Technical Officer, Infodemic Management

Contract

This is a P-3 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 5 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 137,951 USD and 180,636 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 Department of Global Infectious Hazards Preparedness (GIH) advances global efforts to prevent and control existing and emerging infectious diseases by increasing access to evidence-based interventions; fostering impactful innovation; and leveraging technical, operational and strategic partnerships. In addition, GIH develops global mechanisms to facilitate coordination and collaboration between countries and multi-sectoral partners for catastrophic events of natural, accidental or deliberate origin. The department is committed to delivering GPW13 Outcome 2.2 Epidemics and pandemics prevented, through: Delivering risk assessment, technical guidance, interventions and control strategies for country impact; Promoting innovation and adoption of new technologies; Aligning and coordinating international action through trusted partnership; Ensuring vulnerable populations have access to life-saving interventions and supplies. The High Impact Events Preparedness (IEP) unit provides leadership and coordination for cross-sector partnerships in the development of global preparedness mechanisms for epidemics and pandemics, thereby reducing their impact on affected populations and limiting their international spread. For example, a global supply chain & deployment mechanism to ensure equitable and timely access to life-saving interventions and biological materials during an outbreak; the establishment of the WHO information network for epidemics (EPI-WIN) and for infodemic management during epidemics and pandemics, as well as the effectiveness and impact of public health and social measures (PHSM).

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

- Manage project and technically develops tools, standards, interventions and innovations in support of development of the infodemic management country toolbox. - Support Infodemic management team in advancing the science of infodemiology and WHO partnerships in this area of work:

• Development, elaboration and implementation of the plans to measure the burden of the infodemic and effectiveness/transferability of infodemic management interventions.
• Liaise closely with the HQ and regional counterparts ensuring coherence of strategy, materials and tools.
• Partnerships development with academic institutions to form a network of WHO collaborating centers for infodemic management.

- Development, elaboration and implementation of partnerships and plans:

• Design, implement, pilot and evaluate interventions for infodemic management in various contexts, including vulnerable groups and populations.
• Perform ongoing review of evidence related to WHO public health research agenda for managing infodemics and evidence-based interventions for infodemic management, including evaluation, adaptability and transferability considerations.
• Support the development, adaptation and application of tools for the management of infodemics.
• Contribute to resource mobilization and donor communication.

- Support implementation research and capacity building:

• Development, engagement with and work of the community of research and practice for infodemic management.

- Provide technical input to implementation research and capacity building activities in countries.

• Support conference planning and training organization through project management and technical contributions.
• Work with national health authorities to collect and discuss case studies of infodemic management in practice, and lessons learned from implementation research and process management.

- Support WHO CO and national capacity building for Infodemic management:

• Support regional offices and country offices in developing infodemic management strategies and plans.
• Brief, guide and support Infodemic management surge capacity personnel that may be deployed to the country.
• Work with resources from the global and regional levels to train and preparecountry-level counterparts for emergency Infodemic management.
• Support national authorities to convene stakeholders and co-develop a national Infodemic management strategy and plan.
• Support national authorities to conduct lessons learnt exercises to further strengthen Infodemic management implementation and interventions.

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

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: A first-level university degree in social/behavioral/data/computer sciences, humanitarian and development sciences, media & communication or public health from an accredited/recognized institute. Desirable: Training in public health, epidemiology, health education, health communication, or health promotion. Training in misinformation analysis, tools and response.

Experience

Essential: At least five years of related experience, at the national and international levels, in the development and implementation of infodemic management or countering misinformation projects and plans. Experience working with social media analytics and social media content generation tools. Experience in managing projects involving multidisciplinary and multi-functional teams and working groups. Experience in data collection tools, tools development, including surveys, focus groups and interview scripts, and SMS surveys. Experience in developing analyses and executive summaries based on multiple types of social data with recommendations for programme and policy action. Desirable: Prior working experience with a national health authority, WHO, the UN, health cluster partners, recognized humanitarian organizations or other international organizations, including at country level. Management or project management experience. Experience with implementation research or evaluation of health/communications programmes. Experience with implementation research or evaluation of health interventions and programmes.

Skills

- Excellent interpersonal skills. - Effective negotiation, facilitation and consensus building skills. - Ability to work under pressure while producing results. - Ability to think out of the box and to make innovative proposals related to risk communication. - Tact, discretion and diplomacy. - Knowledge or understanding of WHO mandate and goals in the emergency incident management context.

WHO Competencies

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

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English. Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of French.

REMUNERATION

WHO salaries for staff in the Professional category are calculated in US dollars. The remuneration for the above position comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 62,692 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable), a variable post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station, and currently amounts to USD 4347 per month for the duty station indicated above. Other benefits include 30 days of annual leave, allowances for dependent family members, home leave, and an education grant for dependent children.

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.

• 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.

• *For WHO General Service staff who do not meet the minimum educational qualifications, please see e-Manual III.4.1, para 220.