The Position:
The Demand and Supply Planning Specialist position is located in the Development Supplies Procurement Team within Pillar 2 – Supply Operations in the UNFPA Supply Chain Management Unit (SCMU). The position reports directly to the Demand and Supply Planning Manager (Team Leader). The Demand and Supply Planning Specialist will work closely with other SCMU colleagues, the new integrated HQ division (name To Be Decided), the UNFPA Supplies Partnership, the Humanitarian Response Division, other HQ Business Units, the Regional Offices and the Country Offices and with a number of external partners.
The position plays a crucial part in executing specific aspects of demand and supply planning; is responsible for detailed analysis, forecasting, and planning of specific commodity groups or geographical areas, ensuring accurate and efficient supply chain operations.
How you can make a difference:
UNFPA occupies a unique position in the sexual and reproductive health commodity ecosystem as a critical player in supply chain management, a leading public procurer of sexual and reproductive health commodities, a trusted partner to national governments, and one of the few organizations with the scale and partnerships necessary to build accountability for last mile delivery.
The UNFPA Supply Chain Management Unit (SCMU) is self-funded and was made operational in January 2022. It is tasked with ensuring that UNFPA is able to effectively and efficiently support the delivery of life-saving reproductive health products and other programme supplies to the end user when and where they are needed. To achieve this, it is important to strengthen the capacity of governments and implementing partners to ensure coordination, end-to-end visibility and accountability on all supply chain and logistics management related activities, in particular for programme supplies, across all UNFPA programmes.
Job Purpose:
The Demand and Supply Planning Specialist supports effective and efficient resource management through comprehensive needs assessment, validation of national supply plans, thorough funding gap analysis, and accurate quantification with focuses on advocacy for resources, facilitates capacity strengthening, and coordinates efforts to mainstream national supply planning across 119 country programmes.
Qualifications and Experience:
Education:
Advanced university degree in either Pharmacy, Supply Chain Management, Public Health disciplines, Procurement or Logistics, Economics or Business Administration. Additional qualification in regulatory sciences, health policy and administration or health systems management will be an asset.
Knowledge and Experience:
- A minimum of five (5) years of relevant progressively responsible professional experience in supply chain analytics and business forecasting optimization is required. Candidates should demonstrate experience in the below key areas, with the understanding that these experiences may overlap:
- At least two (2) years of hands-on direct country support on health supply chain in development and/or complex humanitarian operating environments in low-resource countries, demonstrating a deep understanding of the unique cultural and political sensitivities, logistics challenges, and regulations pertinent to these contexts.
- At least three (3) years of experience in forecasting health products, including producing multi-year projections and validating national supply plans and procurement requests.
- At least three (3) years of experience in supply chain data analytics, focusing on producing aggregate demand and supply reports and data visualization.
- At least two (2) years of experience in designing and delivering quantification training.
- Experience in developing analytical tools for management reporting and performance metrics in supply chain is required.
- Demonstrated expertise in family planning programming, including promoting expanded options and method mix and introduction of new contraceptive technologies.
- Professional written and spoken presentation skills, including for the development of reports, presentations, and the ability to synthesize complex supply chain documents for both technical and non-technical audiences is required.
- Strong interpersonal skills and capability to develop and maintain broad diversified partnerships is required.
- Experience using Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is required.
- Experience in managing a team, particularly within a remote and/or matrix organizational structure is required.
- Basic knowledge of the principles and operational aspects of integrated reproductive health care in the global development and humanitarian community is an asset.
- Knowledge of the principles and operational aspects of integrated reproductive health care in the global development and humanitarian community is an asset.
- Knowledge of UNFPA mandates, policies, and guidelines is an asset.
Languages:
Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.
We are no longer accepting applications for this position.
