Position: Regional Supply Chain and Operations Manager (Africa/Asia)

September 13, 2021

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. Our signature approach – which we call the RI Way—emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.

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

About our Country/Regional Programs:

RI operates in nine countries in the Africa/Asia region: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, with a focus on the four RI sector pillars: Health, WASH, Education and Economic Opportunity. RI currently employs more than 3,000 staff (direct and indirect) in the Africa/Asia region and implements a range of emergency response and development programs valued at approximately $50 million USD on an annual basis.

Position Summary:

As a senior member of the Africa/Asia Regional Team, the Regional Supply Chain and Operations Manager acts as an advisor to the region on all Supply Chain and Operations matters (procurement, stock/inventory management, fleet, facilities and assets management). S/he will provide virtual and in-country support to the Supply Chain and Operations teams of all country offices in the Africa/Asia region, while also supporting effective communication and information flow among regional and global offices and ensuring compliance to all relevant RI and donor policies and procedures.

Essential Responsibilities and Duties:

Technical and Management

Provide support and guidance to all Country Offices in Africa/Asia, including oversight of all Supply Chain and Operations (SC & Ops) functions in line with RI and donor policies and regulations.
Work with the Country Directors and in-country SC & Ops teams to improve operational systems and ensure standard operation policies and procedures are adhered to.
Provide hands-on contributions to in-country personnel on all SC & Ops matters when mobilizing and implementing new projects or closing out of awards.
Facilitate communication and cross learning for all Africa/Asia based SC & Ops staff.
Provide regular review and assessment of SC & Ops staffing structures and functions in the Country Offices with the aim to strengthen overall efficiency and accountability.
Perform annual assessments of Country Office SC & Ops departments and determine in collaboration with in-country SC & Ops Managers and CD the ideal staffing structure with a plan to support transition (staffing and funding) to that structure over the course of one year.
Provide orientation to new senior SC & Ops staff and senior/key staff at country-level, provide, as needed, refresher training to staff in all standard SC & Ops and admin procedures, SOPs, forms, record keeping and to ensure future ongoing compliance. Provide training to program and other support staff on critical SC & Ops policy and procedures.
Assess and support Country Office procurement management; ensuring trackers are kept up to date and accurate and that data is periodically reviewed to determine staff performance. Ensure all RI and donor policy and procedure is known and being adhered to at all times.
Work with each Country Office SC & Ops team on improved usage of procurement plan (consolidation of plans) and through procurement planning build supply/sourcing strategy for the country offices.
Work with each Country Office SC & Ops team to have quarterly reporting schedule in place. Provide review, analysis and feedback to each office resulting in actionable improvements in the execution of functions.
Review and/or approve (checking for accuracy and compliance) all high level procurements ($50,000 and above and all tenders), framework agreements, leases and other large value, high risk financial commitments.
Assess and support Country Office fleet management; ensure appropriate allocation and safe use is achieved throughout the servicing of programs and staff; rental service agreements and contracting is done in alignment with RI procurement standards and fuel and maintenance systems are in place.
Assess and support Country Office warehouse management; ensure systems and reporting are in place for the effective storage and distribution of all program stocks. Support in the trial and rollout of an inventory management system.
Assess and support in country office asset management; ensuring that all program and Country operations assets (and furniture and equipment) are reflected in registers; all assets are documented, issued with unique RI asset numbers, tagged and logged according to RI Asset management manual and procedures.
Work with Global Support Office SC & Ops department, Awards Management Unit, and Global Assurance to address key risks and audit findings/disallowances. Maintain technical knowledge of donor rules and regulations to ensure compliance with donor requirements.
Work in collaboration with other members of the RI team; sharing information on assessments and proposed interventions, providing overview and inputs of SC & Ops requirements for the development of project proposals and subsequent projects.
Work with Global Support Office to create template for country specific SC & Ops manuals. Ensure consistent application of all RI tools and templates, policies and procedures throughout Africa/Asia Country Offices.
Liaise regularly with Global Support Office to ensure that all activities are aligned with global policies and developments and support Global SC & Ops initiatives and special projects implementation.
Support in the realization of Country Office Emergency Preparedness Plans (EPP) through the establishment of framework agreements and supplier databases.
Liaise with other Regional Support Office senior staff members (Regional Program Director, Regional Finance Manager, Regional HR Manager, Regional Security Manager, and Regional Awards Manager) to ensure that SC &Ops priorities, procedures, and risks are well understood and addressed/enforced in a coordinated manner at regional level.
Collaborate with all regional colleagues to present a consolidated approach and teamwork for Country Offices support and management.
Review country proposals on SC & Ops part and remain involved on all Project Cycle Management phases, meetings, strategic exercise, etc. in coordination with Regional Support Office.
Responsible for the inventory and assets management for Africa/Asia RSO.
Other responsibilities as assigned.

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, ensure all people who come into contact with Relief International are as safe as possible. \

Equity and Diversity commitment

Demonstrate sensitivity and understanding of systemic diversity and cultural differences.
Ensure that gender equity is addressed in our staffing and programming

Qualifications and Skills Requirements

This position will require a demonstrated ability to achieve results in a demanding and fast paced environment.

Extensive SC & Ops management experience in international development and humanitarian programs, experience in Africa and/or Asia preferred.
Demonstrated ability to contribute to operational management systems in large complex programs.
Knowledge of international humanitarian and development systems, institutions and donors (including UN agencies, BHA, and ECHO), and of procedures, accountability frameworks and best practices.
In depth knowledge and experience of supply chain systems and requirements in a multi field office, multi program setting.
Direct experience of supporting the delivery of humanitarian programs, in a technical or operational role, in at least three different contexts.
Senior management role within a complex country program and/or in a large scale emergency response.
Cold chain and/or pharmaceutical supply chain expertise preferred.
Substantial training and capacity building experience.
Culturally sensitive, with highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching.
Experience supporting and developing programmatic staff with different backgrounds and expertise.
A degree in a relevant field.
English language fluency is required.

RI Values:

We uphold the Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality and operational independence. We affirmatively engage the most vulnerable communities.

We value: