Technical Officer (Public Health Intelligence Systems)

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 111,152 USD and 145,545 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 mission of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme (The Programme) is to build the capacity of Member States to manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations. The Health Emergency Intelligence and Surveillance Systems division (WSE) is responsible to build a system of collaborative intelligence enabling better decisions to avert and manage public health threats and risks. Its goal is to enable, strengthen and support countries, regional and global actors in averting and managing public health threats and risks through collaborative problem solving and decision-making for short-term action and long-term policies, informed by better data and analytics. The WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence is a new office of WHO, located in Berlin. It works with partners to enable the generation of public health relevant information to provide timely actionable insights and improve decision making to prepare for, avert and respond to public health threats. It also aims to reduce fragmentation and inefficiency by creating an ecosystem that promotes collaboration across multiple professional disciplines, sectors, and initiatives; and empower decision makers, public health professionals, and civil society to make informed public health decisions.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Within the framework of the delegated authority, the incumbent is assigned all or part of the following duties which are performed according to the needs of the unit and department:

• Contributes to the conception and design of solutions in the epidemiological and public health intelligence domains.

• Collaborates with developers to design, develop, enhance, test and maintain high quality technology components that meet stakeholder requirements, including sub-components of the EIOS system, and the ability for stakeholders to implement and maintain these as appropriate.

• Develops technical solutions for the automated analysis and visualization of information captured in the EIOS system and other related systems.

• Supports synergies in solution delivery, analysing requirements and gaps, overlaps and opportunities, and works with other team members to develop respective workable approaches for integrating and maintaining solutions.

• Provides sustained technical support to the EIOS Community of Practice as well as more broadly where appropriate as determined by the department and assists in coding, debugging, and troubleshooting software issues to ensure optimal performance.

• Conducts evaluations of implemented technological solutions and prepares corresponding timely technical and analytical reports.

• Participates in code reviews and provide constructive feedback to team members.

• Contributes to the documentation of code and software systems for future reference.

• Liaises with national, regional and global cross-functional teams and collaborators to understand project requirements and deliver solutions accordingly.

• Learns and adapts to new technologies and programming languages as required.

• Stays abreast of industry trends and emerging technologies relevant to public health intelligence, identifying opportunities for innovation and improvement to continuously enhance skills and knowledge.

• Performs other related duties as assigned, including replacing and back stopping for others as required.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: First-level university degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or related field. Desirable: Advanced university degree (Masters or higher) in Computer Science, Software Engineering or related field.

Experience

Essential: A minimum of five years of relevant professional experience in the development, integration and delivery of scalable multi-country technology solutions related to national -and international- level public health surveillance and/or intelligence efforts. At least 3 of these years must be recent (within the last 5 years) and involve work with international exposure. Demonstrated hands-on experience in software development and DevOps. This includes software design and development, integration, verification and deployment of application packages (including integration with relevant 3rd party dependencies), the use of distributed version control systems and quality control. Experience contributing to the technical enhancement of surveillance and/or other public health tools, including engaging with public health stakeholders at the national, regional or international levels to gather and assess requirements for the development and integration of technology solutions. Desirable: Experience with non-traditional surveillance methods (e.g. event based surveillance), particularly open source intelligence and related public health systems such as ProMED, the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN), and/or the EIOS system. Experience with non-relational databases, search and visualization engines like Elastic/Open Search and Graph Databases. Experience in resource limited countries. Experience with inter-agency collaboration or in WHO, UN, UN Agencies or other international organisations to define and develop strategies and solutions for public health needs.

Skills

• Strong understanding of programming languages such as Python, Java, JavaScript, C# and R, with a willingness to learn new languages and technologies.

• Knowledge and understanding of Epidemiology, with emphasis on public health surveillance and intelligence in an international context.

• Proficiency in the design and development of technology solutions in response to stakeholder needs.

• Knowledge of software development methodologies and best practices.

• Knowledge of version control systems (e.g., Git).

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills•Excellent presentation and communication skills, with emphasis on writing skills.

• Proven ability to work with diverse teams to produce results under pressure in critical situations.

• Demonstrated skills in contributing to polices and strategies.

• Ability to engage and communicate effectively, diplomatically and tactfully in a multi-disciplinary and cross-cutting environment with external partners and collaborators including Ministries of Health, donor institutions, private sector, civil society, and other stakeholders.

WHO Competencies

Teamwork Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences Communication Producing results Knowing and managing yourself

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English. Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of French. Intermediate knowledge of another WHO Language.

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 64,121 (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 2399 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 and/or an asynchronous video assessment 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.

• According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.

• 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.

• The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.

The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its staff. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (

https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion

) are strongly encouraged to apply. Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to

reasonableaccommodation@who.int

• An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. 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.

• Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with WHO and an underlying premise of the international civil service. 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.

• WHO also offers wide range of benefits to staff, including parental leave and attractive flexible work arrangements to help promote a healthy work-life balance and to allow all staff members to express and develop their talents fully.

• The statutory retirement age for staff appointments is 65 years. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete the term of appointment will normally be considered.

• Please note that WHO's contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at [email protected].

• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

• For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.

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

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