Overview

Provide technical support for public health intelligence and risk assessment.

You have:

• A university degree in epidemiology, public health, or related field
• A minimum of 2 years experience with successful track record in epidemiology, surveillance and/or control of acute public health events
• Expert knowledge of English
• Intermediate knowledge of French
• Master's level qualifications in public health, epidemiology, infectious diseases, or emergency/disaster management
• Field experience in public health programmes or emergency response programmes in developing countries
• Experience in inter-agency collaboration or in WHO, UN, UN Agencies, or other international organizations

Area of expertise

Detection, verification, and Risk Assessment Multi-sectoral.

Purpose of consultancy

The main purpose of the position is to provide technical support for Public Health Intelligence and Risk Assessment within the HIR Programme Area. The Public Health Intelligence and Risk Assessment subunit is responsible for identifying new public health events, assessing risks to public health, conducting epidemiological surveillance and field investigations, monitoring public health interventions, and communicating public health information to technical partners. The incumbent conducts epidemic intelligence activities, provides technical support in the areas of epidemiology, detection, verification and risk assessment (DVA) of health in emergencies. S/he conducts Rapid Risk Assessments (RRA) of acute public health events, updates the Event Management System (EM) and other event-based tools, supports the development of events and signals visualization tools and platforms, analyses DVA data and generates reports and scientific articles on best practices and lessons learned on event detection and response. The incumbent may be deployed to emergencies when required.

Background

The mission of WHO’s Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Programme (WHE) 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 and Risk Assessment (HIR) Programme area of the EPR focuses on three major streams of work: i) enhancing public health intelligence for early detection and risk assessment of health events; ii) strengthening public health surveillance and epidemiology based on the IDSR framework; and iii) modernizing information management systems and data analytics.

Deliverables

Under the supervision of the HIR Programme Manager and overall coordination of the Regional Emergency Director, the Detection, Verification, and Risk Assessment Technical Officer performs routine activities for early detection of threats arising from epidemic and pandemic prone diseases, conducts rapid risk assessments of acute public health events, keeps track of acute public health events reported by Member States, and documents the response to those public health events and other emergencies. This position involves working in close collaboration with the WHE Programme, WHO HQ, Regional and Country Offices and with a broad range of partners, to provide technical expertise and promote information sharing. Within the framework of the delegated authority, the incumbent is assigned all or part of the following duties:

1. Conduct routine activities for early detection of acute public health events, including but not limited to event-based surveillance; indicator-based surveillance; verification and risk assessment.
2. Monitoring, and information-sharing on events that may constitute a public health emergency of international concern.
3. Develop and/or maintain a database of historical events reported in the region.
4. Organize and manage of data and information required for evidence-driven risk assessment.
5. Develop and/or update the standard operating procedures and tools for epidemic intelligence.
6. Perform data analysis to assist in the development of briefing documents and materials, situation analyses, and multilevels risk assessments.
7. Support further development and maintenance of the WHO Event Management system (EMS) and Event Information System (EIS) and other event-based surveillance systems.
8. Support the development and implementation of the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) platform.
9. Monitoring and evaluation of the performance of epidemic intelligence tools and processes.
10. Support the development of critical information products including RRA outputs; reports on best practices and lessons learned on the implementation of event-based surveillance and indicator-based surveillance in the region.
11. Contribute to the development of training materials and capacity building in the areas of early detection and response to acute public health events.
12. Participate in emergency epidemiological field missions as required.
13. Perform any other related responsibilities as assigned by the Program Area Manager, including backstopping for others as required.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications

Essential

A university degree in epidemiology, public health, or related field

Desirable

Master’s level qualifications in public health, epidemiology, infectious diseases, or emergency/disaster management.

Experience

Essential

A minimum of 2 years experience with successful track record in epidemiology, surveillance and/or control of acute public health events; epidemic surveillance at the national and/or international levels during epidemics or public health crisis at the national and international levels.

Desirable

• Experience in WHO and/or the UN System in the areas of outbreak preparedness and response;
• Field experience in public health programmes or emergency response programmes in developing countries;
• Experience in inter-agency collaboration or in WHO, UN, UN Agencies, or other international organizations.

Skills/Knowledge

• Sound strategic and tactical thinking with ability to formulate clear comprehensive policies, strategies and plans.
• Superior organizational skills with ability to multi-task and produce results under pressure.
• Excellent interpersonal with proven ability to communicate in a clear and effective way, with tact, diplomacy and courtesy.
• Authoritative and comprehensive knowledge of the theory, principles, methods and techniques in international emergency risk management and humanitarian response, with a broad-based understanding of its growing complexity including knowledge of the workings of relevant international policy-setting bodies.

Languages and level required (Basic/Intermediate/Expert)

Essential

Expert knowledge of English

Desirable

Intermediate knowledge of French

Location

On site in Nairobi EPR Hub

Travel

The consultant is expected to travel

Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded)

Remuneration

USD 5,480 – 6,980 per month corresponding to band level A of WHO consultant grid.

Living expenses (A living expense is payable to on-site consultants who are internationally recruited)

Currency and rate will be communicated in due course.

Expected duration of contract

6 months

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. The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits workforce 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 workforce. 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 for WHO jobs.
• 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 [email protected]
• An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter (https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values) 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 short-listed candidates.
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority.
• WHO shall have no responsibility 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 each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.
• Please note that WHO’s 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 [email protected].
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Potential interview questions

Added 2 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: who.int