand the drivers/ root cause of stock outs at each level of the supply chain.

- With the results from above assessments and in collaboration with other partners such as UNDP and ITSU, support the design of response protocols & SOPs to be followed by health workers in case a temperature excursion on the cold chain equipment and for ensuring optimal stock management practices.

- Complete diagnostic of existing vaccine delivery systems to each level of the supply chain to identify inefficiencies.

- Conceptualize and drive the creation of an optimized vaccine delivery route plan (tool / software)

- Pilot improvements to plan based on optimization and monitor adherence to & implementation of optimized plan

- Lead in development of innovative approaches and tools as well as documentation and dissemination of best practices on vaccine cold chain improvement

- Develop strong working relationships with key stakeholders in government, international partners, donors and NGOs, and ensure maximum coordination of resources and effort

- Collaborate with government to ensure skills transfer and government ownership, identify the most critical hurdles to scale-up, and develop innovative strategies to address them.

- Undertake any other duties as requested by the Program Manager or Country Director

Requirements :

- Minimum Bachelor's degree in Economics, Mathematics, Finance, Sciences, Business or a related discipline.

- Minimum 2-3 years work experience in Supply Chain/ Logistics Management

- Good analytical (qualitative and quantitative) and communication (written and verbal) skills

- Proven track record of working in challenging multi-stakeholder environments & ability to build relationships with a range of stakeholders and drive immediate results

- Experience in the planning and execution of large scale projects, including budgeting and activity planning

- Experience structuring and leading evidence based decision making processes

- Entrepreneurial mindset, including ability to work independently, self-motivate, and propose and implement new initiatives

- Ability to think strategically, handle ambiguity, and problem solve in a fast-paced, limited-structure, multicultural environment

- High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint and Word

- Willingness to travel if required and at short notice, even to remote places in MP at times

- Fluent in English and Hindi

Preferred requirements:

- MBA

- Preference for candidates having worked in the Vaccines industry

- Experience managing change in developing countries, and partnering with donors, branches of government, NGO's or demonstrated experience in related areas