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JOB DESCRIPTION

PPE ACCREDITATION CONSULTANT

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This consultancy is working with 3 partners – Ethical Apparel Africa, Maagrace Garment Industries Limited and the Standards Alliance.

This role can start remotely for 1 month FTE. The Clean room build is expected to begin in December 2020 with production of general use masks. Surgical grade masks will then be developed and tested ready for production to begin 2021. The expectation is that the consultant will be in Ghana for 2 months in one trip between January and March 2021.

 

Company descriptions

Ethical Apparel Africa

Ethical Apparel Africa is a sourcing company that provides international apparel brands with ethical, cost competitive and quality manufacturing solutions in West Africa. Our vision is to demonstrate that ethical manufacturing can and should be done at scale, not just associated with luxury or expensive products. Based in Ghana and Benin, EAA has a dynamic team bringing decades of experience from around the world in product development, quality assurance, account management, social impact, operations and finance.

 

EAA is working to unlock the tremendous potential of the West Africa apparel industry, supporting African-owned factories to grow exports to the US, UK, and Europe. EAA focuses on developing factories in a lean, sustainable, and ethical way that sets the standard for garment manufacturing in a West African context. We work closely with government and development agencies to develop an ecosystem for industrial growth. By 2023, we aim to create 2,500 worthwhile jobs in the apparel sector in West Africa. This is an exciting time to join EAA.

 

Maagrace Garment Industries Limited (MGIL)

EAA works in close partnership with Maagrace Garment Industries Limited (MGIL), an apparel-manufacturing firm created in 2003. Maagrace’s vision is to become the largest high-quality mass production garment producer in West Africa. Through innovation, efficiency and integrity, they provide the best quality products to customers while empowering their workforce, especially women. Maagrace also has a Foundation focused on alleviating poverty within its neighboring communities.  Maagrace was already a manufacturer of export medical scrubs, even before COVID-19, and has produced over 500,000 sets of scrubs meeting international performance and quality standards.

 

EAA and Maagrace will begin the manufacture of surgical masks and PPE to international certification and accreditation levels in an ISO 7 Clean room.  This PPE production unit will be the first of its calibre in Ghana -- providing initially a reliable source of local supply for medical-grade general use masks to protect healthcare providers. The vision is to extend this to surgical grade masks, scrubs and gowns to both local and international supply.

 

The Standards Alliance

The Standards Alliance Phase 2 (SA2) is a public-private partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), a private, non-profit organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standards and conformity assessment system.

Building on the successes of the Standards Alliance Phase 1 (2013-2018), the SA2 supports the capacity of developing countries in the areas of legal and regulatory framework, standards development, conformity assessment procedures, and private sector engagement. Achieving these goals also helps companies succeed globally by increasing market access for U.S. companies through more predictable and transparent avenues for trade and investment in partner markets/regions. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project also supports response and recovery—and fortifying resilience for future global health crises—through a concerted public-private collaboration to rapidly implement medical device regulatory convergence and promote the adoption of international standards and cross-sector good regulatory practice (GRP).

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Position overview

Working together, and funded by, the Standards Alliance, we have a great opportunity for someone with passion and desire to make a difference to work with EAA to ensure right first time accreditation of the production process, certification to ASTM standards and FDA approval from both Ghana, other West African countries and the US.

 

Key responsibilities

This role will manage the technical life cycle of product from inception through liaison with clients through production development, factory training and quality management. The individual will be responsible to develop and coach local management teams and bring their production facilities to a world-wide standard.

 

They will have the following responsibilities:

 

  • Guide and train the EAA and Maagrace teams as they build the clean room and develop SOPs to ensure they comply with international production accreditation standards

  • Advise on labelling requirements needed to achieve international standards for general and surgical use masks and other disposable PPE

  • Manage the testing process to ensure the masks and PPE are tested and certified to ASTM standards and pass first time.  This includes cross costing and negotiating the testing costs with different facilities.

  • Manage the process accreditation process to ensure the manufacturing environment is accredited to the right standards

  • Establish with the Ghana FDA the standards and related packaging required for the product as currently nothing specific to masks is in place.

  • Secure USA FDA approval for the Surgical grade PPE

  • Deliver Specialist training programs for Ghana Ministry of Health, Ghana Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana FDA and GSA on quality requirements and procuring PPE

  • Train the sales & operating team at EAA and Maagrace to follow SOP’s and ensure continued standard adherence

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Qualifications, skills, and attributes required

  • Experience and understanding of the certification and testing standards required for masks to achieve a Level 2 ASTM standard

  • Relationship with testing houses to ensure the right tests at the right costs are concluded in a timely manner

  • Experience of manufacturing PPE within a cleanroom environment

  • Experience of training complex standard operating procedures within a developing country context

  • Ability to travel to Ghana for 2 months

  • Outstanding leadership and management skills

  • Project experience related to government and external agency capacity building and training

  • Evidence of the following characteristics: proactive, self-aware; resilient and adaptable; persistent and resourceful; able to work under pressure and respect deadlines, apt at both strengthening relationships and resolving problems, poised, active listener; fun to work with; full of integrity; ability to multi-task and thrive in a fast-paced environment

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How to apply​

  • This position can start straight away.

  • Kindly send a CV/resume and a separate and specific cover letter for this position ​to talent@ethicalapparelafrica.com, using the reference “PPE CONSULTANT”​ as the subject of your email.

  • Only complete applications with accurate references will be considered and only the most qualified candidates will be shortlisted for interview.

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