Epidemiologist

Eligibility criteria

Minimum age: 25 years old. Nationals of the country of assignment are not eligible, except the assignments in Headquarters duty stations.

Description of task

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Team Lead, and under the overall guidance of UNDP Representative, the UN Volunteer will undertake the main following tasks:

• Provide technical support and assist in the development of surveys and monitoring/surveillance systems for detection, verification and response to COVID-19 incidents; ensuring efficiency of data collection, correlation, analysis, interpretation and timely reporting at health facility at the district levels.
• Collate and verify data on reported outbreaks or intelligence received from multiple sources, conduct retrospective analysis of reported incidents: determine trends, distribution patterns, and efficiency of the verification mechanism.
• Provide technical assistance for the establishment and functionality of Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) and Public Health Management Committee (PHEMC) for COVID-19 at the district level as per relevant guidance and standards.
• Contribute to building the core surveillance, alert and response national capacities in accordance with the requirement for International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005;
• Provide trainings for subnational incident management team and health facility level staff,
• Support the team in the supervision and on-the-job training at health facility level.
• Support the development of early warning systems (including event based and indicator-based surveillance) for epidemic and pandemic-prone diseases for early detection and response to public health incidents; conduct field investigation.
• Provide technical support for vulnerability assessment, risk mapping and development of preparedness/contingency plan as requested.
• Maintain an incident management system database of reported outbreaks and public health incidents and document all steps taken in the verification and response process.
• Facilitate surveillance review meetings including the tracking of surveillance performance indicators.
• In cooperation with the team, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the planned surveillance activities, as well as alert and response capacities for incidents detection, verification and response.
• Prepare and disseminate disease outbreak news, technical documents, updates and assessments to key decision-makers in the organizational hierarchy and to the national health authorities, as required using standard tools and templates.
• Perform any other incident-specific related duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

Qualifications/Requirements Required degree level: Master degree or equivalent Education - Additional Comments:

• Master's degree or equivalent in epidemiology, health, or public health from an accredited and recognized academic institution is required, or;
• A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in combination with relevant training and/or professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree;

Required experience: 36 Months Experience remark:

• At least 3 years of professional work experience at the national level in implementation of public health surveillance, outbreak investigation and response;
• Previous experience dealing with COVID-19 is an asset;

• Previous experience in implementation of Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR), is required;
• Previous work experience, in a developing country context, collaborating with multiple actors in public health surveillance is desirable;

• Prior humanitarian work experience at the field level, with UN system, health cluster partners, relevant non-governmental or humanitarian organizations, with expertise in disaster and outbreak response, is desirable;
• Strong overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.) and office technology equipment;

• Proven ability to multitask across various planning and implementation processes within a highly demanding environment;

Language skills:

• Portuguese(Mandatory), Level - Fluent
• English(Optional), Level - Working Knowledge
• French(Optional), Level - Working Knowledge
• Spanish(Optional), Level - Fluent

Area of expertise: Public health Area of expertise details:

When working with (including supervising) national staff or (non-) governmental counterparts, the incumbent should set aside dedicated time for training, coaching, mentoring and capacity development.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UNV mandate within their assignment and promote volunteerism through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate part of their time to the following suggested activities:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; network and build relationships with local organizations, groups or individuals, and support and/or participate in local volunteering initiatives; reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities;
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; initiate and/or participate in local volunteer groups, including assisting them in submitting stories and experiences to the World Volunteer Web site;
• Promote or advise local groups on the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible;
• Encourage, mobilize and support co-workers, fellow UN Volunteers and members of the local community to play an active part in peace and development activities on a voluntary basis;
• Discuss with supervisors how volunteerism for peace and development can be mainstreamed in the assignment and integrate activities promoting volunteerism for peace and development into work plans;
• Assist with the UNV “buddy programme” for newly arriving UN Volunteers.

1. Results/expected outputs:

• Implementation of epidemiological surveillance actions and responses related to disease outbreak COVID-19 pandemic crisis;
• Local health capacities developed through coaching, mentoring and formal on-the-job training, when working with (including supervising) national staff or (non-) governmental counterparts, including Implementing Partners (IPs);

• Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment;

A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed.

Driving license: No Competencies values:

Professionalism, Accountability, Communication, Integrity, Working in Teams

Application procedure:

* Not yet registered in the UNV Talent Pool?

Please first register your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/signup. Important: After creating your account, complete all sections of your profile and submit it. Then go to ‘My Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink. Lastly, select the special call to which you would like to apply.

* Already registered in the UNV Talent Pool?

Please first update your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/profile. Then go to ‘My Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink to select the special call to which you would like to apply.

Application deadline: 05-07-2020