Private Sector Engagement Specialist
VillageReach (International Postings), Congo

VillageReach transforms health care delivery to reach everyone, so that each person has the health care needed to thrive. We develop solutions that improve equity and access to primary health care. This includes making sure products are available when and where they are needed and primary health care services are delivered to the most under-reached. Radical collaboration with governments, the private sector and other partners strengthen our ability to scale and sustain these solutions. Our work increases access to quality health care for more than 46 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. VillageReach in incorporated in Washington State and has offices in Seattle (USA), Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, and Mozambique.

The Private Sector Engagement Specialist will work closely with VillageReach’s Manager, Government Engagement to build distributor capacity, support distributors in their development of public sector customers, and help share and amplify the learnings to inform work in other countries. This position is cross-cutting and will require working with private sector firms, government programs (PDSS and the MNH - Multisectoral Nutrition and Health Initiative), government agencies (FEDECAM, DPM, PNAM, DPS), Association Régionale d'Approvisionnement en Médicaments Essentiels (ASRAMES), the Africa Resource Center (ARC), and Salient Research. This role will be part of the Private Sector Engagement Team and will be based in Kinshasa. A successful candidate will have significant experience with health commodity distributors with a good understanding of distributor business strategies, business and financial models, core distributor operations (quality control, purchasing, warehousing and inventory management) and government engagement.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or be assigned at any time.

• Distributor government collaboration (30%): Identify target private sector distributors/wholesalers and develop overall strategy in coordination with PDSS and MNH programs. Work closely with VillageReach’s Senior Government Engagement Manager to define issues and opportunities for government engagement. Develop policy proposals and action plans. Support development of collaboration agreements including Service Level Agreements between distributors and public sector customers. Manage bi-annual joint performance reviews between distributors and government customers.
• Distributor performance improvement (30%): Contribute to the development of a performance framework for the evaluation of private sector distributors. Assess operational capability and define improvement plans; identify areas (operational procedures, tools amp; information systems, management practices) requiring improvement and identify sources of technical assistance (TA). Secure funding for TA, identify and secure TA providers, and oversee implementation. Participate in distributor performance evaluations in collaboration with the DPM and the lGS.
• Distributor business development (20%): Engage private sector distributors to orient their strategies in a way that supports public sector geographic and health priorities. Identify operational changes at private distributors needed to enable public health impact including associated investments. Support development of investment business cases for selected distributors. Engage financing TA specialists as needed and oversee financing work.
• Private sector distributor advocacy (20%): Assess perception of private distributors by donors and government departments. Identify achievements and lessons learned to date from PDSS implementation. Work with VillageReach’s Solution Costing Analyst to conduct cost benchmarking to understand the cost differences between private for-profit distributors and private not-for-profit distributors; identify levers to improve costs linked to private commercial distributor operational efficiency and scale.

The following competencies reflect what is expected of all VillageReach employees; including examples of how one might demonstrate each of these competencies in one’s role.

• Personal Motivation and Drive: Is self-directed in one’s approach to work, but asks for help when needed; holds oneself accountable; undertakes self-development activities; seeks to build and master new skills; looks for and takes advantage of opportunities within the organization

• Collaboration amp; Effective Communication: Establishes and maintains effective relations with coworkers, partners amp; stakeholders and external parties; works collaboratively with others to accomplish organizational and team goals and objec

Job Rewards and Benefits