Internship @ Stop TB Partnership - Strategic Initiatives & Innovative Financing

The numbers speak for themselves. In 2017 alone:

• 1.6 million died from tuberculosis (TB);
• Over 10 million people fell ill with the disease; and
• Nearly 600,000 developed multidrug resistant-TB (MDR-TB). 

As such, TB is the world’s leading infectious disease killer (surpassing both HIV and malaria) and a global health security matter. If we are actually serious about ending TB by 2030, as set forth in the Sustainable Development Goals, substantial innovation is required across the whole spectrum of TB diagnosis, treatment, adherence, and prevention.

Stop TB Partnership (STBP) is a global multi-stakeholder partnership hosted by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). The organization’s day-to-day operations are managed by a Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland.  STBP was established by the World Health Assembly in May 2000, following the Ministerial Conference on Tuberculosis and Sustainable Development in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The organization comprises over 1500 partners (including civil society, communities, and countries affected by TB, non-governmental organizations in developed and developing countries, donors, foundations, multilateral agencies, private sector companies, technical agencies, etc.) and 10 working groups acting together to end TB by 2030.

STBP’s vision is to end TB by 2030 by ensuring that every patient has access to effective diagnosis, treatment and cure; stopping the transmission of TB; and reducing the inequitable social and economic toll of TB. The organization has three (3) strategic goals, which include:

1. Advocate, catalyze, and facilitate sustained collaboration and coordination amongst a broad spectrum of key partners, including civil society, communities, and the private sector, in order to achieve the targets set forth in the Global Plan to End TB, 2016-2020: The Paradigm Shift and End TB Strategy;
2. Support the development, replication, and scale-up of innovative approaches to overcome systemic barriers in the fight against TB; and
3. Facilitate world-wide, equitable access to TB medicines and diagnostics, including new tools, across public and private sectors.

STBP has expanded its breadth and scope by creating a new team, Strategic Initiatives & Innovative Financing (e.g., SIIF), which leads the development, roll-out, and implementation of ground-breaking initiatives and projects to bring the “Silicon Valley” mindset and innovations to the high burden countries and leverage multi-sectoral collaboration to address systematic barriers in the TB and global health space.

One such effort include the Accelerator for Impact (a4i), a synthetic venture capital fund/mechanism for the TB and global health space, which aims to catalyze the rapid roll-out of new TB and AMR products and technologies in high burden countries by:

1. Working together with innovators to navigate the TB market;
2. Creating a network of key partners and operating teams to drive efficient product launches;
3. Financing critical activities to catalyze demand in 3-5 early adopter countries; and
4. Achieving a return on investment.

1. Duties and Responsibilities

• Support the evaluation of new TB and AMR innovations that find, detect, and treat the “missing cases.”
• Support the development and update of country-tailored profiles to introduce new TB and AMR innovations, and help disseminate profiles for unrestricted use and access.
• Support the update of the web-based critical pathway for new TB and AMR innovations as a public good, and help disseminate pathway for unrestricted use and access.
• Support the enabling of multi-sectoral collaboration between innovators, country decision makers, civil society actors and communities, and key partners on the roll-out of new TB and AMR innovations.
• Support the development of concept notes, pitch decks, project workplans and budgets, policy documents, grant proposals, operating guidelines, and other materials.
• Carry out research assignments and assisting in the production of agreed outputs including articles, policy reports, and other materials.
• Provide various project administration and coordination support to the Team Leader and Programme Analyst(s), as needed.

2. Training components and learning elements

Offers experience working within the global health/international organization space and development finance sector.

3. Participation in missions or training courses

Potential participation in missions to high-TB burden countries, engagement with senior level decision-makers and policy-makers, and participation in key opinion leaders/stakeholders meetings and calls. 

4. Additional comments

• Strong analytical and conceptual thinking.
• Highly organized, pro-active and pragmatic with strong process/project management skills.
• Ability to prioritize and work under pressure and tight deadlines.
• Well-honed interpersonal skills and proven ability to develop rapport with senior level decision-makers.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a team and operate in a multi-cultural environment.
• Distinctive oral and written communication skills in English, including ability to structure and synthesize complex issues.

Applicants must be enrolled in a university degree such as a Bachelor, Masters, or have graduated within three years prior to the application date of the internship.

The preferred candidate would have a degree in or pursuing studies in the areas of finance, admin, communications, international relations, economics, business, engineering, health or other related areas.

• Fluency is English is required.
• Knowledge of another UN official language would be considered an asset.

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns. Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.