Supply Chain Expert, Nigeria Third Party Monitoring Project

Management Systems International (MSI), a Tetra Tech Company, is a Washington, D.C. metro area management consultancy with a 40-year history of delivering results for our clients. Our expertise is in the fields of monitoring and evaluation; democracy and governance; peace and stability; rule of law and accountability; education; gender and inclusion; strategic communications; and leadership and organizational development. MSI has implemented projects in 90 countries around the world such as Colombia, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria and Ukraine, and works domestically. We support clients ranging from the U.S. Government (e.g., the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Departments of State and Labor, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation) to large bilateral and multilateral donors (e.g., the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program). We also work with national and local governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), think tanks, foundations and universities. For more information, please visit our website at www.msiworldwide.com.

Project Summary:

The purpose of the Nigeria Third Party Monitoring Project (NTPMP) contract is to provide independent, verifiable, primary data regarding the outputs and quality of humanitarian assistance activities funded by the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA) in Nigeria through comprehensive third-party monitoring (TPM). TPM is necessary to ensure USAID/BHA has sufficient information to perform oversight and accountability of implementing partner (IP) activities. Due to the non-permissive environment in Nigeria and the inability of USAID/BHA staff to travel to activity implementation sites, TPM is essential to fulfill this purpose. USAID/BHA will use TPM information provided by the NTPMP to identify issues and challenges related to the delivery of goods and services, potential large-scale aid diversion, accountability to affected populations, and make real-time programmatic adjustments and inform future programmatic decisions and designs.

**Please note: Only Nigerian citizens are eligible for this position**

Position Summary:

The Supply Chain Expert will provide technical expertise and oversight to ensure effective supply chain analysis, monitoring, and quality assurance for humanitarian assistance delivery in northern Nigeria. This role includes operationalizing a two-tiered Quality Assurance System (QAS) to monitor, evaluate, and address risks, ensuring the integrity and efficiency of supply chains from warehouses to the last mile. Reporting to the Senior Monitoring Advisor, the Expert will support data-driven decision-making by implementing monitoring practices across facilities, transportation, and distribution points and will incorporate community- and market-level insights to identify and prevent potential diversion or misuse of assistance. This full-time, five-year position will be based in Maiduguri, Nigeria, and will be expected to travel to the northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe. 

Responsibilities:

• Provide technical expertise on supply chain analysis and monitoring.
• Operationalize and oversee project diversion control systems.
• Assist BHA and its IPs in monitoring and addressing gaps, risks, and other issues in supply chains delivering critical assistance.
• Design, implement, and oversee a two-tiered QAS, integrating it into standard monitoring processes for sectors such as food, non-food items (NFIs), health, WASH, and shelter.
• Develop community- and market-level monitoring within the QAS to detect potential diversion, including interviews with vendors/customers, direct market observations, and product verification along the supply chain (e.g., at food mills).
• Manage technical oversight on supply chain monitoring, including inventory and documentation checks at central and regional warehouses, health facilities, and distribution sites.
• Coordinate supply chain checks to assess storage conditions, monitor for commodity leakage risks (e.g., pest infestation, theft, fraud), and verify records.
• Incorporate community- and market-level monitoring approaches into the QAS to identify possible diversion and misuse of assistance.
• Conduct interviews with vendors and customers, direct observation of markets, and item verification along the supply chain (e.g., food mills).
• Explore AI applications to enhance supply chain tracking, enabling efficient cataloguing, monitoring, and tracking of assistance across various distribution points.
• Utilize technology, including photos, videos, and drones, for enhanced documentation and oversight.
• Train field monitors in best practices for supply chain monitoring, leveraging the latest insights and lessons from QAS for effective oversight.
• Support TPM visits, conducting real-time and post-distribution monitoring to verify aid distribution and detect potential issues at community and market levels.
• Regularly update data collection protocols and tools to align with current activities, needs, and local contexts.
• Provide USAID/BHA and IPs with timely, actionable information to mitigate issues across supply chains, utilizing an interactive dashboard for real-time access to QAS data.
• Communicate urgent issues (e.g., waste, fraud, abuse) promptly to USAID/BHA via flash reports and other reporting mechanisms to enable swift action.