CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3: The post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

The post holder must complete safeguarding training, uphold Save the Children’s Code of Conduct, report safeguarding concerns immediately, ensure compliance by suppliers, and support safe programming during visits. 

ROLE PURPOSE:

The postholder will be responsible for managing the local procurement, quality assurance, storage, and delivery of food commodities and related inputs for the Sindh Sustainable School Meals (SSSM) Project, implemented under the USDA McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program in partnership with the SE&LD, Government of Sindh.

The role will ensure that commodities required for daily school meals and take-home rations are procured and delivered on time, in full, and in compliance with Save the Children policies, USDA regulations, and national food safety and quality standards.

Based in Karachi, the position requires regular travel to suppliers, warehouses, and distribution points to monitor contract performance, verify quality and quantities, and support effective coordination with government counterparts and implementing partners, contributing to improved nutrition, enrolment, and attendance outcomes for school-age children.

This role is responsible for ensuring commodity integrity (food safety, quality, traceability, and loss prevention) from supplier to delivery, as well as maintaining audit-ready documentation for all LRP actions. 

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Supply Chain Manager- SSSM project

Staff reporting to this post: LRP officers

Indirect : NA

Budget Responsibilities: NA

Key Internal Contacts: Education, Supply Chain, Finance, MEAL, and Safety & Security teams for coordinated planning, compliant procurement, delivery monitoring, and risk management.

Key External Contacts: Government counterparts, implementing partners, suppliers, transporters, warehouse service providers, and relevant coordination forums to ensure timely, quality, and compliant delivery of commodities.

Key Areas of Accountability:

• Identify and plan locally procured food commodity requirements and quantities in line with approved SSSM implementation plans, delivery schedules, quality standards, and cost efficiency targets. Ensure this planning is consistent with approved ration scales, menu plans, and school meal calendars, and include buffer stock to prevent supply chain disruptions.
• Conduct supplier capacity assessments, inspections, and compliance checks prior to contracting and during deliveries to ensure adherence to food safety, quality, and donor standards.
• Prepare commodity specifications, order quantities, and delivery schedules in coordination with the Head of Commodity/Supply Chain, in line with the approved procurement, quality parameters, and distribution plan.
• Support competitive sourcing and cost analysis, including preparation of documentation for supplier selection in accordance with Save the Children and USDA procurement procedures. Ensure proper segregation of duties and conflict-of-interest declarations, as applicable.
• Coordinate closely with suppliers, transporters, and warehouse teams to monitor lead times, delivery schedules, and receipt of commodities at agreed locations. Ensure transport and warehousing arrangements protect food safety.
• Work with the Supply Chain and Finance teams to ensure procurement, contracting, and payments comply with Save the Children policies, USDA regulations, and financial controls.
• Escalate and document non-conformities for both order quantity and quality failures, initiate corrective actions, and manage rejection/return/replacement processes with suppliers.
• Verify delivery documentation and supplier invoices against warehouse records and inspection reports and submit for timely payment processing.
• Maintain supplier performance records, commodity tracking systems, and complete documentation to support audits and donor compliance.
• Monitor the commodity pipeline, burn rate, and forecast to ensure uninterrupted provision of school meals and take-home rations.
• Prepare accurate and timely reports for internal management, donors, and headquarters, including pipeline and delivery updates. And conduct a market survey when required.
• Develop and maintain risk registers for LRP, including market disruption, transport insecurity, commodity price spikes, quality incidents, and documented contingency plans.
• Train LRP officers, warehouse staff, and relevant partners on quality standards, documentation, and handling requirements for LRP commodities.
• Ensure full compliance with Save the Children policies, including child safeguarding, safety and security, code of conduct, and equal opportunities, while also following SCI's fraud prevention and anti-bribery policies. This includes reporting any suspected fraud or corruption, ensuring a transparent procurement process, and upholding ethical conduct among vendors and staff.

COMPETENCIES FOR THIS ROLE:

1.     Delivering Results

Takes personal responsibility and holds others accountable for delivering our ambitious goals for children, continually improving their own performance or that of the team / organization.
Level required: Accomplished

2.     Problem Solving and Decision-Making

Takes effective, considered and timely decisions by gathering and evaluating relevant information from within or outside the organization

Level required: Accomplished

3.     Innovating and Adapting

Develops and implements innovative solutions to adapt and succeed in ever-changing and uncertain global and working environments.

Level required: Accomplished (dependent on scale and complexity of emergency)

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice):

Accountability:

• Owns results and compliance; models stewardship of donor resources and transparency across commodity operations.

Ambition:

• Sets bold goals, develops self and team, thinks strategically, and anticipates future needs and constraints.

Collaboration:

• Fosters inclusive, productive relationships with internal teams, partners, and stakeholders.

Creativity:

• Promotes digital and data-driven improvements in tracking, reporting, and decision-making.

Integrity:

• Upholds SCI ethics, prevents conflicts of interest, diversion, or misuse.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Business Administration, or a related field, with a minimum of 6 years’ relevant experience in logistics and commodity management.
• Demonstrated experience in food commodity procurement, logistics coordination, and pipeline management within NGO or donor-funded programmes, preferably USAID large-scale school feeding, nutrition, or humanitarian operations.
• Proven technical expertise across end-to-end supply chain functions, including procurement, transport and distribution, warehousing and stock management, fleet and asset management, communications, and security coordination.
• Strong skills in contract management and negotiation, including service level agreements, penalties, and performance management.
• Experience working in complex and resource-constrained environments, including remote field locations with limited infrastructure.
• Experience coordinating, supervising, or influencing multiple stakeholders, including suppliers, service providers, implementing partners, and government counterparts.
• Knowledge of national food safety and quality control standards and regulatory requirements applicable to food commodities and school meals programmes.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data, assess risks, and make sound operational decisions.
• Proven ability to build effective working relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent planning, coordination, and workload management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and complex tasks simultaneously.

Desirable:

• Experience working with large-scale school feeding or nutrition programmes, preferably in Pakistan or Sindh province.
• Familiarity with warehouse operations, logistics IT systems, and commodity tracking tools.
• Experience liaising with government counterparts and implementing partners for last-mile delivery.
• Knowledge of donor reporting formats and dashboards for pipeline and delivery updates.
• Local language proficiency (Sindhi or Urdu) to facilitate community and partner coordination.
• Exposure to emergency response logistics or post-disaster relief operations.

Additional job responsibilitie:

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities:

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy.

Health and Safety:

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.

Save the Children has zero tolerance towards Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Fraud, Bribery and Corruption.