SPIR II Food Assistance Commodity and Logistic Specialist

Number of Position: One

Duty station: SPIR II Consortium Office

Strengthen PSNP Institutions and Resilience II (SPIR II) is an anticipated 5-year USAID/BHA funded Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) led by World Vision and including consortium partners CARE, ORDA and IFPRI. World Vision and its partners will create a strong, shock responsive ecosystem of public, private, and community level actors to support PSNP households to graduate from poverty and sustain income and food security gains in 17 targeted woredas in Amhara and Oromia regions. Building from key formative and research studies during an initial refinement period, SPIR II will use continuous learning to drive program level reflection, analysis, and adaptation.

Purpose of the position:

The Food Assistance Commodities and Logistics Specialist is responsible for liaising, scheduling, tracking and processing SPIR II food commodities shipment into country and dispatch from PDPs. This includes maintaining accurate records of receipts, shipments, and transport and handling costs. The purpose of the commodity and logistics Specialist position is to handle tasks related to call forwards, shipment, and custom clearance in closely working with SPIR II Food Assistance Manager, custom clearing agents, port operation agents, independent surveyors, the ministry of agriculture and custom authorities. The post holder will provide strategic support and planned leadership to particular logistics staff (commodity dispatchers, store keepers and stock controllers) to ensure efficiency, accountability and transparency of commodity and logistics management processes.

Major Responsibilities:

Commodity and Logistic Planning

• Provide support on consolidating and follow up on call forward, plan for shipment and inland transportation
• Plan, direct and supervise SPIR II shipment shipping arrangement and port operation activities relating to the sourcing and logistics cycle, in compliance with World Vision established standards and best practices, donor requirements and local laws.
• Engage in regular correspondences within and outside WVE offices for timely shipment and transportation of food commodities to the respective PDPs and FDPs.
• Ensures that logistic and spray and fumigation related services are procured timely in closely and collaboratively working with supply chain / procurement unit through submission of procurement plan and purchase requisition on time.
• Support food assistance management in planning and creation of programmatic budgets, and revision where necessary in coordination with program leadership.
• Support food assistance management unit working on spending projections for the commodity operations ensuring cost competitiveness in all Food Assistance activities.

Coordination and management of food commodities receipt at PDPs, warehouses management, safety and dispatch to FDPs.

• Closely work with SPIR II food assistance management team, implementing partners, and food assistance technical team to improve and enhance food assistance operational quality through supporting in the development and implementation of standard operating procedures.
• Attend Food Assistance Logistic Coordination meetings including providing commodity and logistics management technical skills in any food assistance coordination and management working group meeting.
• Manages the logistics system through cooperation with port authorities, port operations representative, independent surveyors, clearing and forwarding agent, and shipping lines agent.
• Ensure timely issue of budget letter from ministry of agriculture for effective port clearing.
• Ensure partners submit the weekly, monthly & quarterly transferred and distributed commodity reports timely for reconciliation purposes.

Warehouse Operations Management , Food Handling  and Reporting

•  Supervises commodity management and tracking by regularly engaging in dispatch plan and dispatch status preparation, reporting and proper documentation.
• Reports on and takes corrective action on Port and PDP level losses, timely restoration of damaged food at PDP level.
• Ensures proper warehousing and transport contracts are in place
• Regularly conduct monitoring visit to PDP warehouses to check for sound warehouse management practices and reconcile transaction documents.
• Engage in coordination  of  quarter and annual reporting of monitoring indicators of food assistance intervention in all DFSA implementing partners operational areas
• Tracking of food commodities to ensure proper commodity accounting by checking quantities dispatched Vs received at final destination.
• Check all the documents thoroughly before submitting for approval and ensure all payments requests are submitted on time for transport fees.
• Perform control activities, analyze commodity management service requests, systems and processes, and advice on compliance matters and improvements needed to mitigate risk.
• Ensure food commodities quality handling and safety through establishing proper risk mitigation and control mechanisms including proper management of spray and fumigation services when required.

Performance Management, Capacity Building, Supervision to Warehouse Staffs, and Coordination with program Team and IPs

• Support on timely recruitment of warehouse staff, handles performance management of direct reports and ensures positive and collaborative working relationships in line with WVE’s Code of Conduct in collaboration with SPIR II food assistance management.
• Identifies commodity staff capacity gaps and facilitates capacity building plan.
• Support and sometimes lead regular team meeting to review program progress and facilitate learning.
• Engage and ensure that appropriate tools like warehouse staff performance management, coaching and mentoring are practiced within warehouse commodity management team to enhance smooth staff relations and ensure accountability.

Qualifications:  Education/Knowledge/Technical Skills and Experience

 Required Professional Experience:

• 3-5 Years of experience in food assistance / food programs, disaster mitigation and development related fields with a minimum of 2 years’ experience on commodity and logistic coordination.

Qualification required:

• MA/MSc or BA/BSc Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Accounting , Disaster Management, Agriculture and  related fields

Preferred Knowledge and Qualifications:

• Strong knowledge and working  understanding of PSNP and USAID Food Security and Resilience programs
• Demonstrated capacity to on commodity and logistic coordination / management.
• Experience in food assistance programing, Grants/project management, Market assessment and Analysis, Cash transfer programing, supply chain management, and report writing.
• Good understanding of humanitarian standards
• Good knowledge of local context
• INGO experience
• Ability to work in high tension and high security risk situations
• Ability to work in and contribute to team building environment

Working Environment / Conditions:

• Office based with travel to the field
• Travel: 25% Field