Consultant Detection, Verification, and Risk Assessment Officer - Band level A at World Health Organization

Purpose of consultancy

• The main purpose of the position is to provide technical support for Public Health Intelligence and Risk Assessment within the HIR Programme Area. The Public Health Intelligence and Risk Assessment subunit is responsible for identifying new public health events, assessing risks to public health, conducting epidemiological surveillance and field investigations, monitoring public health interventions, and communicating public health information to technical partners. The incumbent conducts epidemic intelligence activities, provides technical support in the areas of epidemiology, detection, verification and risk assessment (DVA) of health in emergencies. S/he conducts Rapid Risk Assessments (RRA) of acute public health events, updates the Event Management System (EM) and other event-based tools, supports the development of events and signals visualization tools and platforms, analyses DVA data and generates reports and scientific articles on best practices and lessons learned on event detection and response. The incumbent may be deployed to emergencies when required.

Deliverables
Under The Supervision Of The HIR Programme Manager And Overall Coordination Of The Regional Emergency Director, The Detection, Verification, And Risk Assessment Technical Officer Performs Routine Activities For Early Detection Of Threats Arising From Epidemic And Pandemic Prone Diseases, Conducts Rapid Risk Assessments Of Acute Public Health Events, Keeps Track Of Acute Public Health Events Reported By Member States, And Documents The Response To Those Public Health Events And Other Emergencies. This Position Involves Working In Close Collaboration With The WHE Programme, WHO HQ, Regional And Country Offices And With a Broad Range Of Partners, To Provide Technical Expertise And Promote Information Sharing. Within The Framework Of The Delegated Authority, The Incumbent Is Assigned All Or Part Of The Following Duties:

• Conduct routine activities for early detection of acute public health events, including but not limited to event-based surveillance; indicator-based surveillance; verification and risk assessment.
• Monitoring, and information-sharing on events that may constitute a public health emergency of international concern.
• Develop and/or maintain a database of historical events reported in the region.
• Organize and manage of data and information required for evidence-driven risk assessment.
• Develop and/or update the standard operating procedures and tools for epidemic intelligence.
• Perform data analysis to assist in the development of briefing documents and materials, situation analyses, and multilevels risk assessments.
• Support further development and maintenance of the WHO Event Management system (EMS) and Event Information System (EIS) and other event-based surveillance systems.
• Support the development and implementation of the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) platform.
• Monitoring and evaluation of the performance of epidemic intelligence tools and processes.
• Support the development of critical information products including RRA outputs; reports on best practices and lessons learned on the implementation of event-based surveillance and indicator-based surveillance in the region.
• Contribute to the development of training materials and capacity building in the areas of early detection and response to acute public health events.
• Participate in emergency epidemiological field missions as required.
• Perform any other related responsibilities as assigned by the Program Area Manager, including backstopping for others as required.

Educational Qualifications
Qualifications, experience, skills and languages
Essential

• A university degree in epidemiology, public health, or related field

Desirable

• Master’s level qualifications in public health, epidemiology, infectious diseases, or emergency/disaster management.

Experience
Essential

• A minimum of 2 years experience with successful track record in epidemiology, surveillance and/or control of acute public health events; epidemic surveillance at the national and/or international levels during epidemics or public health crisis at the national and international levels.

Desirable

• Experience in WHO and/or the UN System in the areas of outbreak preparedness and response;
• Field experience in public health programmes or emergency response programmes in developing countries;
• Experience in inter-agency collaboration or in WHO, UN, UN Agencies, or other international organizations.

Skills/Knowledge

• Sound strategic and tactical thinking with ability to formulate clear comprehensive policies, strategies and plans.
• Superior organizational skills with ability to multi-task and produce results under pressure.
• Excellent interpersonal with proven ability to communicate in a clear and effective way, with tact, diplomacy and courtesy.
• Authoritative and comprehensive knowledge of the theory, principles, methods and techniques in international emergency risk management and humanitarian response, with a broad-based understanding of its growing complexity including knowledge of the workings of relevant international policy-setting bodies.
• Languages and level required (Basic/Intermediate/Expert)

Essential

• Expert knowledge of English

Desirable

• Intermediate knowledge of French