Technical Advisor II, Supply Chain

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Deliver technical support, guidance, and training to EMPOWER partners in South America.

• Oversee the establishment of a multi-modal supply chain across five target countries, managing everything from procurement to inventory control, logistics, and distribution planning.

• Implement updated specifications, strategic sourcing initiatives, prepositioned stocks, open contracts, and ongoing improvement projects.

• Execute market and logistics analyses, prioritize hotspots, map stakeholders, and develop workplans.

• Set quality standards, provide packing instructions, define replenishment needs, establish quality-control procedures, and determine substitution rules.

• Verify kit contents against market availability, cultural suitability, safety concerns, packaging, branding, and visibility standards.

• Create costing matrices tailored to specific countries, hotspots, and remote areas, accounting for transport, storage, customs, delivery, lead times, and other cost factors.

• Identify, evaluate, perform due diligence on, and prequalify suppliers and service providers; maintain vendor databases and lists of prequalified vendors.

• Prepare or revise open contracts, framework agreements, standby supplier agreements, emergency procurement templates, and readiness files for contracting.

• Evaluate and enhance contracting readiness for financial and mobile service providers involved in cash and voucher assistance.

• Analyze partner procurement, contracting, warehousing, inventory, transport, distribution, documentation, and quality assurance processes.

• Offer guidance on warehouse security, inventory management systems, storage, and in-kind distribution.

• Map regional land, sea, and air shipping routes, including inter-country movement of relief items where relevant.

• Develop partner-specific readiness checklists and action plans detailing responsibilities, deadlines, risks, contingencies, and escalation points.

• Conduct coaching sessions, working groups, simulations, and readiness evaluations.

• Compile and deliver the comprehensive supply chain readiness package and facilitate an exit debrief.

• Supervise staff and collaborate with partners and CRS teams in procurement, operations, finance, legal, grants, and technical areas.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, logistics, procurement, business administration, international development, humanitarian assistance, or a related field.

• At least eight years of progressively responsible experience in humanitarian supply chain, procurement, logistics, warehousing, inventory management, or emergency operations, including complex or rapid-onset scenarios.

• Proven experience in developing supply chain readiness tools, such as kit specifications, costing matrices, vendor databases, prequalification documentation, open contracts, procurement trackers, pipeline and distribution plans, warehouse or inventory tools, manuals, procedures, and readiness checklists.

• Demonstrated expertise in conducting market and supplier assessments, vendor due diligence, logistics analysis, and cost verification in various operational contexts.

• Experience in providing technical support to local partners through accompaniment, coaching, capacity building, and participatory action planning.

• Professional fluency in English and Spanish.

• Willingness and ability to travel within South America and work across different time zones and diverse operational settings.

• Strong technical knowledge of emergency procurement, sourcing, contracting, vendor management, transport, warehouse management, inventory control, quality assurance, distribution logistics, and supply chain risk management.

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, web-conferencing tools, and common information management systems.

• Must possess legal eligibility to work in the location of the position.

• Must sign and comply with CRS' Code of Conduct.

• Preferred: Master’s degree, experience with cash and voucher assistance, knowledge of humanitarian procurement and compliance, cross-border or multi-modal logistics experience, and familiarity with South America.

• Professional proficiency in Portuguese is strongly preferred; French is a plus.

🏝️ Benefits

• U.S. based staff receive medical, dental, life insurance, and vision coverage.

• Generous retirement savings plan for U.S. based staff.

• Benefits packages for successful candidates employed outside the U.S. are determined by the country of employment/in-country office.

• Collaborative, mission-driven work culture.

• Equal opportunity employer.

• Safeguarding-focused workplace adhering to CRS Code of Conduct.