Vaccine Research Officer at World Health Organization

Description Of Duties
The incumbent is assigned the following responsibilities:

• To provide authoritative advice on R&D innovations for priority vaccines and "support Member States regarding vaccine preventable diseases, providing technical and scientific guidance on vaccine safety and regulation, including building the capacity of National Regulatory Authorities for registration of vaccines.
• To strengthen the regulatory oversight of clinical trials conducted in the Region, including the facilitation of joint reviews for clinical trial applications.To coordinate and implement activities related to vaccine quality, safety, and standards in collaboration with WHO HQ RSS, Safety, PQ, the Blueprint Team, and other WHO entities and partners.
• To develop work plans for vaccine regulation for the Region, including formulation of milestones to evaluate the performance of vaccine regulation activities.
• To provide technical guidance for consolidation and implementation of the AVAREF platform, including developing, implementing, coordinating, and providing timely reports.
• To undertake resource mobilization for activities related to vaccine regulation, norms, and standards.
• To liaise with AFRO and/or AFRO legal bodies to ensure consistency in the interpretation of legal instruments within the framework of WHO Constitution and AFRO Rules and Regulations, with emphasis on bringing to light and supporting the implementation of regulatory activities in the African Region.
• To collaborate and coordinate activities with other clusters and departments at AFRO to ensure joint planning of vaccine and medicines’ regulation activities.
• To support the implementation of WHO plans and recommendations pertaining to the Global and Regional Advisory groups (GACVS, RITAG, and AACVS).
• Monitoring and reporting on the implementation of recommendations of WHO governing bodies;
• Facilitating coordination with AACVS, RITAG, NITAGs, and partners;
• Facilitating alignment of the support to NRAs of the AFR Region with appropriate regional policy frameworks and the resolutions of the Regional Committee and World Health Assembly; proactively advising and guiding regional and national partners on vaccine safety at the regional and country levels;
• Coordinating and implementing resource mobilization and advocacy strategies;
• Updating existing guidelines, policies and standard procedures for implementation of regulatory functions and frameworks at the regional, sub-regional and national levels.
• Supporting the development and implementation of harmonized regulatory pathways, and strategic plans and guidelines for emergency response.

Periodic Assessment Of NRAs Through

• WHO benchmarking and Partners Results Framework;
• Coordinating the collection of Clinical Trial Review timelines within member States for performance evaluation;
• Facilitating monitoring and evaluation of pipelines of vaccines in clinical development

Development And Implementation Of WHO Technical Products Through

• Publication of periodic reports, including feedback bulletins in close collaboration with team members (at the regional, sub-regional and country levels); submission of
• information-sharing for annual global progress reports; and maintenance of AVAREF Website and up-to-date regional and national databases on clinical trials and safety;
• Facilitating innovations in electronic clinical trial submission and review processes as well as the tracking of safety data.
• Coordinating country support to members states, including technical support as required and in pursuit of enhanced programme planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; and institutional and human resource capacity building.

Research, evidence, and data for decision making on vaccine development, regulation and safety through:

• Facilitating development and implementation of vaccine research and innovation agenda with focus on understanding regulatory bottlenecks and deploying appropriate resolution strategies.
• Building capacity of NRAs and Ethics Committees.

Required Qualifications

• To perform other related responsibilities as assigned.

Education

• Essential: Master’s degree in Vaccinology, Immunology, Medical Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Public Health or related field from a recognized University.
• Desirable: PhD in Immunology, Vaccinology, or Medical Microbiology.

Experience

• Essential: A minimum of seven (7) years’ experience at the national and international levels in clinical research, including biological standardization, regulatory evaluation, and capacity building.

Desirable

• Experience in regulatory policy formulation and working with regulatory authorities, preferably in a resource-limited environment.
• Experience in resource mobilization and coordination of partner support at the international level
• A track record of research, with publications at senior authorship level in peer reviewed journals
• Experience in overseeing implementation, reviewing, and updating existing policies, strategies and guidelines and recommending new initiatives and innovative approaches
• Experience in the development of capacity building tools and databases for monitoring and evaluation purposes, regulatory pathways, vaccine approvals, and safety monitoring through the life cycle approach.
• Experience in clinical research and innovation
• Experience in facilitating coordinated approaches to effective programme management, implementation; monitoring and evaluation, and strategic plan development

Skills

• Within the context of the priorities of the Communicable and Non-communicable Disease Control cluster, the VPD program, the IA2030, AFR Regional Immunization Strategic Plans, and the Regional Research Priorities, the incumbent is expected to have demonstrated track record in global public health, research, and development of vaccines against priority diseases, complemented by in-depth knowledge of regulatory systems strengthening, including norms and standards for vaccines, and related capacity building for product development, including their regulatory approvals and implementation, in particular for emergencies caused by epidemics and pandemics. The position requires proven strategic planning as related to vaccines, immunization, and disease prevention and control, with strong monitoring and reporting skills on results, progress, and application of lessons learnt; preferably with some experience of coordinating and implementing such activities at the country and/or regional level.
• The incumbent has excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to write in a clear and concise manner, with a strong track record of research and publications in peer-reviewed journals; and to provide technical advice and guidance to stakeholders and partners taking into account the research infrastructure and capacity of the countries of the African Region.

WHO Competencies

• Teamwork
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication
• Creating a motivating and empowering environment
• Moving forward in a changing environment

Use of Language Skills

• Essential: Expert knowledge of English or French.
• Desirable: Working knowledge of other UN official languages.