Qualifications

Background and Justification

The position is to focus on the Immunization and Vaccines Development Programme in the country providing technical support and advisory services to strengthen high-quality immunization and vaccine development and/or testing capacity and policies that prevent mortality, morbidity and disability from diseases which are preventable through the optimum use of vaccines. The position is to provide support to the government on the technical and practical aspects of developing guidelines for selection and introduction of new vaccines in the immunization programmes and to further develop and disseminate guidelines for the evaluation of the impact of newly introduced vaccines in the national immunization schedule.

Tasks and Deliverables

The incumbent will have the following assigned responsibilities/duties as Immunization Officer:

·         Provides technical expertise for the introduction and scale-up of new vaccines, such as yellow fever, MenA, or HPV vaccines, supporting guideline development and training. Also responsible for monitoring vaccine coverage, drop-out rates, and conducting post-introduction evaluations to assess impact and challenges.

·         Strengthens the capacity of health workers through training, supportive supervision, and mentorship. This includes building competencies in cold chain management, vaccine storage and handling, safe injection practices, and the use of health information systems for reliable data collection and reporting.

·         Designing, planning, and coordinating the national and sub-national immunization strategies in accordance with the Ministry of Health and international partners. Duties include supporting in developing comprehensive annual work plans, supporting microplanning at the facility and community levels, and ensuring alignment with national goals and WHO guidelines.

·         Facilitate smooth information flow of activities between MOH, NIP and other involved institutions and partners (UNICEF particularly) through sharing reports, meetings etc

·         Develop joint actions with MOH counterparts, such as working groups, roundtables, meetings to facilitate the NIS implementation process at national and subnational levels, with emphasis on documenting experience for later review.

·         Support the operationalization and implementation of annual work plans,

·         Plan and conduct vaccination campaigns.

·         Participate, conduct, and monitor capacity-building efforts (IIP, MLM, among others), provide improvement feedback, and implement them with HWs trained

·         Implementation of WHO-tasked activities agreed upon in the EPI review (EPI TWG, ICC, SSTAG and , adhoc meeting) with feedback provided.

·         Meetings, training courses held for Immunization advisory bodies (NITAG), and minutes available.

·         Quarterly field visits to monitor immunization activities and provide feedback to stakeholders and improvement plans

·         Draft/write regular reports and provide updates to the Programme Coordinator, WHO Representative and to the WHO Regional Office.

·         Develop the Immunization curriculum for vaccinators at sub national level.

·         Support resource mobilization, including project planning, proposal development and reporting.

·         Transfer knowledge gained to Ministry of Health to the technicians and partners where appropriate

·         Provide assistance in other areas of immunization programme support as needed.

·          Conduct any other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Education Qualifications

* Essential

First University degree in a health-related field, medicine, public health or other related field from an accredited/recognized institute.

Desirable

Advanced degree in Medicine/Public Health.

Experience

* Essential

At least five (05) years of professional and related experience in EPI/or Child health Program. Within this experience, professional experience working at the country level providing technical advice and services to national counterparts, Ministry of Health, and other external partners on EPI programmes. Experience managing diverse teams

Desirable

Relevant work experience with WHO and/or UN agencies, health cluster partners; experience working in relevant nongovernmental or humanitarian organizations.

Skills

·         Sound knowledge of country level situations with regard to vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programmes, their development and management with good understanding of relevant country needs, priorities and policies, along with WHO’s policies, practices, guidelines and procedures in the related areas and ability to apply them in the country office setting.

·         Excellent knowledge of disease burden and surveillance for vaccine preventable diseases.

·         Sound knowledge of immunization programmes, disease burden and surveillance for vaccine preventable diseases and in-depth knowledge of measles control, new vaccines introduction as well global and regional vaccine action

·         Ability to review and revise policies and objectives of assigned program and activities.

·         Interpersonal skills using tact, patience and courtesy.

·         Commitment to implementing the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of work.

Language Skills

Excellent knowledge of English and good knowledge of Arabic

Additional Information (For HR use only):

·         This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.

• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for 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.
• For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.

·         The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits workforce 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 workforce. 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 for WHO jobs.

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 (https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values) 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 short-listed candidates.
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority. 
• WHO shall have no responsibility for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.
• 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.
• In case the recruitment website does not display properly, please retry by: (i) checking that you have the latest version of the browser installed (Chrome, Edge or Firefox); (ii) clearing your browser history and opening the site in a new browser (not a new tab within the same browser); or (iii) retry accessing the website using Mozilla Firefox browser or using another device. Click the link for detailed guidance on completing job applications: Instructions for candidates.