Foot and Mouth Disease Technical Specialist

The European Commission for the Control of Foot and Mouth Disease (EuFMD) is an Article XIV body responsible to its Member States and donors to deliver an extensive work programme on Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) emergency preparedness, response and control, to its 39 Member States, to a further 20 European neighbourhood countries, and to other regions through its arrangement with FAO decentralized offices.
The strategy is decided by the Member States every two years, revised programming occurs every six months after Executive Committee Sessions and in relation to disease emergencies. The programme is arranged in three Pillars with 16 workplan components. Technical input as well as operational delivery is entirely managed by the Commission Secretariat. Full details are available in the EuFMD work programme.
The programme involves considerable travel for its professional staff and consultants, often of a complex nature. The Training /Capacity Building programme is globally recognized and its growth in delivery to additional regions of Asia and Africa is foreseen in the workplan for the 2017-19. The EuFMD plays a significant role in the animal health part of FAO’s programme to increase resilience of livelihoods to food and agriculture threats and crises (SO5).

FAO International Consultant and Call purpose

The Organization frequently engages specialists to work on short-term projects as international consultants. The functions of a consultant are results-oriented and normally involve analysing complex issues, directing seminars or training courses, preparing documents for conferences and meetings, or writing reports on matters within their area of expertise.
An international consultant is engaged by the Organization to provide expertise, skills or knowledge for the performance of a specific task or piece of work, which would be short-term by nature. The assignment may involve full-time or part-time functions similar to those of staff members.
The assignment can be up to 11 months. The possibility of extension is subject to satisfactory performance and depending on the resources and needs of the Organization.

The purpose of this call is to attract talents to populate rosters for the following profiles\:

Technical Specialists\:

• FMD Laboratory Epidemio-Surveillance and/or Vaccinologist;
• FMD Risk Management/Management Specialist (Surveillance, Prevention, Progressive Control, programs, evaluation of preparedness systems);
• FMD quantitative risk assessor (Modelling for emergency preparedness);
• Veterinary education specialist (e-learning and online training programmes).

Technical Specialist reports directly to the EuFMD Executive Secretary.

Technical Focus

Support to delivery of donor funded work programmes of the EuFMD Commission at global, regional sub-regional and country level.

The EuFMD workplan develops in three Pillars\:

Pillar I – Improve – Improve readiness for FMD crisis management by Member States
Pillar II – Reduce – Reduce the risk to EuFMD Member Countries from European neighbourhood
Pillar III – Promote – Improved uptake of the global strategy for progressive control of FMD

The EuFMD provides on-line and face-to-face courses and, considering the level of the progression along the FMD Progressive Control Pathway (PCP), identifies specific needs in the regions and the opportunities of making the best use of national and international expertise to assess the effectiveness of Risk Based Strategic Plans (RBSP), improve disease risk information and assist in the design, implementation and evaluation of risk based surveillance and risk based control measures.

Tasks and responsibilities

The consultant will provide support to the implementation of the EuFMD work programme at global, regional sub-regional and country level, including but not limited to the surge support for managing the changing priorities following disease emergencies and changes in programme decided by the Executive Committee and the major donors.

The key functions will be as following (tasks will be assigned according to the specific profile)\:

• Support the Pillar supervisor by managing or assisting the implementation of component work plans, including, undertaking missions to advise on FMD management, the development and delivery of workshops and training courses under the component, ensuring activities and inputs are provided on time and supervising the work of other national and international consultants.
• Support the Pillar supervisor through the data analysis of activities, surveys and information gathered, in order to prioritise activities in relation to the FMD risk and the global situation;
• Provide expert guidance to the Secretariat and where required, the EuFMD member states, relating to prevention, preparedness and response to FMD threats;
• Support the implementation of the work programme under one or more of the three Pillars, providing guidance or inputs to improve the activities that relate to emergency preparedness, and provide technical backstopping to field projects as required, and plan and participate in missions relating to the work programme or on an emergency basis;
• Support capacity building of official veterinary services for prevention and control of FMD through support to development or delivery of online training as an expert trainer;
• Take an active role in international advocacy for the preparedness for FMD incursions, and for progressive control of FMD in non-free countries, increasing visibility of the PCP and other relevant tools and approaches;
• Manage or Supervise the EC work programme at a Pillar or Component level, if required;
• Lead the European neighbourhood FMD Risk Reduction work programme, if required;
• Provide expert training and capacity building support if required;
• Lead the development of the overall Eufmd e-learning programme;
• Undertake other relevant tasks as deemed necessary by the Secretariat.

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in (for Consultants) / University degree (only for PSA) in a discipline of veterinary medicine related to epidemiology, diagnosis or control of infectious diseases or related field;

• At least one year of relevant work experience in the above mentioned fields would be required for junior level assignments;

o For Veterinary education Specialist (for Consultant or PSA); At least five years of experience in veterinary education and training, including a high level of technical and managerial experience in the development and delivery of e-learning.
o For FMD Laboratory Epidemio-Surveillance (for Consultant or PSA)\: At least seven years of post-graduate, relevant experience.

• Working knowledge of English, French or Spanish and limited knowledge of one of the other two or Arabic, Chinese, Russian. For PSA it can be required only one language.

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Extensive and relevant experience at international level in programming field missions and operations.
• Demonstrated experience in planning and management of major international scientific conferences in countries/venues not served by national UN offices.
• Extensive knowledge and experience of working with national and international animal health agencies dealing with epidemic disease management; strong understanding of the working relationships and factors affecting co-operation in formulating and delivery of activities.
• Experience in response management and co-ordination of operational support to disease emergency response.

• Post-graduate qualification in epidemiology or in a discipline relevant to the management of FMD, and/or experience in working in the official veterinary services is preferable (for Specialist in the Epidemiology, Laboratory Surveillance, Prevention and Control of FMD; Specialist on the Epidemiology, Risk based Surveillance, Prevention and Control of FMD (Russian language); FMD Laboratory Epidemio-Surveillance; FMD Laboratory Epidemio-Surveillance and Vaccinologist;
• Significant national (in official veterinary service) or international experience in management and contingency planning for highly contagious animal diseases (for FMD Management Specialist (National and international programmes);
• For Senior position\: At least twelve years of post-graduate, relevant experience; Knowledge of Portuguese, Bulgarian, Turkish, Bosnian, Serbian, Kiswahili, Italian or working knowledge of the national language if focusing on a specific national or regional activity will be considered an asset;
• Familiarity with liaising with FAO central and decentralized offices as well as the knowledge of protocol procedures will be considered an asset.
• Strong communication skills in English.