Laboratory Technical Officer, virologist

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 expertise and operational support for the timely response to outbreaks/epidemics and health emergencies, in collaboration with national health officials, including laboratory staff, and other partner organizations;
• Adapt and coordinate the development and implementation of technical guidelines and standard operational procedures for laboratory testing practices for outbreak detection, including those caused by (re-)emerging and other infectious diseases;
• Coordinate the participation in Quality Assurance Systems of International Mobile Laboratories deployed in country and National Central Laboratories involved in the event management;
• Lead the enhancement of laboratory infrastructure and the implementation of standard operating procedures to ensure safe collection, handling, shipment, storage and analysis of human and environment specimens;
• Cooperate with partners in improving analytical and diagnostics services, quality and environmental management, equipment maintenance, safety and bio-safety for laboratories;
• Manage the implementation, reporting, performance assessment and evaluation of the approved activities and ensure proper communication with partners as appropriate;
• Contribute in strengthening the national capacity at the health laboratories; assess training needs and provide training for laboratory personnel in the related technical areas;
• Oversee updating and maintaining the related reporting and information systems, documenting the response and laboratory strengthening activities, as and when required;
• Perform any other related incident-specific duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

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

The incumbent must be a dynamic, multifunctional individual, who supports the Host Agency with professionalism, dedication and client orientation, and who must be willing to work on both programmatic/substantive aspects, and to provide operational/logistical services. The following qualifications are required:

• First level university degree in life science, medicine or medical virology from an accredited and recognized academic institution;
• Certified training or qualification in molecular biology, virology, bacteriology, infectious diseases, and/or epidemiology and laboratory techniques, is required;
• Advanced university degree (Master’s level or above) in public health or health related field, is desirable;

Required experience: 60 Months Experience remark:

• At least five (5) years of relevant professional, practical and operational work experience, at the national and international level, in application and management of laboratory services, laboratory diagnosis of communicable diseases;
• Experience in outbreaks and/or health emergency response of international impact, is required;
• Previous experience dealing with COVID-19 is an asset;
• Experience in establishing or improving laboratory infrastructure for microbiology and/or detection of infectious diseases;
• Past work experience in planning and implementing laboratory trainings at national and regional levels;
• Experience in evaluating novel diagnostics assays for emergency use authorization during outbreak response;
• Previous experience with UN system, health cluster partners, relevant nongovernmental or humanitarian organizations, particularly in a developing country context, is desirable;
• Good computer skills in Microsoft Office, EPI Info, SPSS etc.

Language skills:

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

Area of expertise: Public health, Medical laboratory testing Driving license: No Competencies values:

Accountability, Communication, Integrity, Planning and Organizing, Professionalism, 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