Senior Special Advisor for Procurement and Finance

Ministry of Health would like to invite competent and interested applicants for the following positions.

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has thought the world how sustainable and widely available vaccine manufacturing capacity is critical. For Africa and other LMICs, having local vaccine manufacturing capacity and capability will help to ensure supply security, control over production scheduling and sustainability, control of costs, socio-economic development, and rapid response to local epidemics including emerging infectious diseases. Thus comes the initiative of the Africa CDC/PAVM with the ambitious goal of African manufacturers producing 60% of the vaccine needed in the continent by 2040. This goal will be achieved through strengthening local capacity of member countries. The government of Ethiopia has therefore a huge interest and makes concrete steps to establishing cGMP compliant local vaccine manufacturing facility in Ethiopia by expanding the local capacity of vaccine manufacturing at the National Veterinary institute which has the capacity of manufacturing over 20 different vaccines for animal use. The Goal is to manufacture at least one vaccine (DP) by 2026 and one vaccine drug substance by 2027. So far, the initiative of the Ethiopian government has achieved major milestones including: development of feasibility study (technical, financial, and market), securing funding to finance the project. Moreover, based on the type of vaccine to be produced potential technology partners for technology transfer has been identified. The process of company formation (as government-owned facility with the support of technology partners) is on its final stage. A 20,000sqm of land within Kilinto Industrial Park is secured in the outskirt of Addis Ababa. Along with all preparatory activities, a recruitment of a consultancy firm is under way to begin the facility design and construction within the Industrial Park. Concerning the regulatory capacity, WHO has recently audited the EFDA to qualify for ML3; will receive the ML3 as soon as EFDA complies with the recommendations given by WHO. In order to strengthen other vaccine manufacturing ecosystems, the Ministry of Health is working closely with Africa CDC/PAVM in different platforms since the launching of PAVM in 2021.

The Ministry of Health of Ethiopia is now planning to recruit key personnel for the project office to coordinate and lead the different activities that support the establishment. One of the positions is Senior Special Advisor for Procurement and finance.

Job summary:

Under the guidance and supervision of the project office lead, Procurement and Finance Officer is responsible for effective delivery of financial services, transparent utilization of financial resources and effective delivery of procurement services. He/she analyses and interprets the financial, administrative and procurement rules and regulations and provides solutions to a wide spectrum of complex financial, administrative and procurement issues. Procurement and Finance Officer promotes a collaborative, client-oriented approach consistent with rules and regulations. Procurement and Finance Officer supervises Driver Clerk in coordination with project office lead with regard to logistical, procurement, fleet management and finance related activities, Procurement and Finance Officer works in close collaboration with the finance and procurement lead offices in MOH for financial and procurement related issues.

Job description summary

• Ensuring full compliance of procurement activities with rules, regulations, policies and strategies, implementation of the effective internal control, proper functioning of a client-oriented procurement management system.
• Procurement business processes mapping and elaboration/establishment of internal Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in Procurement, control of the workflows in the Procurement Unit.
• Analysis of requirements and synthesis of proposals for cost saving and reduction strategies.
• Synthesis of proposals and implementation of contract strategy including tendering processes and evaluation, contractor appraisal, managing the contract and contractor, legal considerations and payment conditions, risk assessment.
• Implementation of the strategic procurement in including sourcing strategy, supplier selection and evaluation, quality management, customer relationship management, e- procurement introduction and promotion, performance measurement.

Quality:

• The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the project office, and will:
• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet the project offices needs
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources
• Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
• Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
• Participate in audit where appropriate

Location : Addis Ababa/ project office

Reports to: Project Technical Lead/ Finance EO, MoH

Employment Type and Duration: The contract duration will be for 36 [thirty six] months, renewable annually subject to performance and budget availability

EDUCATIONAL BACK GROUND

• Masters University Degree in Public Procurement, Public Finance or Finance and Accounting, Business Administration or a professional accounting qualification from an recognized institute.
• Professional certifications in procurement or finance (e.g. ACCA, CSCP, CPM, and CFA) are a plus.

WORK EXPERIENCE

• 15 years of relevant experience in providing financial management and/or procurement management with at least 5 years in International Development or Donor related Government Projects.
• PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES, REQUIRED
• Operational systems Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and advance knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems for financial management and procurement.
• Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the procurement and finance.
• Ability to formulate and manage budgets; manage contributions and investments; manage transactions; and conduct financial analysis, reporting and cost-recovery.
• Possesses knowledge of organizational policies and procedures and applies them consistently in work tasks especially in project management
• Identifies new and better approaches to work processes and incorporates the same in his/her work
• Analyzes the requirements and synthesizes proposals
• Strives to keep job knowledge up-to-date through self-directed study and other means of learning
• Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments
• Demonstrates in-depth understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments related to procurement

Reporting

• Procurement and finance officer will report to Project Technical Lead
• Language Requirement: Applicants must be proficient in English [speaking, writing, listening and reading]
• Both the Civil service and MoH Human Resource Administration rules and regulations will be applied to guide the day to day services of the advisor.