Health Officer (NO-2), UNICEF Sarajevo, B&H, Fixed Term appointment
Contract
This is a NO-2 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. More about NO-2 contracts.
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, health
The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.
UNICEF BiH is implementing European Union funded 4 years programme EU Support to the Health Sector Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina - Realizing the Potential of Primary Health Care-driven Health Systems Reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in close collaboration with the local authorities and WHO. Overall objective of the programme is to contribute to building resilient, robust and people-centred primary health care in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a backbone for advancing country’s progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) and providing equitable access to quality healthcare services for all the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
How can you make a difference?
Under the supervision of the UNICEF BiH Health & Nutrition Specialist and in collaboration with the other Health section colleagues and other Sections at the UNICEF BiH Country Office in Sarajevo as relevant, Health Officer will provide professional assistance and support the Country Office by carrying out the specific activities and responsibilities listed below to help ensure timely and quality development, implementation, and monitoring of UNICEF’s component on immunization and health system strengthening. The Health Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for the Health Programme within the Country Programme, from development planning to delivery of results, by preparing, executing, managing, and implementing a variety of technical and administrative programme tasks to facilitate programme development, implementation, programme progress monitoring, and evaluating and reporting of results.
Key function, accountabilities and related duties/tasks
1. Support to programme development and planning
- Conduct and update the situation analysis for the development, design and management of health-related programmes. Research and report on development trends (e.g. political social, economic, health) for higher management use to enhance programme management, efficiency and delivery of results.
- Contribute to the development and establishment of sectoral programme goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based planning through analysis of health needs and areas for intervention and submission of recommendations for priority and goal setting.
- Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical programme transactions, preparing materials and documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results-based planning (RBM), and monitoring and evaluation of results.
- Prepare required documentations and materials to facilitate the programme review and approval process.
2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results
- Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss operational and implementation issues, provide solutions, recommendations, and/or to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and decisions. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
- Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts to assess programmes and to report on required action/interventions at the higher level of programme management.
- Monitor and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets), and verify compliance with approved allocation and goals, organizational rules, regulations, procedures, as well as donor commitments, standards of accountability, and integrity. Report on issues identified to ensure timely resolution by management and stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
- Prepare regular and mandated sectoral programme/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.
3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation
- Conduct regular programme field visits and surveys, and share information with partners and stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.
- Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners, and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes, and best practices on health-related issues to support programme implementation, operations and delivery of results.
4. Networking and partnership building
- Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with health sector government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to enhance programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to deliver concrete and sustainable results.
- Draft communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships/alliances, and support fund raising for health programmes.
- Participate in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) on health programmes to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of health programmes/projects, and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with the UNDAF development and planning process.
- Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.
5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building
- Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders.
- Apply innovative approaches and promote good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
- Assist with oversight of research and ensure results are available for use in knowledge products.
- Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Education:
- A university degree in one of the following fields is required: public health, pediatric health, Medicine, health research, global/international health, health policy, health management, epidemiology, or relevant public health field.
Work Experience:
- A minimum of two years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: public health planning and management, immunization, and/or health pandemic/epidemic preparedness and response.
- Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
Language Requirements:
- Fluency in English and BHS is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish)
For every Child, you demonstrate...
UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values
UNICEF competencies required for this post are…
- Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
- Works Collaboratively with others (1)
- Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
- Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
- Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
- Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
- Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)
During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.
UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.
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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.
Remarks:
UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children.
UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.
Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.
For further details please contact Human Resources at UNICEF Office in Sarajevo, Ms. Aldijana Brezovac, abrezovac@unicef.org.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.