Logistics Coordinator Job in Kenya - Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

Job Title: Logistics Coordinator

Start Date: As soon as possible

Location: IPA-Kenya Nairobi Office

Reporting To: Program Director

Introduction

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a rapidly growing, global non-profit organization with operations in over 40 countries. We are dedicated to discovering what works to help the world’s poor. We design and evaluate programs in real contexts with real people and provide hands-on assistance to bring successful programs to scale.

IPA-Kenya (IPAK) is IPA’s oldest and largest country office and the site of many of its most influential research projects. IPAK is also the site of IPA’s largest scale-up initiatives including Kenya’s National School-Based Deworming Programme and Safe Water Programme. The IPA-Kenya office was established in 2006 in Western Kenya and now employs over 200 people.

About School-based Deworming

Parasitic worms are a widespread global problem, affecting an estimated 400-million school-age children. These infections have immediate and long-term negative impacts on children’s health, mental and physical development, education, and adult earnings. Leading researchers have demonstrated that deworming through schools is one of the most cost-effective methods of increasing overall school attendance and participation.

Our Scale-up Efforts

The Deworm the World Initiative (DtWI), led by Innovations for Poverty Action and the Partnership for Child Development, actively supports the scale-up of school-based deworming programs worldwide to improve children’s health, education, and long-term development. To date, DtWI has helped to treat 35 million children across 27 countries.

Roughly half of these children were treated through the scale-up of brand new programs for which DtWI provided advocacy and/or in-depth technical assistance to plan, implement and evaluate. The Kenya program is a flagship program of the Initiative.

Role Description

Deworm the World seeks a qualified applicant for the position of Logistics Coordinator a National School-based Deworming Program in Kenya.

The Logistics Coordinator is part of a team responsible for providing support to the Kenyan government to scale a successful school-based deworming program to the national level. The program aims to provide deworming medication to over five million children in Kenya in 2012.

The Deworm the World team and the Kenyan government will accomplish this task by initiating a training and drug distribution cascade that will ultimately train thousands of teachers to deliver deworming medication through Kenyan schools. The program will operate in four provinces, 66 districts, and approximately 10,000 schools. There is a significant monitoring and evaluation component to this program that will also require complex logistics management.

The Training and Drug Distribution Cascade starts at the national level and extends down through several intermediate steps to the school level. As a significant part of their work, the Logistics Coordinator will, together with government personnel,create logistical and operational systems to optimize the work done at all levels of this training and distribution cascade.

This could include, but is not limited to, designing and overseeing systems to track travel arrangements for participants and trainers; arranging and optimizing training schedules;creating and managing systems for arranging venues, food and accommodations at training sessions; and planning for distribution of materials at training events.

The Logistics Coordinator will also manage procurement, storage, packaging, transport and distribution of pills and other materials, and will play a key role in organizing events. The Logistics Coordinator will also be responsible for managing the logistics of the Deworm the World Team at IPA-Kenya.

In addition to creating systems that track and support logistical challenges faced by many actors, both internal and external to the program,the Logistics Coordinator will play an integral role in the program’s success at reaching 5 million children.

Job Purpose

Manage all logistics related to the on-going movement of people, materials, monitoring forms and drugs sufficient to deworm5 million children annually.

Maximize efficiency and smooth operation of logistics and supply chains related to a large-scale training and distribution cascade as well as a comprehensive monitoring process.

Provide high-quality logistical support to the Deworm the World Team, including event planning and travel.

Specific Responsibilities

Logistics

Create and maintain systems for tracking the logistical necessities at all levels from the national to the local, and use systems to efficiently support Deworm the World Initiative partners to deliver the programCreate systems to track and support the management of venue, hotel, and transport logistics Manage logistics and operations for the Deworm the World Team including travel arrangements, optimizing schedules, movement of materials and informationDevelop and maintain relationships with vendors and service providers such as transport companies, hotels, training venues and other vendors relevant to drug and training distributionLiaise with the DtW financial team to make necessary payments to vendors and other disbursementsLiaise with the larger DtW team to prepare for efficient delivery of program services including all training sessions from the national to the school level and distribution of important materials and drugsWork with finance team to maintain financial records such as receipts and procurement estimates Develop clear and effective systems for the management of procurement Plan and execute events to advocate on behalf of the program or to advance its mission such as high level meetings, press conferences, publicity events and celebrationsCreate and maintain effective systems for tracking the movement and supply of materials, drugs and trainingEffectively document logistics activities for future replicationCreate and maintain schedules, calendars, files, contacts, task lists, reports and tracking spreadsheets related to logistics of the Training and Drug Distribution CascadeMaintain clear and organized procurement records Undergraduate degree or diploma in relevant field7+ years experience working in a logistics or operations role in a public, nonprofit or private sector organizationComputer skills necessary include: thorough knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet/EmailExperience managing supply chain or efficient delivery of goods and services to a large number of individuals across different geographical regionsEvent planning or similar experienceAbility to create adaptable systems of tracking and logistics managementProven organization skillsStrong critical thinking and judgment skillsKnowledge of Kenyan geography and regionsAbility to make and execute contingency plans as program goals and process changesClear understanding of the local Kenyan working environment (culture, people, geography, etc.), ability to leverage that knowledge to help the team make good decisions about operations and logisticsHigh level of attention to detailStrong ability to develop relationships with a diverse teamEffective communication, verbal and writing skillsFluent in English and SwahiliMature and professional composureOpenness to working in a flexible work environment with fast evolving systems and proceduresHighest level of integrity and honestyEagerness to develop personally/professionally, willingness to learn, develop new skills, and take on more responsibilitiesHigh level of initiative in improving the organization’s working environment To Apply

Applications can be submitted via email to jobs-kenya@poverty-action.org.

Please ensure the subject line reads “Logistics Coordinator DtW-2011_12_01”.

Please attach the following documents:

Cover letter explaining interest in the position and fit for the roleCV/resume, including three references, daytime phone number(s), and email address. Your CV should include your scores or grades and other measures of academic achievement, and details about any relevant work experience.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted by email for an interview.

Applicants are encouraged to apply early, as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and the position may be filled prior to the application deadline.

The application deadline is January 10, 2012.

Disclaimer:

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by the Logistics Coordinator.

The statements are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible duties, tasks, and responsibilities.

Management reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet organizational needs as necessary.

Please note that IPA will never request any form of payment from an applicant.

Applicants are encouraged to confirm the information listed above with IPA prior to releasing any extensive personal information to the organization.

Please direct questions to jobs-kenya@poverty-action.org.

Visit http://www.kenyan-jobs.com/ for many more jobs in Kenya