Relief International is hiring a Global Pharmacist

January 21, 2022

Department: Technical Assistance Department

Location: Remote home-based in the US or UK or can be based remotely in a RI country of operation

Reporting to: Global Health and Nutrition Director

Direct reports: Not Applicable

Budget responsibility: Not Applicable

This role is classified as requiring advanced pre-employment checks

ABOUT Relief International.

Relief International (RI) is a leading non-profit organization working in 16 countries globally to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and chronic poverty.

RI combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact and resilience. We focus on health/nutrition, education, economic opportunity, and water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) programming while integrating protection, environment/climate change, and conflict mitigation in partnership with the communities we serve. We empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.

RI includes the three corporate members of the RI Alliance: RI-US, RI-UK, and MRCA/RI-France. Under our alliance agreement, we operate as a single, shared management structure.

About our Programs

RI is active in 16 countries around the world, including some of the most fragile: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen. Often, RI is the only organization providing assistance to highly vulnerable communities.

RI employs about 5,000 staff and auxiliary workers

97% of staff are local nationals and there are about 90 international (expat) staff.

2021 programs budget is about $125M

RI receives funding from a broad range of institutional donors – US,UK, Europe, and the UN, to delivery life-saving and resilience building programming with communities and local and international partners. RI supports solutions that reinforce and improve upon existing in-country systems. Where such systems do not exist or are chronically underperforming, RI’s crisis response lays the foundation for long-term, sustainable change.

Position Summary.

The Global Pharmacist will support in addressing a growing need for strengthening organizational medical supply chain management systems in RI, in government supported and RI run health facilities and to emergency response programs. Providing technical oversight to the management of medical commodities of Relief International to enable safe and quality medical services globally.

The Global Pharmacist will ensure

The development and strengthening of relevant policies procedures and guidelines related to pharmacy services and medical supply chain management systems
Delivering technical assistance to RI’s country programs in Africa, Asia and the Middle East and deliver technical support to RI regional and country staff
Supporting the country offices to establish and maintain emergency buffer pharmaceuticals stock systems
Collaborate closely with other technical advisors and the Global supply chain department as well as all other pertinent departments in order to carry out tasks and will engage with internal and external technical working groups with the aim of improving quality of health programming.

Key Responsibilities and Duties.

Support for Policy, procedure and guideline development (30%)

Provide technical inputs to develop and/or strengthen relevant organizational policies, procedures and processes to support safe and quality pharmacy services globally
Lead the development of standard operating procedures and tools to ensure proper management of pharmaceutical buffer stock at country office levels, including loan and replenishment models
Lead on developing and maintaining clinical SOPs, standards and guidelines
As required, provide subject matter expertise and clear recommendations to the Global Health and Nutrition Director, the Global Medical Advisor and senior leadership across Relief International, to inform strategic direction and critical decision making regarding clinical/ medical issues.

Practices and Compliance (35%)

Provide technical assistance to the RI portfolio of country programmes (in Africa, Asia, Middle East) to effectively roll-out the pharmacy SOPs, standards and guidelines including analysis of country specific laws and regulations
Support country offices to implement quantification and forecasting systems, buffer stock systems, and stock management systems relevant to the context and to carry out quarterly self-assessments on pharmacy services safety and quality as part of the quality benchmarks.
Carry out supportive supervision visits to medical programmes globally, to ascertain safety and quality of pharmacy services and compliance, identifying gaps and support needs, and provide on-site and on-going remote technical support.
Support field teams to investigate other service mechanisms (e.g., telepharmacy) and alternative venues which can be used for delivering pharmacy services to beneficiaries

People Empowerment and Capacity Building and Training (30%)

Develop and conduct technical trainings and learning events (on-site or remotely) to continuously improve safety and quality of pharmacy services across all settings, prioritizing countries and programmes with higher risks and urgent needs.
Train and coach staff (including both health and supply chain and operations staff) on standard operating procedures with regard to quality assurance and quality checks on suppliers and supplies for medical commodity sourcing through the procurement process including newly developed tools for the management of pharmaceutical buffer stock and loan and replenishment systems

Representation (5%)

Engage with relevant internal and external stakeholders to improve medicine use and management (e.g., audit) and ensure efficient communication between Health and supply chain (procurement and warehouse) teams

Safeguarding

Uphold and promote RI’s commitment to ensuring the safeguarding and safety of the vulnerable communities we serve
Consistent with RI’s safeguarding and protection policies, contribute to ensuring that all those who come into contact with Relief International staff and the communities we serve can be trusted to work safely with them

Culture and leadership

Ensure a positive and productive work environment which is free from harassment and bullying.
Ability to demonstrate sensitivity and understanding of diversity and cultural differences, gender issues and the commitment to equal opportunities
Ability to demonstrate and uphold RI’s values and ethics

Other related tasks that may from time to time

Role requirements.

Experience and skills required for the role.

Degree in Pharmacy (or equivalent qualification)
Demonstrated experience of;
progressive responsibility in pharmacology and medical supply chain management. Ideally within a in a low resource setting (priority given to those with experience working in a humanitarian context and with USG and ECHO programs)
dispensing medication, including counselling patient/population, pharmacists, and prescribers on the safe and rational use of medicines and devices. (e.g., selection, indications, contraindications, adverse reactions, costs and sources, storage, quality, and side effects of non-prescription and prescription medicines)
end-to-end pharmaceutical management cycle (sourcing, storage and transport, use, disposal).
logistics cycle of health commodities, forecasting and quantification
practice and knowledge in designing and conducting audits and field assessments, critically appraising, and writing reports, identify gaps and implement recommendations.
developing policies and preparing/reviewing technical documents.
pharmacovigilance, incident reporting and risk management.
Competent in use of online IT systems, including Microsoft Office Word Powerpoint and Excel
Ability to manage relationships with teams providing remote support, capacity building and delivering trainings in a positive and professional manner
Ability to work under pressure and to meet challenging deadlines.
Excellent relationship management skills and ability to communicate in all forms (written, verbal, negotiation, presentation skills, etc.) in English, working proficiency in Arabic an advantage
Willingness to travel, sometimes at short notice, as required for the successful implementation of the role.

RI Values.

Guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, as well as “Do No Harm,” Relief International Values:

We value:

Integrity
Adaptability
Collaboration
Inclusivity
Sustainability

How to apply.

To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button in the job advert page
You will be asked to upload a CV and Cover Letter. The cover letter should be no more than 2 pages long and explain why you are interested in this post with Relief International and how your skills and experience make you a good fit.

Closing date. Note the closing date as per the job board listing, however, please apply immediately as we will be reviewing applicants on a rolling basis and may withdraw the position before the job board closing date.

Due to limited resources, only short-listed candidates will be contacted

Relief International has a zero-tolerance policy for unlawful harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse. Relief International is committed to protecting our staff and the communities we work with from abuse and harm including sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and sexual harassment.

All staff are expected to abide by our Code of Conduct.

Recruitment to all roles in Relief International include a criminal records self-declaration, references and other pre-employment checks, which may include police and qualifications checks.

To apply: https://phg.tbe.taleo.net/phg01/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=RI&cws=4&rid=1750