BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES OF THE FUNCTION

In the context of the WHO Health Emergencies incident management system, at the country level, the incumbent will coordinate and implement technical activities directed towards surveillance of outbreaks and health emergencies, scale up the implementation of evidence-based interventions, facilitate policy and decision making processes through improved health information coverage, analysis and quality throughout the full cycle of the incident

WHO South Sudan is one of category 1 countries in the WHE grading. The mission of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme (The Programme) is to help countries, and to coordinate international action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Reporting to the Sate Coordinator under the overall guidance of the WHE Team Lead and oversight of the Incident Manager, and working closely with counterparts at the WCO South Sudan, the incumbent will act as the technical expert for the surveillance programme at State and County Level. S/he will provide technical oversight for the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public health policies and programmes pertaining to surveillance of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases particularly those with epidemic and pandemic potentials. The incumbent will work in close collaboration with relevant technical officers at the national level and subnational levels.

• Co-develop the guidelines, tools and indicators for effective disease surveillance at the national, subnational and community levels based on established national guidelines.
• Coordinate and manage surveillance technical activities and programs, within the context of the outbreak and health emergencies programme at the country State and County level.
• Facilitate the implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR) including participation in the process of verification and risk assessment on reported public health events.
• Strengthen the capacities of surveillance teams at State Level for the effective and sustained surveillance of epidemic prone diseases through training courses on field investigation, detection, data management, and rapid response to epidemics and health outbreaks in line with the integrated disease surveillance and response system (IDSR).Conduct, in collaboration with other team members, real-time analysis of outbreak intelligence data, from a broad range of sources including non-health sectors, for epidemic forecasting and detection.
• Promote the effective coordination for rapid assessment, surveillance and response activities for epidemic-prone diseases in consultation with Country Office, as well as local, entities and other international health partners including UN agencies and NGOs.
• Provide technical guidance for the management of a unified information system to ensure availability of core data State files and other information on related technical areas such as: case incidence; case management surveillance data; laboratory surveillance data; contact tracing, etc.;
• Analyze, systematize, and disseminate scientific and evidence-based technical information and knowledge; support the development of the WHO Situation Reports at State Level, other related regular and ad-hoc surveillance reports.
• Undertake regular field visits and participate in joint supportive supervision to assess and evaluate the implementation of surveillance activities, identify gaps and recommend corrective actions based on key performance indicators.
• Perform any other incident-specific related duties, as required by the functional supervisor

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential:

• First level university degree in epidemiology or public health or any other health-related fields from an accredited/recognized institute.

Desirable:

• Advanced university degree in quantitative epidemiology or health-related field; specialized training in communicable diseases.

Experience

Essential:

• At least five years’ related experience, at the national or international levels, knowledge on quantitative epidemiology and the implementation of public health surveillance, outbreak investigation and response in humanitarian settings

Desirable:

• Prior humanitarian working experience at field level with WHO, other UN agencies, health cluster partners, recognized humanitarian organizations or with an international nongovernmental organization with expertise in disaster and outbreak response.

Use of language skills

· Essential:

Excellent knowledge of English.

Specific skills required:

· Demonstrated knowledge of surveillance and monitoring systems as related to emergency response relief operations, complemented by skills in the field of epidemiological or statistical data collection, assessment, analysis and the evaluation and monitoring in a public health context.

· Proven ability to multitask across various planning and implementation processes within a highly demanding environment.

· Demonstrated knowledge, competency and professional skills on the public health aspects of infectious disease control, epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response with particular attention to application of an all hazard approach in the context of the International Health Regulations and the use of event based and indicator based surveillance, as well as descriptive epidemiology and principles of public health in communicable disease surveillance and response

· Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office applications.

· Working knowledge of online data collection applications, statistical analysis packages (Stata, SPSS, etc).

· Working knowledge of GIS mapping software (or similar) would be an asset.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Remuneration – this is a NOC-level assignment with a monthly remuneration of $4,450.
• This vacancy advert will be used to fill positions in Maridi, Yambio, Wau, Tambura, Nimule, Yei, Jubek and other locations where similar positions are required.
• 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.
• WHO is committed to workforce diversity.
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• Applications from women are particularly encouraged.
• WHO's workforce adheres to the WHO Values Charter and is committed to put the WHO Values into practice - https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values
• Holders of Special Service Agreements (SSA) shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority. The execution of the work under an SSA contract does not create an employer/employee relationship between WHO and the SSA holder.
• WHO shall have no responsibility whatsoever for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the SSA holder. The SSA holder shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the SSA holder in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the SSA holder shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.