Supply Chain Advisor - Malawi Activity

The Opportunity

Under the supervision of the Chief of Party, the Supply Chain Advisor provides strategic and technical leadership for the Abt Global Central Mechanism's supply chain portfolio in Malawi. The Advisor will work closely with the Ministry of Health, the Central Medical Stores Trust, the Pharmacy and Medicines Regulatory Authority, other government counterparts, implementing partners, service providers, and Abt Global colleagues to strengthen commodity security and the performance, resilience, and sustainability of Malawi's public health supply chain. You will guide the planning, implementation, monitoring, and transition of activities spanning warehousing and distribution, logistics management information systems, product traceability and master data, quality management, and private-sector engagement.

The Abt Global Central Mechanism supports malaria vector control and HIV/AIDS service delivery in 14 partner countries, with the goal of improving health outcomes for target populations while strengthening the planning, data management, and implementation capacity of host-country governments and local institutions. The project sustains uninterrupted malaria vector control interventions, including insecticide-treated net distribution, indoor residual spraying, and spatial emanators, as well as HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services. In collaboration with government counterparts, the project identifies functions for transition and provides support to advance government memorandum of understanding (MOU) objectives. In Malawi, the project will support ITN and spatial emanator distribution as well as supply chain assistance to support the availability and accountable management of malaria, maternal and child health, HIV, and other priority health commodities while advancing government-led systems and transition priorities. This activity runs for 9 months from October 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.

Core Responsibilities

Milestone Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain an integrated supply chain implementation plan with clear milestones, deliverables, dependencies, responsible parties, and resource requirements.
• Attend country team milestone-progress reviews and provide concise evidence on performance, risks, decisions needed, and corrective actions.
• Manage competing priorities while maintaining full compliance with the negotiated statement of work, approved work plan, budget, and other contract requirements.
• Escalate potential milestone failures, scope growth, funding pressures, sustainability concerns, and other contract-impacting issues promptly to the Chief of Party.
• Control scope through disciplined planning and formal authorization of changes affecting milestones, schedules, resources, deliverables, or budgets.

Supply Chain Strategy and Government Coordination

• Provide senior technical advice to the Government of Malawi on supply chain policy, governance, system design, implementation, and transition priorities across malaria, maternal and child health, HIV, and other relevant programs.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with Ministry of Health departments and programs, the Central Medical Stores Trust, the Pharmacy and Medicines Regulatory Authority, district health offices, donors, implementing partners, and private-sector providers.
• Facilitate joint assessments, technical working sessions, and decision-making forums that translate national strategies into costed, time -bound, and operationally feasible actions.
• Support assessment of progress toward the Malawi National Supply Chain Transformation Implementation Plan and help government counterparts prioritize gaps, corrective actions, performance measures, and responsibilities.
• Promote harmonization of partner investments and ensure that project assistance strengthens government ownership, avoids duplication, and supports sustainable transition of functions.

Warehousing Distribution and Outsourced Logistics

• Lead technical planning and oversight for warehousing and distribution of insecticide-treated nets and other malaria, maternal and child health, HIV, and priority health commodities to health facilities throughout Malawi.
• Assess current warehouse locations, capacity, infrastructure, inventory controls, delivery frequencies, distribution models, costs, risks, and vendor arrangements; recommend practical improvements based on service needs and available resources.
• Support the Central Medical Stores Trust to assess warehousing and distribution options, strengthen oversight of outsourced logistics services, optimize private-sector partnerships, and establish an evidence-based logistics service fee model.
• Develop or strengthen key performance indicators, service-level requirements, dashboards, and review mechanisms for logistics providers and subcontractors; monitor performance and follow up on corrective actions.
• Support the Central Medical Stores Trust's pathway toward ISO certification for warehousing, including gap assessment, quality management systems, standard operating procedures, documentation, audit readiness, and continuous improvement.
• Promote good storage and distribution practices, including commodity receipt, inventory accuracy, security, stock status reporting, loss prevention, product integrity, reverse logistics, waste management, and occupational health and safety.
• Coordinate with procurement, finance, and technical teams to ensure logistics requirements are accurately specified, appropriately costed, contracted, monitored, and documented in accordance with Abt Global and client requirements.

Digital Systems Data Visibility and Traceability

• Guide continuation and enhancement of OpenLMIS support at national, district, and health-facility levels to maintain system functionality, user adoption, data availability, and timely resolution of operational issues.
• Work with the Ministry of Health and service providers to clarify system governance, support roles, hosting, licensing, connectivity, maintenance, cybersecurity, vendor performance, financing, and long-term sustainability for OpenLMIS and related analytics tools.
• Strengthen routine use of logistics data for quantification, resupply, inventory management, distribution planning, exception management, and performance improvement; promote interoperability with relevant national information systems where feasible.
• Provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and the Pharmacy and Medicines Regulatory Authority on GS1 implementation and end-to-end commodity traceability, including standards adoption, stakeholder readiness, roadmap development, and phased implementation.
• Support strengthening of the Master Health Product Registry, master data management plan, and National Product Catalogue in alignment with Malawi's pharmaceutical identification and labeling guidelines and the National Traceability Steering Committee.
• Establish data-quality review processes and ensure that analyses, dashboards, and reports present reliable, actionable information to decision-makers .

Performance Monitoring Capacity Strengthening and Learning

• Define baselines, targets, and indicators for supply chain activities and routinely analyze progress, bottlenecks, cost drivers, service levels, and sustainability risks.
• Prepare high-quality technical deliverables, scopes of work, budgets, cost estimates, terms of reference, implementation updates, presentations, and client reports in accordance with agreed timelines.
• Design and deliver coaching, mentoring, and competency-based capacity strengthening for government counterparts, district teams, health-facility staff, and project personnel.
• Document lessons learned and scalable practices and facilitate their use in adaptive management, national planning, and transition discussions.
• Contribute supply chain expertise to annual work planning, budgeting, procurement planning, risk management, and new business activities, as requested.
• Perform other related duties as assigned by the Chief of Party.

What We Value

• Master's degree in supply chain management, logistics, pharmacy, public health, business administration, industrial engineering, or a related field and at least nine years of relevant professional experience; or a bachelor's degree and at least twelve years of relevant professional experience.
• Demonstrated senior-level experience strengthening public health supply chains in Malawi or a comparable setting, including work with government institutions and development partners.
• Strong technical knowledge of warehousing, inventory management, transportation and distribution, commodity security, logistics performance management, and quality management systems.
• Demonstrated experience with logistics management information systems; direct experience with OpenLMIS , system governance, data use, interoperability, hosting, or vendor management is strongly preferred.
• Knowledge of GS1 standards, pharmaceutical traceability, product master data, national product catalogues, or master health product registries is strongly preferred.
• Experience assessing or managing outsourced logistics services, service-level agreements, cost models, private-sector partnerships, and provider performance is preferred.
• Experience supporting ISO-aligned warehousing systems, audit readiness, or continuous quality improvement is preferred.
• Proven ability to lead complex technical assignments, manage multiple stakeholders, translate assessments into feasible action plans, and deliver high-quality outputs on schedule.
• Strong quantitative, analytical, facilitation, negotiation, writing, and presentation skills, with proficiency in Microsoft Excel and data visualization tools.
• Knowledge of U.S. Government-funded programs and familiarity with applicable compliance, procurement, and reporting requirements is preferred.
• Professional fluency in written and spoken English is required; proficiency in Chichewa is strongly preferred.
• Ability and willingness to travel within Malawi, including to warehouses, districts, and health facilities, as required.

What We Offer

We foster an environment where you can Thrive Your Way. Our innovative total rewards programs are designed to help balance your work and personal life. The approach toward your wellbeing centers around comprehensive benefits and professional development.

Abt Global is an Equal Opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse workforce. Abt Global provides market-competitive salaries and comprehensive employee benefits. Local candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Disclaimer: Abt Global will never ask candidates for money in exchange for an offer of employment.

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