Senior/Special Advisor

Pharmaceutical Industry Development and Commercialization

Organization: Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI)

Sector: Pharmaceutical Industry Development Sector

Reporting line: Director General (executive oversight) and Deputy Director General for Pharmaceutical Industry Development (day-to-day technical supervision)

Duty station: AHRI, Addis Ababa, with field and on-site assignments at partner, manufacturer, and innovator facilities as required

Employment term: One-year fixed-term contract, renewable subject to satisfactory performance, funding availability, and institutional need

Quantity Required: One (1)

Gross monthly salary: ETB 99,215.00

Benefits: No additional allowance or benefit package

Work allocation: Pharmaceutical manufacturing industry development related advisory work and project-based banana-fiber sanitary-pad scale-up support

About AHRI

The Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI), established in 1970 and re-established under Council of Ministers Regulation No. 530/2023, is a federal biomedical and health research institute under the Ministry of Health. AHRI conducts biomedical and clinical research, develops national research capacity, advances bioequivalence and bioavailability services, and supports the development and local production of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, diagnostics, medical devices, and other health technologies.

Purpose of the Position

The Senior/Special Advisor will provide high-level strategic, technical, and implementation advice to AHRI's Director General and the Deputy Director General for Pharmaceutical Industry Development. The incumbent will help translate policy and research priorities into investable, regulatory-compliant, market-oriented programs that strengthen Ethiopia's pharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem and improve access to quality-assured health products.

Role character:

This is a senior integrator role. The incumbent defines requirements, mobilizes and supervises appropriate experts, connects scientific and regulatory work with business realities, and remains accountable for agreed advisory outputs.

Job Requirements

Education:

• Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) or equivalent or MSc or higher qualification in Pharmaceutics or Pharmaceutical Analysis or PhD higher qualification in Pharmaceutics or Pharmaceutical Analysis

• An additional MA in Business Administration or Leadership is an added advantage.

Experience

• A minimum of eight (8) (for PhD) or twelve (12) (for MSc) years of progressively responsible professional experience in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry is required.

• At least four (4) years of experience in an advisory role is an added advantage, particularly where the assignment involved senior leadership advice, industry development, manufacturing improvement, technology transfer, quality systems, investment, or commercialization.

• Demonstrated experience translating strategy, policy, research, or technical evidence into implementable industry programs, investment decisions, manufacturing improvements, or market-ready products.

• Proven involvement in at least two of the following: API or excipient development; GMP and pharmaceutical quality systems; process scale-up and factory operations; drug or product development; technology transfer; BE/BA or CRO services; regulatory submissions; investment promotion; market development; import substitution; or export readiness.

• Experience preparing or reviewing feasibility studies, business plans, financial models, technical specifications, procurement packages, implementation roadmaps, or complex partnership arrangements.

• Demonstrated ability to coordinate multidisciplinary teams and to define, contract, supervise, and quality-assure specialist work when expertise must be sourced externally.

• Experience in Ethiopia or comparable low- and middle-income settings, and familiarity with public-sector institutions, manufacturers, regulators, development partners, and investors, are highly desirable.

• Direct experience with sanitary pads, non-woven hygiene products, biomaterials, plant-fiber processing, or fast-moving health commodities is an added advantage, but is not required if the candidate demonstrates strong transferable scale-up and commercialization capability.

Salary: ETB 99,215.00 gross per month. No additional allowance or benefit package will be provided.

Contract: One-year fixed-term appointment, with possible renewal subject to satisfactory performance, funding availability, agreed deliverables, and AHRI's continuing need for the role.

Work modality: Full-time and primarily office-based at AHRI, with regular meetings and on-site assignments at manufacturer, partner, and innovator facilities. Travel within Ethiopia may be required.

Performance: Continuation of the appointment will depend on delivery against an agreed workplan, performance indicators, reporting requirements, and standards of professional conduct.

Duties and Responsibilities

Workstream I - Pharmaceutical Industry Development and Strategic Advisory (approximately 75%)

Strategy, Policy and Executive Advisory

• Advise the Director General and Deputy Director General on pharmaceutical-industry strategy, policy implementation, institutional priorities, investment decisions, and emerging technical or market risks.

• Translate national policies, AHRI mandates, and sector priorities into practical roadmaps, annual workplans, implementation frameworks, and decision briefs with clear milestones, responsibilities, budgets, and performance indicators.

• Undertake sector diagnostics and gap analyses covering products, technologies, infrastructure, workforce, regulation, finance, supply chains, and market access; recommend feasible corrective actions.

• Prepare or quality-assure concept notes, feasibility studies, investment proposals, cabinet or executive briefs, technical specifications, terms of reference, partnership instruments, and other high-level documents.

• Provide timely, evidence-informed advice on cross-cutting matters assigned by the DG or DDG and represent AHRI in senior technical forums when delegated.

B. Manufacturing, APIs, Excipients and Technology Transfer

• Guide the prioritization, feasibility assessment, and phased development of locally manufactured active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), pharmaceutical-grade excipients, and other strategic inputs, including locally sourced starch-based excipient candidates.

• Advise on product and technology selection using public-health need, market demand, import dependence, technical feasibility, regulatory pathway, investment requirement, environmental impact, and regional export potential.

• Support the design and implementation of laboratory-to-pilot-to-commercial scale-up pathways, including process selection, equipment specifications, facility layout, utilities, material flow, validation, commissioning, and technology-transfer plans.

• Review and guide manufacturing processes, standard operating procedures, process controls, specifications, validation packages, and quality-by-design approaches for reliable and cost-effective production.

• Facilitate technology licensing, joint ventures, public-private partnerships, contract manufacturing, and collaboration with domestic and international technology holders, manufacturers, universities, investors, and development partners.

• Advise on local raw-material and supplier development, qualification of critical inputs, supply-chain resilience, cost optimization, lean manufacturing, waste reduction, and environmentally responsible production.

GMP, Quality Systems and Regulatory Readiness

• Provide technical guidance on current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP), pharmaceutical quality systems, risk management, data integrity, qualification, validation, documentation, and inspection readiness.

• Support manufacturers and AHRI programs to identify compliance gaps, develop prioritized remediation plans, and coordinate appropriate technical assistance in collaboration with relevant regulators and partners.

• Promote alignment with applicable Ethiopian requirements and recognized international standards and good practices, while ensuring that regulatory responsibilities remain with the legally mandated authorities.

• Guide the preparation and quality review of technical dossiers, development reports, product specifications, stability strategies, and evidence packages required for product development, registration, and commercialization.

Drug Discovery, Product Development and BE/BA

• Advise on building an integrated drug-discovery and product-development pipeline, including candidate prioritization, formulation development, preclinical translation, analytical development, clinical interfaces, intellectual-property considerations, and commercialization pathways.

• Support the strategic and operational strengthening of AHRI's bioequivalence/bioavailability (BE/BA) Centre and future contract research organization functions, including service portfolio design, quality systems, regulatory readiness, partnerships, market positioning, and sustainability.

• Facilitate linkages among research groups, manufacturers, regulators, procurement agencies, universities, clinical and bioanalytical teams, and technology partners so that promising research outputs can progress toward usable products.

Market Development, Import Substitution and Export

• Generate and interpret market intelligence on demand, imports, domestic capacity, price competitiveness, procurement trends, supply risks, and regional opportunities to guide investment and product-selection decisions.

• Develop evidence-based import-substitution and export-development strategies, including product prioritization, market-entry requirements, competitiveness analysis, and phased implementation options.

• Advise on market access, uptake of quality-assured locally manufactured products, institutional purchasing opportunities, investor engagement, business models, incentives, and financing options.

• Prepare investment-ready business cases and financial analyses, including capital and operating-cost estimates, unit economics, cash-flow requirements, break-even analysis, and sensitivity or risk scenarios, in collaboration with relevant specialists.

Program Leadership, Partnerships and Capacity Building

• Build and maintain effective working relationships with government institutions, manufacturers, professional associations, investors, academia, development partners, technology providers, and other stakeholders.

• Design performance dashboards and monitoring frameworks; track milestones, dependencies, budgets, risks, and corrective actions; and submit concise monthly, quarterly, and ad hoc reports to AHRI leadership.

• Mentor AHRI staff and counterparts, organize targeted training and knowledge-transfer activities, and develop reusable tools, templates, and guidance documents that strengthen institutional capability.

• Identify resource-mobilization opportunities and support technically sound proposals, partnership negotiations, and implementation arrangements.

• Workstream II - Banana-Fiber Disposable Sanitary Pad Scale-Up (approximately 25%)

As a dedicated secondary assignment under the GCE-AHRI/SHINE initiative, the Advisor will support the transition of a locally developed banana/enset-fiber disposable sanitary pad from performance evaluation toward regulatory readiness, scalable production, and market commercialization. The Advisor will coordinate closely with AHRI, the innovator, the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI), and other approved partners.

• Technical and facility assessment: Assess the innovator's current facility, equipment, staff capability, process maturity, retrofitting potential, utilities, material flow, and critical scale-up gaps.

• Machinery and production planning: Develop or review equipment specifications, vendor options, procurement and commissioning roadmaps, line layout, preventive-maintenance requirements, and cost-benefit comparisons for new, refurbished, imported, or locally assembled solutions.

• Process scale-up and raw materials: Convert the validated formulation and process into reproducible commercial-scale SOPs; define specifications and acceptance criteria for banana/enset fiber and auxiliary materials; and support supplier qualification and process optimization.

• Quality, testing and regulatory support: Establish a practical quality-control framework; guide product testing, stability and safety evidence, regulatory-dossier preparation, certification, labeling, instructions for use, and substantiation of environmental claims.

• Commercialization and finance: Support an investor-ready business plan, detailed project report, capacity and cost model, unit economics, cash-flow and break-even analysis, financing options, market segmentation, pricing, distribution, branding, and phased go-to-market strategy.

• Coordination and sustainability: Serve as the technical bridge among AHRI, EDI, the innovator, specialist vendors, testing laboratories, and other stakeholders; support milestone reviews, risk resolution, knowledge transfer, staff training, and an exit or handover plan.

• Indicative First-Year Deliverables

• First 90-day diagnostic and advisory plan: A prioritized assessment of the pharmaceutical-industry portfolio, key risks, quick wins, stakeholder map, and sequenced advisory workplan agreed with the DG and DDG.

• Pharmaceutical manufacturing industry development related advisory package: High-quality strategy and policy briefs, feasibility or investment notes, product-prioritization analyses, and practical GMP/QMS, BE/BA, technology-transfer, market-development, import-substitution, or export-readiness plans for agreed priorities.

• Sanitary-pad scale-up package: A facility and process assessment, machinery/procurement roadmap, quality and regulatory pathway, commercial and financial plan, phased implementation schedule, and knowledge-transfer approach developed with the responsible parties.

• Reporting and institutionalization: Concise monthly updates, quarterly executive reports, documented tools and templates, staff mentoring, and an end-of-year results and recommendations report.

Skills and Competencies

• Strategic thinking, systems analysis, sound judgment, and the ability to provide candid, practical, and timely executive advice.

• Strong knowledge of pharmaceutical manufacturing, quality, regulatory pathways, industrial economics, technology transfer, and commercialization principles.

• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, project-management, negotiation, stakeholder-engagement, mentoring, and change-management skills.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities, work independently, meet demanding deadlines, and deliver measurable results with integrity and accountability.

• Excellent written and spoken English, including high-quality technical writing and executive presentations. Working proficiency in Amharic is highly desirable.

• Strong digital literacy, including proficiency in standard office, data-analysis, project-planning, and presentation tools.

• High ethical standards, respect for confidentiality, impartiality, teamwork, and willingness to disclose and appropriately manage conflicts of interest.

How To Apply

Apply through the following link: THIS LINK

Job Requirements Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) or equivalent or MSc or higher qualification in Pharmaceutics or Pharmaceutical Analysis or PhD higher qualification in Pharmaceutics or Pharmaceutical Analysis with relevant work experience How to Apply Click the apply button below