Epidemiologist

Contract

This is a P-3 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 5 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 134,294 USD and 175,847 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The mission of WHO's 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.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

In the context of the WHO Health Emergencies Incident Management System (IMS), the incumbent will provide technical support in strengthening surveillance and response for priority diseases conditions and events in the context of Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR understanding the current epidemiologic trends, monitoring the implementation and operations of surveillance and response programmes with special focus on early detection, verification and rapid response to epidemics and other public health events of international concern, as well as capacity building of national experts, in compliance with IHR (2005).During deployment, the duty station may change, and duties may be modified, based upon the technical needs of the Programme.Summary of duties:Summary of duties:1. Administer all aspects of epidemiological data and mapping, including the timely exchange of information between WHO EURO and where appropriate other parts of WHO, the Member States and others such as ECDC, with a particular focus on sero-epidemiology and contact tracing.2. Provide technical support and assist in the development of surveys and monitoring/surveillance systems for detection, verification and response to public health incidents with a particular focus on COVID-19; ensuring efficiency of data collection, analysis, interpretation and timely reporting.3. Collate and verify data on reported outbreaks or rumours received from multiple sources, conduct retrospective analysis of reported incidents: determine trends, distribution patterns, and efficiency of the verification mechanism.4. Develop tools to harmonize data collection and processes across WHO and Member states to facilitate consolidation of information. 5. Respond to specific information requests from the technical teams and partners, ensure dissemination of information and knowledge sharing with all partners.6. Provide country-specific and aggregate intercountry information to the relevant WHO websites, manage email boxes and share points, as required.7. Verify data quality (completeness, timeliness), identify gaps in health information management, recommend corrective actions and contribute to relevant documents to include in project proposals, internal and external situation reports (SITReps), bulletins, health risk assessments, health needs overviews (HNO), and strategic response plans (SRP), etc.8. Contribute in building the core surveillance, alert and response national capacities in accordance with the requirement for IHR 2005; provide trainings for incident management team and country staff.9. Support the development of indicator-based surveillance systems for epidemic and pandemic-prone diseases for early detection and response to public health incidents; conduct field investigation10. Provide technical support for risk mapping and development of preparedness/contingency planning.11. Facilitate surveillance reviews including the tracking of surveillance performance indicators. In cooperation with the team, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the planned surveillance activities.12. Prepare and disseminate technical documents, updates and assessments to key decision-makers in the organizational hierarchy and to the national health authorities, as required using standard tools and templates.13. Perform any other incident-specific related duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: First university degree in epidemiology, statistics, database management or public health from an accredited/recognized institute. Desirable: An advanced university degree in health related field or quantitative epidemiology, specialized training in communicable diseases.

Experience

Essential: At least five years related experience, at the national and international levels, in implementation of public health surveillance, outbreak investigation and response. Desirable: Experience in international infectious disease surveillance and response. Previous experience working in collaboration with multiple actors in public health surveillance is desirable. Prior experience at field level with WHO/UN, health cluster partners, public health agency or with an international nongovernmental organization with expertise in outbreak response.

Skills

--> Sound knowledge and skills in database management and statistical analysis, secondary data review, survey designing and implementation, monitoring and evaluation systems design or use, and public health information management.--> Proven ability to multitask across various planning and implementation processes within a highly demanding environment.--> Demonstrated knowledge, competency and professional skills on the public health aspects of infectious disease control, epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response with particular attention to application of an all hazard approach in the context of the International Health Regulations and the use of event based and indicator based surveillance, as well as descriptive epidemiology and principles of public health in communicable disease surveillance and response.

WHO Competencies

Teamwork Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences Communication Moving forward in a changing environment

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English. Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of Other WHO language.

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 62,120 (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 3453 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 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.

• 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.

• For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.

• WHO is committed to workforce diversity.

• WHO's workforce adheres to the WHO Values Charter and is committed to put the WHO Values into practice.

• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

• WHO has a mobility policy which can be found at the following link: http://www.who.int/employment/en/. 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.

• Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.

• *For WHO General Service staff who do not meet the minimum educational qualifications, please see e-Manual III.4.1, para 220.