MARKET DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST – THE DEFEAT-NCD PARTNERSHIP MARKETPLACE (INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR) – RWANDA

Business Development, Sales and Marketing, and Vendor Management.

UNITAR is an autonomous body within the United Nations that was established in 1965 pursuant to a UN General Assembly resolution. UNITAR’s mission is to develop the individual, institutional and organizational capacities of countries and other United Nations stakeholders through high-quality learning solutions and related knowledge products and services to enhance decision-making and to support country-level action for overcoming global challenges.

On 28 November 2019, at its 60th Session, the UNITAR Board of Trustees took note of and endorsed, the Operations Agreement between UNITAR and The Defeat-NCD Partnership (the Partnership) dated 23 July 2019 to host its secretariat. UNITAR houses the secretariat of the Partnership and other relevant strategic initiatives working in the field of noncommunicable diseases and addressing related risk factors – such as road crashes, deaths, and injuries, and assisted technologies for improved health outcomes.

The Defeat-NCD Partnership is a multi-stakeholder partnership anchored in the United Nations and includes governments, multilateral agencies, civil society, academia, philanthropies, and the private sector. It was established in January 2018 to help tackle the most significant global health problems of the age: premature death, sickness, disability, and the associated social and economic impacts of selected non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It is based on the expert guidance and the technical norms and standards issued by the World Health Organization for managing NCDs.

The strategy of the Partnerships directs actions around four interconnected pillars that, taken together, constitute a comprehensive service package to tackle the most common gaps and constraints that challenge the 90 plus focus low-resource countries of the Partnership.

The pillar three of the strategy recognizes the need for increased affordability and accessibility of essential NCD supplies. To make the provision of NCD supplies simpler and more cost-effective, the Partnership is designing a Defeat-NCD Marketplace (the Marketplace) to create a fair, competitive environment that serves the interests of both buyers and suppliers. Using market-sizing and price-tracking studies, the Marketplace’s methodology will correct current market failures due to information imbalances. It will also help address regulatory bottlenecks in an appropriate manner. The overall objective is to enable the consistent provision of affordable essential NCD medicines, diagnostics, and equipment in low-resource countries.

The purpose of this assignment is to lead the business development efforts for the Marketplace by fostering and developing relationships with its customers, suppliers and other partners. The contractor will work to position the Marketplace strategically with its potential buyers and suppliers and provide the fair competitive environment to respond to their business needs

This assignment will enable the Partnership to roll out the Marketplace in Rwanda.

The responsibilities of the Market Development Specialist will be:

• Lead development of business development strategy for the Marketplace in Rwanda and chart out a clear sales plan for its growth in the country.
• Support design and development of the Marketplace to make the provision of essential NCD supplies simpler and more cost-effective.
• Identify the used inventory systems, forecasting practices, tools, and need analysis of NCD supplies.
• Identify the current procurement, storage, and distribution practices of NCD supplies including customs/clearance taxes and all related official rules and standards.
• Identify new business opportunities – including new buyers and suppliers, growth areas, market trends, products and services.
• Define and size various growth segments, identify key buyers, suppliers, markets, and identify strategic partners including donors who support access to NCD supplies (NCD medicines, diagnostics, and equipment).
• Create detailed sale plans for identified opportunities and ensure these plans are in line with the wider strategy of the Partnership.
• Develop segment/market specific messaging and collateral materials that effectively communicate the Marketplace value proposition for simpler and more cost- effective procurement for NCD supplies.
• Execute the business development plans while working closely with internal stakeholders including programme, procurement, fulfilment, finance and legal teams.
• Fill the business development pipeline by engaging with prospects, partners, and key buyers and suppliers.
• Understand the unique business & technical requirements of the government, buyers and suppliers and work closely with the internal development teams to guide the direction of the Marketplace product offerings for the largest and most complex buyers and suppliers.
• Prepare and present business reviews to the Programme Coordinator for Rwanda regarding the progress and the roadblocks to closing new agreements.
• Manage contract negotiations, in cooperation with legal and professional service’ teams of the Partnership.

1. Provide a full overview of existing purchase standards, purchase and distribution pipeline and robustness and bottlenecks; existing standards for drugs, equipment and other supplies; legal aspects of tendering; customs rules and regulations and all other matters that need to be taken into account while developing the D-NCD Marketplace by end of April 2020.
2. Sales plan for the Marketplace is ready by the end of April 2020 and updated quarterly.
3. Business development pipeline is available, preferably using a business development software by end of June 2020.
4. Number of transactions (and resulting cost savings to Rwanda) conducted through the Marketplace and quantification of pipeline by September 2020.
5. Timely and quality financial and narrative reporting to meet external and internal reporting requirements.

• Closure of agreed key buyers and suppliersaccounts, including agreed trade targets for the period.
• Quality of the business pipeline in the country.
• Feedback from key accounts for the period on buyers and suppliersrelationship.

• Will have strong research and strategic analysis skills and demonstrate ability to seek new opportunities for creating and developing business.
• Strong communication skills and a client-focused approach is a must.
• Sound business acumen to conduct an analysis of competitive advantage and value of our products and services.
• Manage complexity of the external networks with ease.
• Exceeds the partners’ expectations and strives to become a meaningful part of the partners’ business plans