Epidemiologist

Overview

Design and implement health surveillance systems and emergency response for public health.

You have:

• A medical doctor with an advanced university degree (Master's level or above) in epidemiology, statistics, database management or public health.
• At least seven years' related experience in quantitative epidemiology and public health surveillance, outbreak investigation and humanitarian settings.
• Expert knowledge of English.
• Intermediate knowledge of Nepali.
• Self-motivated with ability to work with minimum supervision.
• Proven ability to multitask across various planning and implementation processes within a highly demanding environment.
• Demonstrated knowledge and expertise in deploying epidemiologic, operations research, risk assessment, and communication methods in emergency risk management.

Contract

This is a P-4 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 7 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 110,347 USD and 142,269 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 objective of the WHO Nepal Country Office is to implement the Country Cooperation Strategy by supporting the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), Government of Nepal (GoN) in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of national health policies, strategies and plans and developing and managing WHO's technical cooperation programmes at the country level. The Country Office collaborates with the Government of Nepal and relevant stakeholders in support of their efforts of achieving national health goals; of ensuring the attainment of universal health coverage and of contributing to global and regional public health action by providing need-based technical assistance in national level policy formulation, setting norms and standards, improving knowledge dissemination and management, monitoring country health situation and building sustainable institutional capacity, to play a greater leadership role in different national level policy technical forums. WHO provides guidance and technical support in organizing the humanitarian health response following multi-hazard emergencies and in revitalizing the capacity of the health sector to recover and rebuild from emergencies in appropriate and sustainable ways. In the inter-emergency period the objectives are to increase the capacity and resilience of the Nepal Health System to reduce risk, prevent and prepare for disasters, to mitigate adverse health consequences, through supporting the Emergency Risk Management interventions prioritized in the national plan for the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030); and the health security interventions for enhancement of core capacities required to comply with the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 as prioritized in the National Action Plan on Health Security (NAPHS), National Action Plan on Anti-Microbial Resistance (NAP-AMR) and National Pandemic Preparedness and Response Plan (NPPRP). WHO strives to integrate and harmonize the actions undertaken for enhanced ERM and Health Security with the interventions implemented to achieve the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and health systems strengthening through appropriate capacity building and co-ordination mechanisms and partnerships. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) supports the MoHP, GoN to direct and co-ordinate the rapid provision of life-saving emergency health interventions at scale in the aftermath of multi-hazard emergencies and disasters and subsequently assists in the rapid recovery of the health system in collaboration with national and international partners. Thereupon it provides technical support to the MoHP and partners to enhance health sector emergency risk management through prevention risk reduction or mitigation; preparedness and response readiness to build a health system that is resilient to multi-hazard disasters including public health emergencies.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Under the overall guidance of the WHO Representative and the direct supervision of the Team Leader - WHE and in close coordination with other members of the WHE team of WCO Nepal and WHO-SEARO and in collaboration with other teams within WCO Nepal and key external stakeholders, the Epidemiologist will perform the following:

1. In cooperation with technical partners, design surveillance guidelines, protocols, surveys and monitoring/surveillance systems for detection, verification and response to public health events and diseases at the national level including HIV, TB, Malaria and NTDs; ensuring efficiency of data collection, collation, analysis, interpretation, timely reporting and feedback coordinate the work of a network of sub national professionals and provide technical guidance to them as required to improve surveillance.
2. Support the MoHP to design, deploy and strengthen public health surveillance mechanisms for the detection and verification of early warning alerts and response to verified events / incidents / emergencies of public health concern including epidemics, pandemics and AMR, ensuring efficient data collection, collation, analysis, interpretation, timely reporting and feedback in a coordinated and harmonized manner with the existing / planned health information and e-health architecture in collaboration with internal and external teams and partners engaged in similar initiatives. This includes support the inoperability of disease surveillance systems with the existing EWARS and involve in design and development of a harmonized national disease surveillance system in Nepal
3. Conduct real-time analysis of outbreak intelligence data, with other team members, for epidemic forecasting and detection, guide team members on data quality improvement, use of data for monitoring of trends, ALERT and ACTION thresholds (triggers), as well as methodologies for performing data quality audit (DQA).
4. Oversee data entry, data validation, analysis and reporting of assessments and surveys. Synergize data received from multiple sources including health information systems, death registries, vertical reporting programmes, Community Based Surveillance under the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response framework.
5. Support and oversee the development and deployment of the national strategies and protocols for the conduct of risk assessments and management / synthesis of the information generated from these actions, synergizing data received from multiple sources including health management information systems, civil registration systems, vertical disease control programmes, institutional (clinical and laboratory), community, event and indicator based surveillance systems to generate evidence for actionable interventions.
6. In collaboration with CDS team, support and oversee the design and development of appropriate operational research and surveys (related to HIV, TB, Malaria, Hepatitis and NTDs) and contribute to the generation of evidence, facilitate informed policy decisions by government and provide cutting edge policy advice.
7. Contribute to the preparation and dissemination of surveillance and epidemiologic; health risk assessment, situation assessment information products (surveillance and epidemiologic bulletins and reports, risk assessment reports; situation reports, health security and emergency risk management bulletins, donor reports etc). Also support the development of country contextualized knowledge products prioritized through periodic review of the infectious disease surveillance and relevant data/information and facilitate analysis and disseminate in public health response in coordination with the WHE, CDS and other teams.
8. Support coordinated establishment and efficient functioning of Epidemic Rapid Response Teams (ERRTs) as well as, Public Health Emergency Management Committees (PHEMC) at all three levels of government for confirmation and containment of potential hazards like infectious diseases, zoonotic events, food safety events and CBRN events through development and dissemination of national guidelines and standard operating protocols, advocacy interventions, capacity building strategies and tools and regular monitoring and evaluation for performance improvement
9. Support the development of a one-health oriented National Field / Applied Epidemiology Training Programme and Epidemiology and Operations Research Programme (EORP) including the elaboration of capacity building strategies, training methods and materials; supportive supervision and mentoring mechanisms for trainees; and the development of multi-sectoral partnerships for the nation-wide roll out of the National F/AETP and EORP
10. Promote effective coordination for rapid assessment, surveillance and response activities for epidemic and pandemic prone diseases and other public health events / emergencies in consultation with Country Office, Regional Office and HQ as well as local, regional and national health entities and other international health partners including UN agencies, GOARN partners, WHO Collaborating centers and NGOs
11. Supervise National Professionals and Field colleagues of the WHE and other teams, build their epidemiologic and operations research capacity and undertake regular monitoring and evaluation including through supportive supervisory visits to the field to assess and evaluate the level and quality of their support for the implementation of prioritized activities, identify gaps and recommend corrective actions based on key performance indicators
12. Lead the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, technical and financial reporting of the portfolio of work assigned under the biennial operational and country support plans and seek to develop and maintain team and office wide liaisons to effectively leverage and enable country office and member state contribution to the relevant strategic objectives of the WHE team, the goals of the CCS and the Regional Flagship priorities, the WHO three billion goals and the Sustainable Development Goals.
13. Support the Team Lead - WHE and the WHE team and other teams as required to strengthen and promote partnerships and collaborations; mobilize resources; strengthen development partner / donor relationships; plan and pilot innovations and proof of concept demonstration projects; manage knowledge; document and dissimulate learning through various means
14. Assist in any other tasks as instructed by the Team Lead - WHE Team Lead -CD and the WHO Representative
15. Submit an end of assignment report (mandatory)

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: A medical doctor with an advanced university degree (Master's level or above) in epidemiology, statistics, database management or public health from an accredited/recognized institute. Desirable: Post Graduate degree in communicable diseases control; risk assessment or emergency risk management would be asset.

Experience

Essential: At least seven years' related experience, in quantitative epidemiology and the implementation of public health surveillance, outbreak investigation and response in humanitarian settings. Previous experience in implementation / support to Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) and FETP. Demonstrated exposure at the international level Desirable: Prior humanitarian working experience at field level with WHO/UN, health cluster partners, recognized humanitarian organization or with an international non-governmental organization with expertise in disaster and outbreak response

Skills

• Self-motivated with ability to work with a minimum supervision.
• Ability to generate options, decide, prioritize and execute under pressure.
• Technical expertise and Overall attitude at work are required mandatory competencies.
• Sound knowledge and skills in database management and epidemiological and statistical analysis; secondary data and literature review and meta-analysis; surveillance system design, implementation and performance monitoring and evaluation; epidemiologic study design and implementation; survey design and implementation; monitoring and evaluation systems design and use, and public health information / innovation management
• .Demonstrated knowledge and expertise in effectively deploying epidemiologic, operations research, risk assessment and communication methods in all phases of emergency risk management and health systems strengthening; complemented by proven expertise in building national capacity in these domains.
• Proven ability to multitask across various planning and implementation processes within a highly demanding environment.

WHO Competencies

Teamwork Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences Communication Moving forward in a changing environment Producing results Creating an empowering and motivating environment

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English. Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of Nepali.

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 74,913 (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 1854 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 prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter 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 final candidates.

• 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.

Potential interview questions