Overview
The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.
CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work in conjunction with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.
At CHAI, our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries with a broad range of skillsets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with majority of our staff based in program countries. Learn more about our exciting work: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org
CHAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. CHAI values diversity and inclusion, and recognizes that our mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people with diverse experience, backgrounds, and culture.
CHAI has launched an ambitious effort to scale up access to treatment for diarrhea and pneumonia, which combined, kill over 1.5 million children every year. Working with the governments of five high-burden countries and leading global institutions, CHAI’s Essential Medicines team is supporting intensified efforts at both global and country levels to plan, resource, and implement effective interventions for scaling-up access to treatment for these conditions – specifically zinc and ORS for diarrhea, and amoxicillin and oxygen for pneumonia. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Essential Medicines team has expanded its oxygen work to over 20 countries, supporting pandemic response efforts while strengthening long-term oxygen systems planning.
CHAI seeks a Global Procurement Associate to support the Essential Medicines team, CHAI country teams, and other stakeholders. This position is intended to support the procurement workstream of the Global Essential Medicines team.
Please note that the location for this position is flexible and can be based in any CHAI program countries depending on country leadership approval.
Responsibilities
- Collaborate on the development of technical guidance documents and materials for oxygen systems application: supporting CHAI and MOH on technical design, development, production, and use of oxygen equipment and ancillary system needs
- Coordinate markets and technical support/inputs for the country and global procurement exercises in collaboration with Procurement Associate and technical engineers/specialists
- Update the global procurement tracker, assist with data analysis and monitor procurement dashboard
- Lead procurement processes for assigned products from start to finish including drafting solicitation documents, posting, compiling questions from vendors and providing feedback using questions and answers template
- Communicate technical issues from vendors with the technical team and document feedback
- File and store all procurement documents including submissions from vendors, approvals from management and financial documents to ensure easy retrieval during audits
- Conduct preliminary evaluation and request for missing documents from vendors
- Assist country teams with the necessary documentation to process product waivers, where required, and documentation required for import, where the global team coordinates procurements.
- Provide relevant documents for the evaluation committee meetings and store reports and other outputs from evaluation team committee meetings
- Participate in the drafting of documents, e.g., purchase orders, requests for quotations, requests for proposals, invitations to bid, etc.
- Assist with developing bid specifications.
- Assist in reviewing requisitions to ensure accuracy, terminology, and specifications are in accordance with procurement policy.
- Survey for reliable sources, locate and contact vendors, coordinates with internal and external parties for proposals/quotations.
- Contact suppliers to schedule or expedite deliveries, resolve shortages, missed or late deliveries to ensure contract terms and company needs are met.
- Review and approve bill for payment and calculates costs of orders and forward invoices to appropriate accounts.
- Will be liaison for engineering support, including the review of specifications and support for tendering processes.
- Manage assigned suppliers using the contract management tool
- Participate in reviewing and drafting updates to CHAI’s procurement policy
- Other responsibilities as needed
Qualifications
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- Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in biomedical engineering or other areas closely related to engineering strongly preferred, plus 3 years related work experience, with a focus on working in developing countries, preferably spanning engineering (e.g., design, production) as well as commercial (e.g., product strategies, sales) areas of the private sector or Bachelors degree in Pharmacy with at least one year experience working in oxygen procurement and 3 years experience in procurement of goods, services or civil works.
- International certification in procurement (CIPS or APICS)
- Excellent quantitative, problem-solving, analytical, operational, and statistical analysis skills and experience in handling large datasets; network analysis a plus
- Entrepreneurial mindset, including the ability to work independently, self-motivate, and propose and implement new initiatives
- High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, Word, and PowerPoint
- Ability to think strategically, handle ambiguity, and problem solve in a fast-paced, limited-structure, multicultural environment
- Ability to be effective in high-pressure situations, handle multiple tasks simultaneously, and set priorities
- Able to quickly learn and become well-versed in all relevant aspects of oxygen delivery across supply chain components, equipment management, human resources, clinical training, etc.
- Strong desire to work in a fast-paced, limited-structure, high-pressure, multicultural environment
- Ability to be effective in high-pressure situations and handle competing priorities
- Ability to rapidly absorb and synthesize a broad range of information, including technical information
- Familiarity with medical device quality management systems, including IMDRF countries’ regulatory frameworks and requirements as well as standards compliance, for the development, testing, production, and continued QA/QC of medical devices
Advantages:
- Prior experience in related industries, including Biomedical/Medical engineering, Pharmacy or Public Health
- Knowledge of supply chain management
- Experience managing change in developing countries and partnering with donors, branches of government, NGOs, or demonstrated experience in related areas
- Understanding or prior experience in global procurement and medical device quality standards helpful
