National Officer - Laboratory

Contract

This is a NO-B 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 2 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be more than 3,231 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

WHO is closely working with the Government of Ukraine to respond to the public health and humanitarian crises as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemics and military offensive in the country. The conflict has already displaced more than 10 million civilians and disrupted the health system functions, including the laboratory diagnostics, of the country especially in eastern, northern and southern part of the country. WHO is supporting the emergency response by providing necessary medical supplies by assessing the needs of healthcare and laboratory facilities and other technical and operational support. National Laboratories is one of the subpillars of the IMS tasked with coordination of activities and building capacities in the laboratory diagnostics domain.

Reporting to the Technical Officer, Laboratories, and under the leadership of the Health Information Pillar Lead, the incumbent will be responsible to provide technical support to the implementation of the laboratory component of the incident management system, and to the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ukrainian Public Health Centers (UPHC), Oblast Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other national partners as well as the partners within the health cluster. Additionally, the officer will be responsible for strengthening the human resource capacities in the area of laboratory diagnostics, adaptation of the national procedures to the international standards. S/he will represent National Laboratories sub-pillar in internal and external meetings and prepare the weekly and monthly regular and ad-hoc reports.

S/he will establish and maintain collaborative networks involving national and international organizations, governmental and nongovernmental institutions, professional and scientific societies, liaise with other units/teams at the country office, respective regional office, and HQ.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

During deployment, the duty station may change, and duties may be modified, based upon the technical needs of the Programme.

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

2. In close collaboration with Technical Officer, Laboratories, contribute to the capacity building of laboratory staff, including assessment of training needs, development/update, coordination, and delivery of laboratory-based and on-line trainings and webinars;

3. In close collaboration with Technical Officer, Laboratories, prepare weekly and monthly reports for the activities of the laboratory team;

4. Provide technical support in revision, update and/or development of the national legislation related to the laboratory diagnostics of infectious diseases, biosafety and biosecurity, quality assurance and other matters within the laboratory technical area;

5. Adapt, develop, support compilation and implementation of the technical guidelines, standard operation procedures (SOPs) according to the best international standards and WHO Guidelines;

6. Provide technical mentorship and troubleshooting to the laboratories including for the optimization and automation of the laboratory processes;

7. Assess laboratory needs, support development of technical specifications and all steps of procurement of laboratory goods and relevant services including laboratory equipment, reagents, consumables, certification, calibrations, repairs, etc.;

8. Provide support to the national and subnational external quality assurance programs;

9. Support dissemination of the WHO Guidelines and other technical information, translation into Ukrainian, proofreading, communication with virology, bacteriology, especially dangerous laboratories at Oblast Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Infection and Clinical Hospitals, other relevant national partners, maintain relevant communication channels;

10. Perform any other related incident-specific duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education Qualifications

Essential : University degree (Bachelor) in medicine, life science, or medical virology from an accredited/ recognized institute.

Desirable : Master degree in any of the above-mentioned fields. Certified training or qualification in molecular biology, virology, bacteriology, infectious diseases, and/or epidemiology and laboratory techniques.

Experience

Essential : Experience in the practical and operational application and management of laboratory services, laboratory diagnostics of communicable diseases at the national and/or international levels (minimum 2 years).

Desirable : Experience in UN organizations/agencies, health cluster partners, recognized humanitarian organizations, international institutions or nongovernmental organizations. Experience in complex emergencies, and health response. Experience in PCR automation and optimization. Experience in planning and implementing of the laboratory trainings on Real-Time PCR at national and/or regional levels.

Skills

WHO Competencies

• Teamwork;

• Producing result;

• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences;

• Communication;

Functional Knowledge and Skills

• Ability to work with a team and deliver output in tight deadline;

• Strong interpersonal skills, ability to work independently without supervision;

• Proven ability to analyze laboratory activities in PCR diagnostics and quality management in order to develop innovative and appropriate solutions for their improvement;

• Sound knowledge in diagnostic methodology and techniques in health laboratories, including those in molecular biology, virology, bacteriology and biosafety;

• Sound knowledge of RT PCR method, capable to train others and provide mentoring;

• Sound knowledge in PCR automation and optimization.

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English and Intermediate knowledge of Ukrainian.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION NOB

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.

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