Infectious Hazard Management (IHM) Officer

Contract

This is a NO-C contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 5 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be more than 4,837 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 objectiveof the WHO Bangladesh Country Office is to implement the Country Cooperation Strategy by supporting the Bangladesh Governmentin the formulation, implementation and evaluationof national health policies, strategies and plans and developing and managingWHO's technical cooperation programmes. The CountryOffice develops a twoshy; way collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh in support of their effortsof achieving national healthgoals; of ensuring the attainment of universal healthcoverage and of contributing to globaland regional public health action by providing need-based technical assistancein national level policy formulation,setting norms and standards, improving knowledge dissemination and management, monitoring country healthsituation and building sustainable institutional capacity, to play a greaterleadership role in different nationallevel policy and technical forums.The position is based in strategic priority2: The WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE).The mission of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme is to help countries, and tocoordinator international action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidlyrespond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies. The main focus for thisposition are, a) support surveillance and management of emerging/re-emerginginfectious diseases including influenza, and other epidemic prone diseases b)provide laboratory support for the prompt diagnosis of priority infectious diseasec) act as focal point for the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Project and alsofor Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), and d) Support One Health Coordination fordisease prevention and control.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Under the direct supervision of Team Lead (WHE) and the overall supervision of WHO Representative, the incumbent will undertake the following duties:

1. Provide technical expertise and operational support for the timely response to outbreaks/epidemics and health emergencies, in collaboration with national health officials, including laboratory staff, and other partner organizations.

2. Support and facilitate the development and implementation of evidence-based policies, public health programmes and interventions for the management of priority infectious hazards

3. Assist in developing training materials and facilitate training workshops to build capacity in laboratory diagnostics including sample collections, storage, transportation, and testing

4. Support the adaptation, the development and implementation of technical guidelines and standard operational procedures for laboratory testing practices for outbreak detection, including those caused by (re-)emerging and other infectious diseases

5. Coordinate the participation of national laboratories in Quality Assurance Systems or programmes

6. Support the enhancement of laboratory infrastructure and the implementation of standard operating procedures to ensure safe collection, handling, shipment, storage, and analysis of human and environment specimens.

7. Provide technical advice and support for procurement of essential laboratory commodities such as equipment, testing platforms, reagents, and other supplies

8. Serve as focal point for the Pandemic influenza preparedness (PIP) framework for the sharing of influenza viruses and access to vaccines and other benefits activity implementation.

9. Oversea seasonal and zoonotic influenza activities and reporting

10. Serve as focal point for the development and implementation of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) activities in the WHE team and coordination with other units in the WCO Bangladesh

11. Support and facilitate zoonoses diseases and One Health collaborations within the WHE team and with other units

12. Perform any other duties as assigned by supervisor.

13. Submit end of assignment report

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: Advanced University degree(Master's level or above) in life science, medicine, or medical virology froman accredited/ recognized institute. Certified training or qualification inmolecular biology, virology, bacteriology, infectious diseases, and/orepidemiology and laboratory techniques. Desirable: A PhDin laboratory related field.

Experience

Essential: At least 05 years of experience in public health in infectious diseases surveillance andlaboratory support, with emphasis on managing outbreaks and health emergenciesand/or health consequences of emergencies and crises Demonstrated exposure atinternational level. Desirable: • Experience in establishing or improving laboratory infrastructure for microbiology and/or detection of infectious diseases.• Experience in planning and implementing laboratory trainings at national and regional levels.• Experience in evaluating novel diagnostics assays for emergency use authorization during outbreak response.• Previous experience in UN organizations/agencies, health cluster partners, recognized humanitarian organizations, international institutions, or nongovernmental organizations, particularly in developing countries

Skills

• Proven ability to analyse laboratory activities in diagnostic, biosafety and quality management,in order to develop innovative and appropriate solutions for their improvement.• Sound knowledge in biosafety standards, methodology and techniques in health laboratories,including those in molecular biology, virology, bacteriology and biosafety.• Sound knowledge in Quality Assurance Systems for laboratories.• Demonstrated ability to provide sound methodological and technical advice and guidance to multiple stakeholders and partners in countries. Knowledge of working in or with multilateral organizations, preferably WHO • Ability to provide leadership to and manage the staff under his/her responsibility; ensure their performance, continuous development and engagement, promoting a culture of working across boundaries, and integrity in accordance with the WHO's policies, rules and procedures

WHO Competencies

• Teamwork
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication
• Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond
• Producing results
• Creating an empowering and motivating environment

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.

REMUNERATION

Remuneration comprises an annual base salary starting at BDT 6,180,297 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable) and 30 days of annual leave.

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.

• 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.

• This is a National Professional Officer position. Therefore, only applications from nationals of the country where the duty station is located will be accepted. Applicants who are not nationals of this country will not be considered.