National Consultant – Strengthen National Capacity in Forecast Accuracy and Distribution Costing for Reproductive Health Commodities

1. The Position:

1. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) supports the Ministry of Health (MoH) in improving access to essential medicines and Reproductive Health (RH) commodities in Zambia. Despite ongoing interventions, service delivery points continue to face challenges in accessing these vital supplies, which impacts maternal health and family planning goals. A significant constraint remains the in-country supply chain’s capacity to accurately forecast and efficiently deliver supplies to the last mile. To address these gaps, UNFPA seeks a consultant to provide specialized technical support in forecast accuracy and distribution costing.

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead United Nations agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is intended, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. The UNFPA Strategic Plan for 2026-2029 articulates the organization’s response to a complex global environment, providing a roadmap for resilience and renewal. It is designed to accelerate the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. This mandate is pursued through a focus on four interconnected outcomes: ending the unmet need for family planning; ending preventable maternal deaths; ending gender-based violence and harmful practices; and adapting to demographic change through evidence and rights-based policies.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff who embody these international norms and standards and will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates who transform, inspire, and deliver high-impact sustained results, ensuring effective external relations, communications, partnership-building and resource mobilization in a rapidly changing development and funding landscape. We need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them, and who commit to delivering excellence in programme results
Job Purpose:

2. Scope of Work

The consultant will be embedded within the Sexual and Reproductive Health Supply Chain team and will be responsible for executing the following core portfolios:

A. Institutionalization of Forecast Accuracy Tool: 

• Lead the process of integrating the recently developed forecast accuracy tool into the Ministry of Health’s National Supply Chain Coordinating Unit (NSCCU) standard operating procedures to ensure long-term sustainability.
• Support the forecasting and quantification process as well as supply plan reviews

B. UNFPA Supplies Partnership Engagement

Steering Committee Representation & Support:

1. Provide technical and logistical support for the planning, coordination, and execution of the UNFPA Supplies Partnership Steering Committee Meeting.
2. Coordinate Side Events: prepare for high level side meetings on supply chain technical matters. These to be attended by relevant subject experts representing countries with different characteristics.
3. Reporting: Prepare comprehensive technical briefs, implementation data, and visibility dashboards before and after the steering committee sessions.

B. Emergency Response & Resilient Logistics (Drought & Ebola)

i) Drought Emergency SCM Support:

• Assess the potential impact of the expected drought on health facility accessibility and community-level commodity availability.
• Formulate and support the implementation of contingency distribution plans to circumvent water-scarcity-related supply chain disruptions, prioritizing SRH commodities, nutraceuticals, essential medicines, and maternal health kits to hard-hit geographic zones.

ii) Ebola Emergency Preparedness & Response:

• Support the design, monitoring, and adaptation of the supply chain logistics framework to aggressively support the Ebola emergency response mechanisms.
• Support the procurement, inventory management, and distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), infection prevention and control (IPC) supplies procured with support from UNFPA
• Optimize reverse logistics and specialized waste-management tracking protocols required during an active viral haemorrhagic fever response.

C. Last Mile Distribution Costing

• Cost-Benefit and Logistical Modeling: Conduct a comprehensive financial and operational analysis to delineate the total cost of ownership and primary cost drivers for downstream distribution. This assessment will evaluate the transition of commodities from the ZAMMSA central warehouse to service delivery points, comparatively analyzing the Third-Party Logistics (3PL) and First-Party Logistics (1PL) models.
• Continuous Process Optimization: Implement ongoing bottleneck analyses across central and regional hubs to mitigate systemic inefficiencies and enhance Last-Mile Distribution (LMD) performance.
• Strategic Partner Mapping: Synthesize a comprehensive matrix of all distribution stakeholders in Zambia. This registry will detail specific product portfolios, geospatial coverage, and fiscal parameters; including funding sources and grant expiration timelines.

3. Overall Objective of the Consultancy

The consultant is expected to identify, implement, and document:

• A roadmap for the full institutionalization of the forecast accuracy tool within MoH structures.
• Training reports and competency assessments for national and provincial trainers
• Support the UNFPA Supplies Partnership Steering Committee – Main and side meetings
• Support the Logistics Pillar in the Ebola and Drought Response
• A comprehensive report detailing the Total Cost of Distribution to the last mile, including cost-saving recommendations.
• Validated forecast and quantification data for maternal health and family planning commodities.
• Documented best practices in forecast accuracy following international standards.

4. Key Deliverables

• Institutionalization Plan: A formal framework approved by MoH’s NSCCU for the sustained use of the forecast accuracy tool.
• Distribution Costing Model: A detailed report and analytical tool reflecting the actual costs and cost drivers of delivering commodities to the last mile.
• Quantification Reports: Finalized maternal health and family planning commodity requirement forecasts for the upcoming cycle (2027 – 2029).
• Best Practices Document: A summary of lessons learned and scalable strategies developed during the consultancy.

5. Profile of the Consultant

1. Education:
   • Bachelor’s degree in Logistics, Procurement, Supply Chain Management, or Health Sciences with 5+ years of relevant experience. OR
   • Master’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Public Health, or Business Administration with 2+ years of similar experience.
2. Experience: Proven expertise in Reproductive Health Commodity security programming.
   • Specific experience in supply chain costing and forecast accuracy modelling.
   • Demonstrated experience in coordinating high-level technical meetings for government officials.
   • Proven experience in providing logistical support for epidemic preparedness.
3. Skills: Excellent analytical, writing, and presentation skills

UNFPA Work Environment:

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA’s workforce – click here to learn more.

Disclaimer:

Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements.

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants’ bank accounts.

Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.