Associate, Medical Oxygen Supply Chain and Infrastructure

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.

CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.

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The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and worsened a long-standing gap in access to medical oxygen across Zambia's health system. While the acute emergency phase of the pandemic has passed, the underlying gap it revealed has not. Medical oxygen remains in short and unreliable supply at many health facilities, undermining care not only for respiratory illness but for the much larger group of patients who need oxygen every day, including newborns and children with pneumonia, women with obstetric complications, trauma and surgical patients, and people living with chronic respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

CHAI's work on medical oxygen in Zambia is carried out as a sub-grantee of FHI 360 under the Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) project, a global initiative funded by the U.S. Department of State. EpiC is led by FHI 360 together with core partners Right to Care (RTC), Palladium, and Population Services International (PSI), and provides strategic technical assistance and direct service delivery to help partner countries achieve HIV epidemic control among at-risk and vulnerable populations, while strengthening global health security. Since early 2020, EpiC has supported partner governments to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19, including by improving access to liquid oxygen (LOX).

Building on this foundation, CHAI works closely with Zambia's Ministry of Health (MoH) to consolidate pandemic-era gains into a sustainable, government-owned medical oxygen ecosystem. CHAI provides policy and technical advisory support to the Government of Zambia, helping ensure that oxygen investments are coordinated and optimized against available government and cooperating-partner resources. This includes supporting the operation and maintenance of oxygen-generating infrastructure installed during the COVID-19 response, engaging local and international oxygen suppliers and manufacturers on sustainable long-term supply models, and working with stakeholders on innovative bulk supply and bulk storage solutions, including liquid oxygen, for high-volume facilities.

Taken together, these workstreams reflect a single strategic logic: emergency-era investments in oxygen only deliver lasting value once they are absorbed into routine health system operations. CHAI's role centers on coordinating with the Ministry of Health to build a functional, sustainably financed oxygen system and a long-term national strategy that serves all patients who need oxygen, in every facility, well beyond the pandemic that first brought the issue to the world's attention.

CHAI seeks a full-time Associate, Medical Oxygen Supply Chain and Infrastructure, based in Lusaka, who will report to the Program Manager, Medical Oxygen Ecosystems. The Associate will support the implementation of CHAI’s medical oxygen programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders including the implementation of the National Medical Oxygen Strategic Plan and addressing facility-level oxygen needs in a coordinated and phased manner. The role will support activities across the medical oxygen ecosystem, including oxygen demand quantification, reliable supply of liquid oxygen (LOX), equipment and infrastructure, supply chain and market engagement, quality assurance, monitoring and learning, and the transition toward sustainable government-led systems.

• Build effective relationships with the MoH and oxygen stakeholders and support the MoH in coordinating the Medical Oxygen Technical Working Group, including stakeholder mapping and tracking of the group's functionality and follow-up on agreed actions.
• Support the establishment and functioning of oxygen committees at Level 3 and 4 facilities and provincial health offices, ensuring findings, actions, and reports are appropriately documented and escalated to MoH through the technical working group.
• Support coordination and inter-agency alignment identification of priorities and allocation of resources to identified needs.

• Support MoH in implementing the National Medical Oxygen Strategic Plan, helping coordinate partners and prioritize interventions based on available evidence and identified system needs.
• Engage with MoH, local stakeholders and technicians to assess the infrastructural, operational and contextual factors affecting the equitable distribution, adoption, functionality, and utilization of oxygen delivery systems across facility settings.
• Contribute to the development of planning documents, technical guidance and implementation tools for the scale-up and sustainable management of oxygen systems, in collaboration with national and sub-national stakeholders.
• Coordinate the review, verification, and monitoring of oxygen infrastructure investments to ensure adherence to applicable regulatory requirements, governance standards, technical specifications, and quality-of-care protocols, and facilitate corrective actions where gaps are identified.
• Conduct regular site visits to medical gas pipeline systems (MGPS) installations at Ndola and Kitwe Hospitals to monitor the installation work and verify that installations are in compliance with technical and regulatory specifications, while tracking progress against timelines and proactively flagging risks or bottlenecks to the Program Manager.
• Participate in routine forecasting and quantification exercises to ensure the inclusion of medical oxygen and relevant accessories in national planning.
• Support costing exercises to inform the planning for future financing of medical oxygen procurements by the Ministry of Health.

• Support the in-country planning and implementation of the LOX storage and distribution hub and track progress against timelines.
• Track LOX and cylinder pricing trends and conduct routine market surveillance to assess the market for new medical oxygen suppliers.
• Work with target facilities to establish and monitor medical oxygen demand and consumption, using this data to inform supplier negotiations for dedicated LOX supply to the public sector. Support the timely supply of LOX to target facilities, helping coordinate between suppliers, hospitals, MoH and CHAI and monitoring delivery performance.
• Reconcile LOX deliveries against supplier invoices and facilitate timely payments, ensuring that quantities supplied, and relevant quality documentation are appropriately verified.
• Support routine review of LOX-related contracts with the CHAI contracts team, helping ensure obligations are met by both suppliers and CHAI.

• Document and continuously track risk and safety assessments and the vulnerabilities' matrix for oxygen infrastructure and supply systems.
• Review third-party inspection reports and other relevant quality documentation to support transparency, accountability, and compliance ahead of vendor payment approval.
• Support vendor performance monitoring that considers technical, equity, responsiveness, and continuity of service to underserved facilities.

• Support the MoH’s Monitoring and Evaluation department in formulating and updating medical oxygen indicators in the DHIS and other relevant systems.
• Participate in field visits, including site inspections, vendor meetings, and workshops, and support related planning, guidance development, and close-out documentation.
• Contribute to new approaches, tools, and lessons learned that strengthen CHAI's LOX project models and support long-term sustainability and scale-up.
• Support routine collection, analysis, and use of medical oxygen programme data to identify implementation gaps, inform corrective action and contribute to programme learning.
• Support the Program Manager in generating and synthesizing evidence for policy dialogue with public institutions on incentive structures, procurement policies, and public-private engagement models that enhance oxygen supply security.

• Bachelor's Degree in Public Health, Community Health, Health Systems Management, Health Policy and Planning, Project Management, Global Health, Development Studies, or a related Social Science field.
• A minimum of 5 years' relevant experience in the health sector or health systems strengthening (public or private sector, including donor-funded programs); a Master's Degree (or equivalent) will be an added advantage.
• Strong Monitoring and Evaluation skills.
• Demonstrated strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Exceptional diplomatic and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build strong professional relationships with a range of stakeholders in a challenging, multicultural environment.
• Demonstrated ability to multitask, remain effective in high-pressure situations, and adapt to fast-paced and changing environments, with a strong commitment to excellence and limited structural support.
• Experience working effectively with diverse and technical teams, including facilitating dialogue across health, engineering, and community domains.
• Experience coordinating health stakeholders on national projects, interpreting regulations, and integrating technical solutions into public health systems.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to contribute to technical guidance, policy briefs, or strategic reports for government and global stakeholders.
• Experience with health technology deployment, especially oxygen systems, is an advantage; familiarity with WHO and national technical standards is a plus.

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