Vacancies at World Health Organization

Duties

Depending on the level and complexity of the incident, the incumbent might be performing all or some of the following duties

• Manage the team, guide, and ensure implementation of the response plan. Set standards and norms, develop and disseminate technical guidance and validate training, resource mobilization and communication materials.
• Under the guidance of the Incident Manager, manage the coverage of all health operations in support to the MOH, work with partners and facilitate the implementation of WHO’s most effective prevention, control and response measures.

Health resources availability and populations needs

• In close collaboration with the Health Cluster and the Health Information Management teams, oversee the implementation of in-depth health sector assessments using harmonized tools, and agreed needs analysis methodology;
• Actively participate in the Health Cluster needs assessments, including Multi Cluster/Sector Initial Rapid Assessments and Humanitarian Needs Overviews.

Communicable diseases

• Ensure the planning and implementation of communicable diseases programmes addressing the risk of outbreak and/or health emergency, co-develop action plans for interventions in high-risks groups and recommend measures for special attention.
• Monitor the early prevention, detection, verification, assessment and investigation of any risks of outbreaks and the dissemination of data related to the occurrence of outbreaks
• Manage the rapid response teams responsible for the rapid investigation of alerts, field risk assessments and early response.
• Support the information systems on communicable diseases and the monitoring of progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) facilitating integration with the national health information systems.
• Conduct the periodic reporting and treatment of communicable diseases activities.
• Ensure that the messages are technically sound and socio-culturally appropriate to induce, engage and empower stakeholders in the prevention, mitigation and control of risks

Health service delivery

• Assist the national authorities in undertaking vulnerability assessments combining data from the health sector and the social determinants of health, to prioritize interventions according to the severity of needs in the different areas affected by emergencies.
• Support national authorities and partners on equipping the health facilities with the necessary infrastructure, equipment, drugs, public health laboratories and blood safety, and medical supplies to address the existing and foreseen risks and to prevent the dissemination of infectious diseases within the facilities.
• Monitor that health facilities provide quality preventive and curative health care to the affected population and continue to deliver routine essential health services in addition to responding to the cause of the crisis. Make appropriate recommendations where necessary.
• Support capacity-building and training of local staff on best preventive, diagnostic, control and curative knowledge, practices and standards.

Prevention and control measures

• Make recommendations and give guidance on relevant courses of actions to be taken in affected as well as non-affected areas/countries in order to prevent and/or control cause of excess morbidity and mortality.
• Provide technical assistance on vaccination, enhanced surveillance, vector control, infection control (including personal protection), enhanced sanitation and hygiene, increased provision of water and/or nutrients, prepositioning of drugs and medical supplies, etc.

Sciences and research

• Conduct research in etiology, physiopathology, transmission, reliable and rapid diagnostic, effective prevention and treatment of any of the causes of excess morbidity and mortality of the affected population and recommend remedial actions.
• Perform all other related duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

Education

Essential: Advanced university degree (Master’s level or above) in medicine, public health, epidemiology, tropical medicine, health systems/services administration or related field.

Desirable

• First university degree in medicine or public health from an accredited/recognized institute.
• Specialized training in emergency management; specific training in humanitarian response.

Experience

Essential:

• At least seven years of related experience, at the national and international levels, in health operations, with proven experience in managing outbreaks and health emergencies. Related experience in managing human and financial resources.

Desirable:

• Relevant work experience in outbreaks and/or health emergency management.
• Related experience in development and implementation of strategies and action plans within WHO and/or UN agencies.
• Experience working in relevant nongovernmental, health cluster partners or humanitarian organizations

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Description Of Duties

During deployment, the duty station may change, and duties may be modified, based upon the technical needs of the Programme

• Lead the team and be responsible for overseeing the work of the Information Management unit and/or coordinate the work of Information Management assets located throughout disparate units.
• Manage the timely and high-quality collection, analysis, production and dissemination of data/information. This includes response specific information (what, where, who, how many, how quickly, current status), internal and external situation reports (SitReps), bulletins, rapid needs assessments, health risk assessments, and the Public Health Situation Analysis; and health inputs into humanitarian needs overviews (HNO), and strategic response plans (SRP).
• Lead the development of project documentation based on the overall strategy and plan, for use by the emergency leadership to mobilize resources.
• Continually adapt planning and project documents based on available information and revolving emergency situation, as required; this includes planning and management of human and material resources, expenditure, status of interventions and partner activities, progress towards achieving objectives, etc.
• Develop and improve field information management procedures at the local and regional levels to ensure that information management in the field provides the best possible functionality and usability to stakeholders
• Ensure inter-cluster communication and information sharing.
• Oversee and design field epidemiological surveys if/where needed, such as mortality and vaccination coverage surveys, with support from epidemiologists as needed.
• Build the capacity of team members and partners involved in the planning and data/information management process; provide ongoing technical guidance and training on data gathering and analysis, quality assurance, performance monitoring, information dissemination and management.
• Perform any other related duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

Required Qualifications

Education

Essential

• An advanced university degree (Master’s level or above) in Information Management, Public Health, or Epidemiology; Business or Public Administration, complemented by training in information management from an accredited/recognized institute

Desirable

• Specialization in information management systems. Specific training in humanitarian response or information management in emergencies.

Essential

Experience

• At least 7 years of related experience in information management, monitoring, needs assessment, project management, data management and information dissemination in the public health sector or health development sector, at national and international levels, part of which in emergency management or humanitarian context in leadership positions.
• Experience in developing and promoting collaborative partnerships.

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Description Of Duties

During deployment, the duty station may change, and duties may be modified, based upon the technical needs of the Programme.

• Provide technical support to the overall programme management, grants management, budget, work planning, including the development, day-to-day operation, monitoring and evaluation of work plans to ensure the effective execution of the outbreaks and health emergencies
• Collaborate, with technical leads and other teams, in the development, implementation and monitoring of the technical, operational and HR work plans.
• Ensure proper use of designated funds to achieve results as per defined indicators; underp in compliance with project management principles.
• Liaise with Resource Mobilization Officer to secure rapid funding for immediate needs; with sustainable, predictable financing for programme activities.
• Coordinate the analysis, consolidation and dissemination of information on programme management. Contribute to the preparation of monitoring and progress reports, briefings, proposals, reports, communications and advocacy documents required for strategic decision making.
• Attend various project management meetings, coordinate relevant activities, ensure predictable follow-up on agreed action points with relevant stakeholders.
• Develop flexible and innovative solutions to support WHO's outbreak and health emergency operations, in line with the IMS standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• Perform any other incident-specific related duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

Required Qualifications

Education

Essential

• A university degree in management, administration, health policy/planning, economics, social development, social sciences or international relations from a recognized/accredited institute.

Desirable

• Formal training in project management.

Essential

Experience

• A minimum of five years’ experience in project management with experience planning, grant management, budget, finance and/or related field, including sound understanding of resource mobilization. Related experience in the context of outbreaks and/or emergency programmes.

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Description Of Duties

During deployment, the duty station may change, and duties may be modified, based upon the technical needs of the Programme.

• Provide technical support and assist in the development of surveys and monitoring/surveillance systems for detection, verification and response to public health incidents; ensuring efficiency of data collection, correlation, analysis, interpretation and timely reporting at health facility at the district levels.
• Collate and verify data on reported outbreaks or rumours received from multiple sources, conduct retrospective analysis of reported incidents: determine trends, distribution patterns, and efficiency of the verification mechanism.
• Brief the team on data quality improvement, use of data for monitoring of trends, ALERT and ACTION thresholds (triggers), as well as methodologies for performing Data Quality Audit (DQA) at district and health facility level.
• Provide technical assistance for the establishment and functionality of Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) and Public Health Management Committee (PHEMC) for potential hazards such as infectious diseases, zoonotic events, food safety events and chemical events at the district level as per the national guidance and standards.
• Contribute in building the core surveillance, alert and response national capacities in accordance with the requirement for IHR 2005; provide trainings for subnational incident management team and health facility level staff, support the team in the supervision and on-the-job training at health facility level.
• Support the development of early warning systems (including event based and indicator based surveillance) for epidemic and pandemic-prone diseases for early detection and response to public health incidents; conduct field investigation. Provide technical support for vulnerability assessment, risk mapping and development of preparedness/contingency plan at district level.
• Maintain an incident management system database of reported outbreaks and public health incidents, at the district level, and document all steps taken in the verification and response process.
• Facilitate the district surveillance monthly review meetings including the tracking of the surveillance performance indicators. In cooperation with the team, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the planned surveillance activities, as well as alert and response capacities for incidents detection, verification and response in compliance with IHR 2005.
• Prepare and disseminate disease outbreak news, technical documents, updates and assessments to key decision-makers in the organizational hierarchy and to the national health authorities, as required using standard tools and templates (e.g. OSCAR).
• Perform any other incident-specific related duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

Required Qualifications

Education

Essential: First university degree in epidemiology, statistics, database management or public health from an accredited/recognized institute.

Desirable: An advanced university degree in health related field or quantitative epidemiology, specialized training in communicable diseases

Experience

Essential: At least five years of related experience, at the national and international levels, implementation of public health surveillance, outbreak investigation and response. Previous experience in implementation of Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) is a requirement.