OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME
The mission of WHOs Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) (The Programme) is to build the capacity of Member States to manage health emergency risks and when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations. The Health Emergency Information & Risk Assessment area (HIM) of the Health Emergencies Programme is responsible for providing timely and authoritative situation analysis, risk assessment, and response monitoring available for all major health threats, events, and emergencies.
This includes detecting, verifying, and assessing the risk of potential and ongoing health emergencies; establishing data collection mechanisms and monitoring ongoing health emergency operations; and providing data management, analytics, and reporting platforms to produce and disseminate timely emergency health information products.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
1. Develop of pre-crisis critical historical baseline information on surveillance, health risks, capacities, needs, service coverage, and gaps to create a complete country profile.
2. Support frameworks and standard tools for the monitoring including tools for data collection, analyses, and dissemination during and before the response of events.
3. Support the development of scenario-based Key Performance Indicators for public hazards with defined thresholds to guide response to disease outbreak which can customized based on the hazard.
4. Develop an information management tool kit to guide the IMST response including standard operation procedures, templates, checklists, business continuity plan, and other products and tools needed during and before the response.
5. Ensure the IM Incident Management (IM) toolkit is based on the phases of crises (i.e., pre-crises, onset, acute, and protracted crises) with three board information management categories (i.e., data collection, analyses, and dissemination).
6. Foster engagement with WHO and Member States regarding toolkit tools to ensure their use for action to contribute better, faster decisions during epidemics and pandemics.
7. Support the development of standard operating procedures and online tutorial packages for all tools, Standard Operations Procedures (SOPs), and IM manuals throughout the entire emergency
8. Develop of a standard contingency plan for business continuity and roster of key staff/skills needed during the IMST.
9. Support creation WHO webpage, used as a one-stop repository of templates, SoPs, training, and plans of IM toolkit.
10. Develop and conduct training courses and capacity-building exercises for data collection and analysis and the communication of outbreak response.
11. Conduct a comparative analysis of lessons learned from country experiences during and after the events and share good practices on issues of region-wide concern.
12. Oversee the implementation of independent evaluations, and or support from external firms conducting event response evaluation
13. Collaborate with other surveillance officer and monitoring and evaluation teams to deliver on their common missions.
14. Participate in regular calls (at least quarterly) and one in-person meeting with the Health Emergency Intelligence and Surveillance Systems Division (WSE) in Berlin Hub and coordinate WSE division work in the Region.
15. Collaborate with the other regional teams and regularly share updates and progress of the work they are delivering.
16. Help teams in the other regions to adopt or implement the technical solutions developed.
17. Contribute to the annual reporting requirements of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Essential: Advanced university degree (Master’s degree) in a health-related field, social science, statistics or epidemiology complemented by training in health information management from an accredited/recognized institute.
Desirable: Advanced university degree in Public Health, health statistics, epidemiology and/or information Management.
• Specific training in humanitarian response or information management in emergencies would be an asset.
Experience
Essential: At least seven years experience, with international exposure, in Health Information Management Systems in emergencies and outbreaks and in countries with emergencies.
Experience in developing and promoting collaborative partnerships and/or experience in developing countries.
Desirable: Experience in UN organizations/agencies, national and international institutions or NGOs.
Skills
• Advanced ability to design, manage, analyze, and coordinate complex information system projects, computer-based applications and databases, and web-based tools
• Excellent skills in the assessment, monitoring, analysis, and evaluation of emergency health situations.
• High level of analytical skills.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills, with emphasis on writing skills.
• Sound analytical and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated ability to interact in complex situations involving technical, cultural and political elements.
• Proven ability to work and produce results under pressure in critical situations.
• Tact, diplomacy and courtesy.
• Knowledge of the preparedness, risk reduction and response approaches.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work under pressure.
• Knowledge of programme management and functioning of WHO and the UN system
WHO Competencies
Teamwork
Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
Communication
Producing results
Moving forward in a changing environment
Creating an empowering and motivating environment
Use of Language Skills
Essential: Excellent knowledge of English.
Desirable: Knowledge of Arabic and/or French is an asset.
Other Skills (e.g. IT)
• Advanced use of MS Office, particularly spreadsheets, data visualization and analysis tools, and databases
• Design and management of information systems
REMUNERATION
WHO salaries for staff in the Professional category are calculated in US dollars. The remuneration for the above position comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 77,326 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable), a variable post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station, and currently amounts to USD 2288 per month for the duty station indicated above. Other benefits include 30 days of annual leave, allowances for dependent family members, home leave, and an education grant for dependent children.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level
- Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
- A written test and/or an asynchronous video assessment may be used as a form of screening.
- In the event that your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
- According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.
- Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual.
- Staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply.
- The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.
The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its staff. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (
https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion
) are strongly encouraged to apply.
Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to
WHO Values Charter into practice.
- WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.
- Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with WHO and an underlying premise of the international civil service. Candidates appointed to an international post with WHO are subject to mobility and may be assigned to any activity or duty station of the Organization throughout the world.
- WHO also offers wide range of benefits to staff, including parental leave and attractive flexible work arrangements to help promote a healthy work-life balance and to allow all staff members to express and develop their talents fully.
- The statutory retirement age for staff appointments is 65 years. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete the term of appointment will normally be considered.
- Please note that WHOs contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at
- In case the website does not display properly, please retry by: (i) checking that you have the latest version of the browser installed (Chrome, Edge or Firefox); (ii) clearing your browser history and opening the site in a new browser (not a new tab within the same browser); or (iii) retry accessing the website using Mozilla Firefox browser or using another device. Click this link for detailed guidance on completing job applications: Instructions for candidates
