Consultant - Behavioural Scientist

Contract

This is a No grade contract. More about No grade contracts.

1. Purpose of the Consultancy

The main objective of this consultation is to design and lead implementation of behavioural science projects, policies and research; assess priorities and needs and develop a variety of tools for the mainstreaming of behavioural intelligence; and develop behavioural science capacity building programme.

2. Background

The mission of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme (The Programme) is to help countries, and to coordinate international action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies. Within the Programme, the Country Health Emergency Preparedness & the International Health Regulations unit (CPI) oversees the monitoring and evaluation of countries’ preparedness to health and humanitarian emergencies, the planning and country capacity building for capacities, and serves Regionally as the Secretariat of the International Health Regulations (2005). The CPI unit prioritizes support to the most vulnerable countries and works incorporating an all-hazards approach at all three levels of the Organization

Under the guidance of the Regional Manager, CPI, the incumbent, focal point for behavioral science, will work in collaboration with the Risk Communication and community engagement teams and relevant technical officers in the respective Regional and Country Offices to mainstream the use of behavioural and social sciences across the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.

3. Planned timelines (12 months)

Start date: 1 November 2021

Duration: 30 May 2022

4. Work to be performed

Output 1: Design and lead implementation of behavioural science projects, policies and research

Deliverables:

• Conduct situation analysis on the use of behavioural science to inform risk communication and community engagement interventions
• develop of risk communication and community engagement strategy with particular focus on the role of behavioural science.
• Develop policies aimed at influencing people’s behaviours;
• Identify primary and secondary behavioural research including design and implementation of experiments, data collection and systematic reviews.
• Liaise closely with the HQ and regional counterparts to ensure coherence of strategy, materials and messages.

Output 2: Develop a variety of tools for the mainstreaming of behavioural intelligence

Deliverables:

• Assess the needs of the Regional Office and technical teams for tools
• Design and develop tools to support the provision of technical assistance and the mainstreaming of behavioural science into WHO operations at the regional and country level in the form of toolkits, guidelines and guidance, manuals, case studies, checklists, templates, matrices, as needed.

Output 3: Develop Behavioural Science capacity building programme

Deliverables:

• Assess existing capacities for behavioural science and design a program to build capacities nationals and WHO in behavioural science.
• Work with resources from the global and regional levels to train and prepare country-level counterparts on behavioural science
• Develop tailored capacity building sessions for attending seminars, conferences and online trainings
• Support national authorities to conduct lessons learnt exercises to further strengthen the use and practice and utilization of behavioural insights.

5. Technical Supervision

The selected consultant will work under the supervision of: Manager/Responsible Officer: Dr Dalia Samhouri, Manager, CPI/WHE, [email protected]

Specific requirements

- Qualifications required:

Essential

Minimum first university degree for lower end of range, an advanced university degree for mid and high end of rangein social sciences, behavioral sciences, development sciences, communications or public health from an accredited/recognized institute.

Desirable

PhD in any of the above disciplines or market and social research or certifications in research methods.

- Experience required:

Essential

5 to 10 years of working experience within social, behavioural and/or communication sciences for behavioural change or social marketing, of which at least 3 at the international level; practical experience implementing or advising on key domains related to public health; experience either conducting primary or secondary behavioural research (qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods) or developing and conducting capacity building programmes.

Desirable

Experience working in low- and middle-income settings; Familiarity with WHO systems and culture or that of another UN body.

- Skills / Technical skills and knowledge:

• Excellent interpersonal communication, written communication and presentation Capacity of adapting and tailoring solutions to the demand
• Excellent and demonstrated strategic thinking, analytical, project management skills
• Effectively adapting to changing needs and diverse teams
• Ability to work under pressure while producing results.
• Tact, discretion and diplomacy.
• Knowledge or understanding of WHO mandate and goals in the emergency incident management context.
• Proficiency in MS Office applications

- Language requirements:

Essential: Excellent knowledge of English.

Desirable: Working knowledge of French and/or Arabic

7. Place of assignment

Cairo, Egypt

8. Medical clearance

The selected Consultant will be expected to provide a medical certificate of fitness for work.

9. Travel

The Consultant is expected to travel. Destination and duration of travel will be identified through the progress work identified in countries

All travel arrangements will be made by WHO – WHO will not be responsible for tickets purchased by the Consultant without the express, prior authorization of WHO. While on mission under the terms of this consultancy, the Consultant will receive subsistence allowance.

Visas requirements: it is the consultant’s responsibility to fulfil visa requirements and ask for visa support letter(s) if needed.

Additional information:

• 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 - https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values
• 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.