Biomedical Engineer. National Technical Consultant

1. Purpose of the Position

The WHO Office in Ukraine is implementing a project to provide Ukrainian hospitals with the necessary medical equipment (including laboratory equipment) in line with the WHO CO Ukraine COVID 19 response plan. The consultant will provide technical support in the procurement, installation and maintenance of medical equipment supplied to various healthcare facilities (including their laboratories), training medical personnel, and providing technical advice on the correct use of medical equipment.

2. Organizational context

The COVID-19 situation continues to evolve and is a Grade 3 emergency under the Emergency Response Framework and has been declared an event a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations. A PHEIC is an extraordinary event which constitutes a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and potentially requires a coordinated international response. Should a PHEIC be declared, the Emergency Committee issues temporary recommendations for countries that are binding to IHR Member States.

WHO Regional Office for Europe has scaled up its support to priority countries, to ensure the health response mechanisms are fully functional to support the response to COVID-19. During the COVID-19 outbreak, regular supply chains of essential medicines and health technologies have been disrupted, including access to quality oxygen supply. Ensuring sustainable access to quality medicines and health technologies during this period is challenging.

On 25 January 2015, the Expert Committee of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine for Establishing the Levels and Classes of the Emergencies classified the events in eastern Ukraine, namely in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as a social emergency at the national level. The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine falls within the notion of a national-level social and military emergency due to its consequences (the number of victims and casualties, the level of losses, etc.). The emergency response and recovery measures as well as the powers of corresponding central and local government authorities are provided for by the Code of Civil Protection of Ukraine and other civil protection regulations. For over six years, the lives and well-being of millions of ordinary people in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts have been severely affected by the ongoing armed conflict. Their access to basic services and humanitarian assistance has been severely hampered by insecurity, the presence of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) and, most recently, by health risks and restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

3. Description of duties

1. Assess and prioritize critical needs and surge capacity in the Emergency Medical Systems, from the pre-hospital to the National level. Provide a description and analysis of system capacity to evaluate and create an action plan regarding critical needs. 2. Design, develop and manage systems for optimal sustained health-care operations in both resource-scarce and well-resourced settings as well as during challenging events such as natural and manmade disasters. Provide review of National protocols and alignment with WHO standards. 3. Design, develop and apply safety program methodologies to mitigate risks when dealing with medical devices and procedures throughout their life cycle. Including biosafety and environmental health such as waste disposal and personal radiation protection. 4. Identify the medical equipment and requirements for the necessary additional components and to define the installation constraints of the equipment set up, maintenance and usage. This will include but will be not limited to all identified and prioritized biomedical equipment such as patient monitors, defibrillators, ventilators, infusion pumps, syringe pumps, ECG machines, hematology analyzer / cell counter, biochemistry analysers among others. 5. Develop technical specifications for all pieces of medical and laboratory equipment and necessary additional components; Review the Ministry of Health Standard Specifications of Biomedical Equipment and necessary additional components. 6. Provide Technical Support in the Tender Process (e.g. develop technical specifications and provide inputs to the technical assessment of the bids etc.) to WHO UKR Procurement expert. Tender process will apply to all Biomedical devices and external maintenance, survey and monitoring services, such us oxygen supply and biomedical instruments for diagnostics and treatment. The number of process will depend on the Clinical Management and Biomedical joint assessment. 7. Provide technical support during the Installation of Biomedical Equipment in the specific selected locations. 8. Produce a project completion report for biomedical equipment and necessary additional components. Key requirements: 3 months frame, including analysis, recommendation, actions, sustainable program and conclusions. 9. Identify the basic equipment pre-installation works to be incorporated in the list of the pre-installation services to be contracted and performed (e.g. civil, electrical, mechanical). The allocation of equipment and facilities will be determined by a previous analysis and management agreement. 10. Produce equipment installation completion reports and certification. 11. Support the project management unit in the identification and evaluation of suitable medical equipment suppliers. The range of equipment will vary from diagnostics and treatment, from prehospital care to third level health facility. 12. Support the project management unit in the examination of the architectural and technical studies/documents concerning the installation constraints of selected equipment. 13. Support the technical unit in examination and analysis of equipment bids. 14. Supervise the installation of biomedical equipment and necessary additional components for prehospital and hospital emergency care. 15. Participate in the development of training programs for biomedical personnel and provide technical advice on the use of the equipment. Draft reports to authorities regarding activities and recommendations. 16. Apply applicable technologies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care across levels of emergency health-care delivery, including underfunded and low-resources settings. 17. Provide a biomedical expertise to Preparedness and Response by liaison with County Preparedness Officer providing an input on biomedical assessment for Preparedness report and contingency plans. 18. Integrate the role in planning committee for disaster preparedness and response activities. Provide inputs to the Biomedical section at 2022 Preparedness plan 19. Analyse accidents involving medical devices which have caused – or contributed to produce – severe injuries to patients or health workers, as part of the multidisciplinary health risk assessment.

4. Recruitment Profile

Functional Knowledge and Skills

Essential

o Excellent skills in technical analysis, installation and maintenance of various types of medical equipment o Excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to write in a clear and concise manner and give technical advice and guidance taking into consideration the views of multiple stakeholders and partners in resource-limited contexts; o Proven ability to promote consensus, communicate progress and results, and resolve issues in a proactive manner, while ensuring effective work practices and ethics. o Good computer skills in Microsoft Office applications.

Education Qualifications

Essential: University degree in Bio-Medical Engineering or a University Degree in other fields of Engineering with a postgraduate diploma in Bio-Medical Engineering; or its equivalent from a recognized University / Institution Desirable: Advanced University degree in Bio-Medical Engineering

Experience

Required o At least seven (2) years professional experience in preparation of medical equipment condition assessment and specifications for hospitals including installation, commissioning large scale maintenance networks of biomedical and hospital equipment (e.g. patient ventilators, monitors, oxygen concentrators)

Desirable o Work experience in WHO or another international public health organization

Languages

Essential: Excellent knowledge of English and Ukrainian. Desirable: Working knowledge of Russian.

5. Contract duration

6 months

6. Location

Kyiv, Ukraine. Frequent travels involved.

7. Remuneration

No-B

8. Additional Information section

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level. • Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted. • A written test may be used as a form of screening. • If your candidature is retained for 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. • For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int. • WHO is committed to workforce diversity. • WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco. • Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged. • WHO's workforce adheres to the WHO Values Charter and is committed to put the WHO Values into practice. • Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority. The execution of the work under a consultant contract does not create an employer/employee relationship between WHO and the Consultant. • WHO shall have no responsibility whatsoever for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.