Public Health Officers

Contract

This is a No grade contract. More about No grade contracts.

1. Purpose of the Position

In the context of WHO South Sudan’s COVID-19 Incident Management System (IMS), the incumbent will support the South Sudan Ministry of Health at sub-national level in the coordination, planning, and implementation of relevant preparedness and response measures for COVID-19 and any other emerging diseases. The incumbent represents WHO at the sub-national level and will share all relevant information from the sub-national level back to relevant fora like the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre (PHEOC), Technical Working Groups (TWGs) and the National Steering Committee (NSC).

2. Background

The mission of WHO’s Health Emergencies Program (WHE) is to help coordinate action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies.

3. Planned timeline

6-months

4. Work to be performed

Under supervision of the COVID-19 incident manager, and in close collaboration with other Incident Management Team (IMT) members, other technical programs, and relevant partners, the incumbent will:

• Provide technical public health input for strategic planning, project management and reporting
• Provide technical guidance on all relevant response pillars of COVID-19 and any other emerging diseases (Points of Entry, IPC, surveillance, testing, case management, RCCE, etc,)
• Support MOH in the coordination with relevant partners.
• Liaise with other sectors in providing a public health response during emergencies and outbreaks.
• Advise actors on public health issues related to emergency response
• Conduct investigations for suspected cases of disease outbreaks
• Provide technical guidance and conduct training in relevant topics for (community) health workers
• Ensure implementation of relevant standard operating procedures, protocols and guidelines
• Provide input to communications and information products (situation reports, Health Cluster bulletins, outbreak bulletins etc.) as required.
• Perform any other incident-specific related duties, as required by the WHO COVID-19 incident manager.

5. Education

• Essential****: Medical Degree from an accredited/recognized university.
• Desirable****: Master’s Degree or post-graduate certificate in public health, tropical medicine, or epidemiology

6. Experience

• Essential: At least 2 years’ experience in clinical practice
• Desirable: Experience in public health, disease outbreak response, mobile medical teams. Experience working with UN or INGOs in disease surveillance program in South Sudan.

7. Other Skills (e.g. IT)

• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office applications.

8. Competencies

• Communication and negotiation skills
• Strong command of English
• Teamwork skills
• Working under pressure

9. Technical Supervision

The incumbent will work under the supervision of:

First level supervisor

COVID-19 incident manager Sacha BOOTSMA

bootsmas@who.int

Second level supervisor

WHE Team Lead Argata Guracha GUYO

guyoa@who.int

10. Language requirements:

Good knowledge English. Knowledge of Arabic and local languages is an asset.

11. Place of assignment

This is a field-based position, in areas at increased risk of disease transmission, e.g., Points of Entry (Nimule and Yei)

12. Medical clearance

The selected candidate will be expected to provide a medical certificate of fitness for work.

13. Travel

Possible travel to the field when required.

Additional Information (For HR use only):

• 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.