Immunization Cold Chain International Consultant, Damascus, Syria, 134 working days within 12 months (open for Non-Syrians)

Consultant Medical & Health Programme & Policy

Overview

Provide technical support to improve effective vaccine management practices.

You have:

• Master’s Degree in Public Health, Engineering, Supply Chain or a related field.
• 5 years’ experience in immunization supply chain including cold chain at the national and international level is required.
• Consultant must have completed at least two high-quality assignments related to Vaccine Management.
• Demonstrates excellent writing skills, and strong communication, in particular for the development of technical documents.
• Demonstrates experience and knowledge of the latest developments and issues related to vaccine management especially immunization cold chain system and EVMA.
• Fluency in Arabic and English (both written and verbal) is required.

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy 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, commitment

BACKGROUND (RATIONALE AND CONTEXT):

UNICEF supports countries in achieving their national immunization goals. The achievement of these goals depends on having strong Immunization Supply Chain Management (ISCM) including cold chain systems in place that are routinely assessed and improved through the comprehensive Effective Vaccine Management Assessment. The objectives for ISCM are to achieve adequate supply of vaccines and related supplies for every immunization session without temperature damage and at the lowest possible cost per fully immunized child. In addition, waste from immunization sessions should be safely managed to mitigate damage to the environment. UNICEF Syria has invested heavily in the iSC that has ensured adequate supply of vaccines despite the complex challenging environment occasioned by years of humanitarian crisis. Currently UNICEF is working closely with the Ministry of Health and WHO to introduce tools for vaccine management, Vaccine Supply Stock Management (VSSM) tool and District Health Information System (DHIS2) and cold chain inventory (Integrated Gap Analysis (IGA), and it is critical that UNICEF provides quality technical support in key areas to effectively contribute to the strengthening of the Syria immunization supply and cold chain systems.

How can you make a difference?

OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT (PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT):

The overall objective of this consultancy is to provide technical support to the Syria Ministry of Health National Immunization program and UNICEF Immunization program to improve effective vaccine management practices, including vaccine stock visibility, in line with global best practices. Specifically, the consultancy aims at:

1. Ensuring effective and efficient UNICEF technical support towards the conduct of the EVMA (Effective Vaccine Management Assessment) and development of national EVM improvement plan by the end of 2024
2. Development of costed 2024-2027 multiyear Cold Chain Equipment Rehabilitation Plan (CCERP) by the end of 2024 to enable mobilization of resources (financial and technical) from Gavi and other donors and
3. Improving health and immunization waste management in line with global best practices

LOCATION (GEOGRAPHIC AREA/ DUTY STATION): Damascus, Syria

On-site working days: 52 working days (to be performed in Syria), 5 envisaged visits within 12 Months

Off-site working days: 82 working days (remote)

DURATION:

The selected consultant will work for the period of 134 workdays within 12 months period (January to December 2024). It is envisaged: 82 workdays out of county and 52 days in the country. The exact schedule of the activities will be agreed with the consultant based on the consultancy implementation progress. The deadline for submission of final deliverables to UNICEF is at the end of the contract.

SUPERVISOR:

The consultant will be supervised and report to the UNICEF Immunization Specialist with regular de-briefing with the UNICEF Chief of Health and Health and Nutrition Manager about the progress of the consultancy. The consultant will work on daily basis with UNICEF Health Section.

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT (TASKS, SMART DELIVERABLES, DEADLINES):

TRAVEL CONSIDERATIONS

Should “mission travel” be required, UNICEF will manage and pay for travel via Travel Authorization. However, this will be subject to the following prerequisites: Medical Clearance, Security Clearance through the Travel Request Information Process (TRIP) system, the Basic and Advanced Security in the Field Trainings, Travel Visa, and liability waiver.

Travel cost shall be calculated based on economy class travel, regardless of the length of travel. Costs for accommodation, meals and incidentals shall not exceed applicable daily subsistence allowance (DSA) rates, as promulgated by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC at http://icsc.un.org). The consultant must travel on UNICEF approved airlines.

PROPOSED PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Payment upon deliverables/milestones: UNICEF will only make milestone payments based on the achievement and the acceptance of specific deliverables, as listed in the table above.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

1. Academic qualifications:

Master’s Degree in Public Health, Engineering, Supply Chain or a related field. A first-level university degree with additional 2 years of required relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

2. Work experience / Technical competencies:

• 5 years’ experience in immunization supply chain including cold chain at the national and international level is required, some of which preferably were served in a humanitarian context country.
• Consultant must have completed at least two high-quality assignments related to Vaccine Management.
• Demonstrates excellent writing skills, and strong communication, in particular for the development of technical documents is essential.
• Demonstrates experience and knowledge of the latest developments and issues related to vaccine management especially immunization cold chain system and EVMA.

3. Language requirement:

Fluency in Arabic and English (both written and verbal) is required

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: https://www.unicef.org/careers/get-prepared#Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

EVALUATION PROCESS (OF APPLICATIONS):

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

1. Applications through UNICEF’s Talent Management System (TMS)

2. Cover Letter

3. CV.

4. Financial quote as lump sum for professional fees only, Travel & Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) will be covered by UNICEF Syria..

5. At least 3 Referees from Direct Supervisors

Shortlisted applicants may be invited for further technical assessment. Final recommendation will be made based on “best value for money”, i.e. the hiring section/office shall normally select the individual who quoted the lowest fee from among the candidates who are assessed as suitable for achieving all tasks on time, as per the criteria stipulated in this ToR, and based on the outcome of the evaluation/assessment conducted.

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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure the health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

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Potential interview questions

Added 2 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org