Consultancy: Call for applicants In Vitro Diagnostics (consultants), Health Section, Programme Division, NYHQ (Home-Based), Req

Contract

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, hope.

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

The ongoing HIV and COVID-19 pandemics are stark reminders of the pivotal role diagnostic tests play as essential tools not only for clinical diagnosis and management of patients, but also for public health. In the COVID-19 pandemic, tests are essential to detect outbreaks and where the virus is spreading, to identify new variants and inform public health measures, to ensure safety during travel and mass gatherings, monitor the efficacy of vaccines, and to safeguard new oral antiviral medicines from drug resistance through a "test & treat" approach. Despite its importance, Covid-19 testing remains inadequate in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which hinders their ability to diagnose infection to effectively provide needed care and institute public health measures; detect and contain outbreaks; and increases the severity and length of lockdowns, leading to potentially devastating social and economic effects.

How can you make a difference?

The Health Programme Group is building a roster of professionals with experience in In Vitro Diagnostics from which to draw consultants to be recommended to countries in need of technical support.

Candidates who apply to the In Vitro Diagnostics Roster will be screened based on different technical categories, including:

• Diagnostics systems strengthening
• Health systems strengthening
• Digital health
• Implementation research
• Capacity building
• Community health
• Data mining and analytics

Candidates can be selected in one or more of the above technical categories, depending on their qualifications and interest.

If approved by the reviewing committee, the candidate will remain in the Consultant Rosters database for 36 months, unless requested to remove her/him earlier. During this period, candidates might be consulted several times, depending on requests flow. Consultancies proposed may range from 4 weeks to 11.5 months, depending on demand, project specifications and funding availability.

Consultants may be requested to work in any country or remotely, as determined by the specification of the project. The work may include incidental travel to participate in field work, workshops or conferences; such travel will be governed by respective UNICEF travel policies for consultants.

Purpose of the job:

The overall purpose of this consultancy is to provide strategic guidance and technical assistance to UNICEF regional and country offices on in vitro diagnostic technologies, policies, strategies, and implementation frameworks to introduce and scale up in vitro diagnostic technologies, strengthen national diagnostic capacities and services, optimize diagnostic networks, and strengthen diagnostic systems to detect and respond to disease outbreaks and improve pandemic preparedness.

Under the supervision of the Senior Health Advisor (Diagnostics and Antimicrobial Resistance), the rostered consultant will be called upon on an ad hoc basis to support the implementation of interventions aimed at increasing access to diagnostics in LMICs, particularly access to COVID-19 rapid testing at the community and primary health care (PHC) levels. To enable decentralized testing by non-laboratory personnel and improve data capture for public health purposes, consultants will also support the adoption of existing digital health technologies that can facilitate the integration of rapid testing into existing community health programs. Finally, consultants will support the integration of implementation research into the program cycle to help understand the factors that impact implementation and inform adjustments to improve program implementation and delivery of diagnostic services at the community and PHC levels.

Description of duties:

Systems Strengthening:

• Provide technical assistance to UNICEF regional and country offices as well as governments for diagnostic systems assessment and capacity building, aimed at scaling up COVID-19 testing at the community and primary health care levels.
• Support the implementation of Diagnostic Network Optimization (DNO) exercises and DNO recommendations aimed at improving the network organization to increase access to diagnostics and generate program efficiencies.
• Support a Health Systems Strengthening approach to identify bottlenecks and strengthen key elements of the health system required to support decentralization of testing.

Digital health:

• Provide support for integration of digital health technologies into community and primary health care programmes to improve connectivity and health data management, and enable decentralization of testing through task shifting to non-laboratory personnel (e.g., community health workers).

Implementation research:

• Coordinate with partners to embed implementation research into the programme cycle by overseeing the development of implementation research plans, selection of appropriate methodologies, collection and analysis of data, and promoting the utilization of research findings to improve programme implementation.

Capacity building:

• Identify capacity needs for stakeholders engaged in diagnostic interventions, including COVID-19 testing, and coordinate the development of training materials, and implementation of trainings and workshops to strengthen human resource capacity for decentralized testing in LMICs.

Community Health:

• Identify and leverage partners (e.g., civil society, community- and faith-based organizations) and opportunities (e.g., digital health tools) to generate demand for testing, train community health workers to reliably perform COVID-19 tests, and link test results to appropriate actions (e.g., test and treat approach).

Monitoring & Evaluation:

• Support the development of project monitoring and evaluation frameworks that include compiling and defining project indicators, baselines, targets, reporting templates and timelines.
• Carry out rigorous and transparent diagnostic programme evaluations in collaboration with focal points in HQ, ROs and COs to identify bottlenecks and inform corrective actions to improve efficiency and quality of programme delivery.

Knowledge management:

• Facilitate the collection and analysis of information on in vitro diagnostics through surveys, consultations, social networks, rapid learning assessments, digital data, publications, and other relevant mechanisms.
• Coordinate with the Knowledge, Communications and Partnerships Manager to develop case studies, human interest stories, reports, webinars, workshops, and satellite sessions at international conferences to scale up COVID-19 testing in LMICs.

Qualifications

Education:

Advanced university degree (Master's or PhD) in infectious diseases, epidemiology, clinical diagnostics, health informatics, implementation research or related field.

Work experience:

• Knowledge and experience with the latest diagnostic technologies, tools and approaches – particularly those used for COVID-19 testing – as well as demonstrated experience in managing diagnostic and/or health system projects in low-resource settings.
• Experience working on pandemic preparedness and response, particularly recent experience in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Experience working with governments in LMICs, implementing partners, donors, and civil society organizations on the implementation of health and/or diagnostic projects.
• Knowledge of digital health technologies, including tools and systems (e.g., DHIS2), as well as experience using, introducing and/or scaling up digital health tools in low-resource settings.
• Experience using implementation research, participatory action research, or related methodologies with local organizations to gain insights into the contextual factors, challenges and best practices that can guide improvements in program implementation.
• Demonstrated experience with a mix of practical technical skills necessary for strengthening delivery of integrated evidence and results based health services through community health programs and primary health care level.
• Experience working in challenging country contexts.

Key Competencies:

• Practical project management skills in planning, executing, and monitoring, with minimal oversight.
• Excellent, demonstrated analytical and strategic thinking, knowledge synthesis, oral communication and writing skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a geographically dispersed team.
• Ability to absorb and synthesize a broad range of information, including technical information, and prepare compelling presentations and reports.
• Ability to work in multicultural and multi-ethnic environments; experience working in the UN or other international development organization is an asset.
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
• Ability to travel internationally to provide onsite technical assistance.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English required. Fluency in another UN language an asset.

Application procedure:

Interested candidates are requested to apply via the UNICEF TMS recruitment system.

Candidates are required to complete a mandatory questionnaire at the bellow link: Questionnaire

Applicants will need to create a profile in the online recruitment system. This involves submitting details such as personal information, education, experience, languages, skills and work references.

Please note that for this roster application, there is no need to upload a financial proposal at this stage.

Kindly note that all applications should be in English.

Please note that the selection process might include a reference check, request for any additional information, written test and/or oral interview. Only applicants who are identified for further assessment will be contacted.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For Every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.