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Job Description: Public Health Officer

Job Description: Public Health Officer

Public Health Officer

Grade: P4
Contractual Arrangement: Fixed-term appointment
Contract Duration: 2 Years
Job Posting: Mar 25, 2024, 3:24:16 PM
Closing Date: Apr 15, 2024, 12:59:00 AM
Primary Location: Sierra Leone-Freetown
Organization: AF_SLE, Sierra Leone
Schedule: Full-time

OBJECTIVES OF THE Program
The UHC/CND cluster in the WHO Sierra Leone country office is guided by the regional strategic agenda: “disease burden reduction through using analytics to inform tailored interventions and guide disease control investments.”. Objectives pursued by UHC/CND are to:

• Provide leadership on disease control coordination, partnership, and resource mobilization.
• Contribute to the development of WHO disease control technical products, services, and tools, including the adoption of new technologies and innovations.
• Support the generation and use of strategic information for action and decision-making, including optimizing investment.
• Facilitate country support—technical assistance in the deployment of WHO technical products and institutional capacity building, including support for national disease programs and regulatory authorities—towards improved program governance, improved intervention coverage, and improved intervention quality.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
The incumbent is expected to contribute towards leadership on coordination, partnerships, and resource mobilization for disease control, elimination, and eradication through:

• Effective coordination of communicable and non-communicable disease programs (EPI, malaria, TB, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, NTDs, etc.).
• Facilitating the development, review, update, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of national strategic plans for priority diseases in the country.
• Facilitating effective partnerships, planning, proposal development, and national resource mobilization efforts that promote the delivery of disease control, elimination, and eradication services.
• Strengthening mechanisms for collaboration and capacity building in national public health institutes.
• Supporting capacity building and mentoring staff in the cluster.
• Adoption and adaptation and monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of disease control, elimination, and eradication technical products, services, and tools through:
  • Facilitating the development, review, update, and monitoring of the use of tools and guidelines in line with WHO global and regional policy guidelines, norms, standards, and tools.
  • Supporting the integration of disease control, elimination, and eradication initiatives into national health sector policies, strategies, plans, and primary health service packages to promote universal coverage of the three diseases.
  • Facilitating implementation of CND program activities in the community in coordination and collaboration with the MOHS, achieving results such as: close follow-up with the Ministry of Health and other partners on the proper and timely implementation of the program activities, including the administrative procedures; visiting the communities and sites where target populations are residing and reporting on the findings; attending field health coordination meetings; and preparation of regular sit-reps on the health condition of target populations.
• Supporting health emergency preparedness and response includes: providing technical assistance in preparedness, response, and recovery to emergencies and disasters with a focus on refugees’ crises; providing facilitation to the team in the implementation of the activities planned for crisis response; and ensuring continuity of essential services during emergencies, recovery, and beyond.
• Generation of analytics-driven strategic information for disease control, elimination, and eradication agenda setting and interventions through:
  • Facilitating the generation of evidence for improving the impact of interventions in disease control, elimination, and eradication, including investments in surveillance, monitoring and evaluation, operational research, and documentation of best practices,.
  • Ensuring the collection and compilation of data on various target populations, including analysis and interpretation of the data.
  • Facilitating the management of information systems and the timely dissemination of updated WHO information (e.g., reports and websites) on a regular and prompt basis.
  • Coordinating the design and maintenance of databases of indicators relating to public health activities in the country office.
  • Facilitating the development of a research agenda for ending diseases in the country.
• Other related tasks and duties as assigned by supervisors.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

• Essential: a postgraduate degree in epidemiology, public health, or communicable disease control.
• Desirable: postgraduate training or qualification in public health and/or training in strategic planning.

Experience:

• Essential: At least 7 years of experience in communicable disease control, elimination, and/or eradication at the national or subnational level in developing countries. Practical experience in program review and strategic plan development.
• Desirable: At least 5 years international experience in working with UN and/or international NGOs and bilateral and multilateral agencies; Familiarity with the Policies & Procedures of global health initiatives like Global Fund, GAVI and other multilateral and bilateral disease initiatives; Planning and program management; Humanitarian settings experience.

Skills:

• Extensive knowledge and experience in disease control, elimination, and/or eradication; prevention and control program management and implementation at country level; and working in humanitarian settings.
• Knowledge of health systems management and strategic planning at the national level.
• Ability to develop and facilitate the development of disease management guidelines and effectively monitor progress in the use of guidelines.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to cooperate and negotiate with technical and funding agencies and to establish and maintain effective working relationships with all levels of staff.
• Excellent communication skills, including presentation skills and the ability to write strategically and speak clearly,.

WHO Competencies:

• Teamwork
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication
• Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond
• Creating an empowering and motivating environment

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 3293 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 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) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
• Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with WHO and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
• WHO prides itself on having a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and is committed to putting the WHO Values Charter into practice.
• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment, and other types of abusive conduct.
• WHO offers wide range of benefits to staff, including parental leave and attractive flexible work arrangements to help promote a healthy work-life balance

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