OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The mission of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme (The Programme) is to build the capacities of Member States to safely manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international response to mitigate, contain, provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations. The Programme supports countries and coordinates international action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, timely respond to, and recover from outbreaks and other public health emergencies. The objectives of the Country Readiness Strengthening Department is to achieve effective operational readiness and response for the most imminent and serious health emergencies. The department supports Member States to develop, establish and finance comprehensive readiness plans for health security that are facilitated by strategic partnerships across all relevant sectors. Operational readiness is critical for countries, communities and organizations to have the capability to be able to respond immediately and appropriately to health emergencies from any hazard when required. Strengthening operational readiness is based on a continuous process of assessing current risk based on the identification of hazards with the highest likelihood and severity against the level of existing capacities and vulnerabilities. This is a continuous process followed by the assessment of readiness capabilities and the acceleration of targeted actions at trigger for an imminent threat to ensure an efficient emergency response. Readiness is a status of specific capabilities to quickly and appropriately respond when required to mitigate the impact of specific risk(s) and is built upon preparedness. The Health Care Readiness (HCR) Unit works on end-to-end processes covering all emergency management cycles, to enhance preparedness, operational readiness and response measures. This includes the development of technical infection prevention control and clinical care standards, norms, standards, tools and guidelines; also covers the processes for health emergency workforce, surge capacities and quality assurance systems and procedures. The unit's work is at the core of the safe and scalable care subsystem to build core capacities of Member States to ensure they have systems in place ensuring the right working conditions and standards for health workforce as well as capacity to deploy surge workforce when needs arise. The unit works with several networks at international, regional and country level including academia to bring partners together for norm setting, advancing research and innovation, capacity strengthening and rapid deployment of health care experts for surge capacity. Agility and operational readiness are critical to provide both immediate, short-term safe and quality care to reduce the loss of life and prevent long-term disability in different public health emergency scenarios.

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 and agenda:

1. Lead the development of quality management (planning, control and improvement) and patient safety agenda for the EMT Initiative and other response capacities, in support of the EMT Team Lead (Network Leader), including but not limited to:

• Coordinate the setup and support implementation of a validation/accreditation mechanism for national rapid response capacities, such as EMTs and RRTs.

• Provide ongoing technical advice and support to Member States, WHO Regional and Country Offices in adopting and adapting minimum technical standards and coordination mechanisms for building quality-assured rapid response capacities according to their needs

• Provide ongoing support to monitoring and evaluation of critical areas of EMT work, including the development of key performance indicators.

• Take part in or lead capacity strengthening and quality improvement missions for national and international RRTs.

• Identify opportunities, collaborate, and propose strategies to advance the patient safety agenda for rapid response capacities at global, regional, and national levels, including the adaptation of existing interventions to the specific context of rapid response capacities, such as EMTs and RRTs Identify and contribute to after-action reviews and other operational research opportunities.

• Support activities to build the required capacities with the EMT Network and RRT Programs, WHO Regional and Country office for implementation of quality improvement activities (e.g: running tests of change to implement lessons learned derived from after-action reviews).
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• Provide ongoing advice and technical support to the network Leader, Regional and Country Offices on matters related to planning, control, and improvement of quality and patient safety for RRC.

2. Work closely with the EMT Network Leader, Regional and Country Offices to support the implementation of the programmatic priorities of the EMT Strategy.

3. Provide expert advice and support to the global EMT mentorship and classification process focusing on the operational aspects and participate in classification and reclassification visits as required.

4. Develop and continuously review minimum technical standards and best practices, ensuring alignment between the different rapid response capacities, such as EMTs and RRTs and adaptability to the national context.

5. 5Provide substantive and technical oversight to consultants and assigned Technical Working Groups, including new projects intending to complement available resources for rapid response capacities (e.g. Toolkit); 

6. Provide, when required, operational support to the EMT Secretariat in the event of an activation and/or deployment, including but not limited to providing technical support to country, regional and headquarters response functions, preparedness activities and emergency response.

7. Perform other related responsibilities as assigned, including replacing and backstopping for others as required.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential:

• Advanced degree (masters or equivalent) in public health or management from an accredited or recognized institute.

Desirable:

• Specialized training in quality management methodologies or public health.
• Rapid response training such as Rapid Response Team and Emergency Medical Team

Experience

Essential:

• At least seven years of experience working in quality management activities for healthcare at national and international levels.

• Previous experience in working with international organizations.

Desirable:

• At least three years of experience in implementation, monitoring, evaluation and project management in healthcare.

• Knowledge of EMT, RRT and/or other rapid response systems

Skills

• Demonstrated capacity to multitask and produce results under pressure within short deadlines.  

• Strong organizational and analytical skills combined with project management abilities particularly in difficult situations and diverse contexts.

• Excellent communication skills and ability to write clearly and concisely.

• Mentoring, collaboration, and flexibility. Critical thinking.

WHO Competencies

• Teamwork

• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences

• Communication

• Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond

• Promoting innovation and organizational learning

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 77,326 (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 5780 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 shws@who.int.

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