Consultant - Support the development and implementation of the Global Laboratory Leadership Programme (GLLP)

Purpose of consultancy

To provide technical support countries’ laboratory systems through the development and implementation of the Global Laboratory Leadership Programme (GLLP).

Background

1. WHO has established the WHO Health Emergencies (WHE) programme to help countries, and to coordinate international action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies. One of the pillars of this programme is to support countries to enhance their all-hazards preparedness and readiness, and to assess and strengthen their IHR core capacities, including the laboratory capacity. Safe, reliable and timely laboratory testing is an essential component of disease alert and response systems.
2. The WHO Public Health Laboratory Strengthening and Learning Solution and Training units are engaged in the development of the Global Laboratory Leadership Programme (GLLP) with US CDC, the European CDC, FAO, OIE and the Association of Public Health Laboratory. WHO is the Secretariat and the Publisher of this programme. The Laboratory Leadership Competency Framework - foundation of the GLLP - was published in March 2019 on the WHO website and the GLLP Learning Package, developed between 2019 and 2021, is posted onto the WHO Health Security Learning Platform, in the goal that academic and public health institutions can further adapt and implement laboratory leadership training programmes locally using the GLLP concept and resources.
3. The GLLP Partners have already ran in-country validations or pilots of the GLLP in several countries. Through the Regional Offices, WHO is leading the GLLP implementation at national or sub-regional level for countries in the European Region and in the African Region.
4. In the WHO African region, the Central African countries show the weakest national health laboratory systems. Infrastructures, equipment, human resources and networking are deficient, and the laboratory leadership is missing. Even though laboratory is mentioned as a priority, little improvement actions are taken. Recognizing the need for strengthening national laboratory systems in Central Africa and for leadership and management training of laboratory professionals engaged in building the national laboratory systems, WHO/AFRO organizes a sub-regional training programme in French on leadership and management for selected laboratory professionals. The training programme is expected to be 12 months of duration, part-time, from end-2021 to end-2022. The training target participants are mid to upper level career laboratory professionals with a minimum of 2-3 years managerial and decision-making experience with the laboratory programmes at national level under Ministry of Health or Ministry of Agriculture.

Deliverables

Output 1: Support the development of the Global Laboratory Leadership Programme through the organization of, participation in and reporting on teleconferences and meetings with internal and external partners and the development, review or improvement of related programmatic documents as needed (e.g. licensing agreements; communication documents such as peer-reviewed articles) (40%)

Deliverables 1.1: writing, review and finalization of the agendas and minutes of the Global Laboratory Leadership Programme Partners teleconferences and face-to-face meetings, and any other management or communication document pertaining to the GLLP (3 to 6 teleconferences or meetings monthly)
Deliverables 1.2: writing, review and finalization of the agendas and minutes of Global Laboratory Leadership Programme teleconferences and face-to-face meetings with partners external to the GLLP partners, and any other management or communication document pertaining to external partners (1 to 3 teleconferences or meetings monthly)

Output 2: Support the review of the GLLP Learning Package through coordination with subject matter experts, and revision of training documents, including compilation of experts’ inputs on technical training documents where needed (e.g. technical training materials; guides for participants, instructors and mentors) (30%)

Deliverables 2.1: technical documents, including but not limited to the GLLP Learning Package documents, developed or reviewed (monthly, numbers of documents to be reviewed or produced is subject to the priorities set up by its learning package working group)

Output 3: Support the implementation of the GLLP through liaison with the WHO Regional or Country Offices, as needed, more specifically in the WHO African region. This output will be subject to requests from Regional or Country Offices and advancements of the GLLP programmes at national or regional level (30%)

Deliverables 3.1: training, management, evaluation or communication documents pertaining to the GLLP implementation developed or reviewed

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications

Essential:

First level university degree in public health, medical, pharmaceutical or life sciences.

Desirable:

A specialization in laboratory sciences.

Experience

Essential:

At least 5 years working experience on public health and/or laboratory capacity building projects.

Desirable:

Experience in low and/or middle-income countries (as per World Bank classification); participation in training projects; relevant work experience with WHO and/or other UN agencies; managing collaboration with various stakeholders

Skills/Knowledge

Essential:

• Expertise in producing technical reports and guidance documents including in the field of public health or clinical laboratory
• Proven capacity in networking sensitively, cooperatively and productively with multiple stakeholders in a multicultural environment

Desirable:

• Knowledge of national laboratory services in resource-limited countries
• Expertise in the design, implementation and evaluation of training projects t
• Good IT skills in data management and visualization
• Proven analytical and data presentation skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Capacity to adapt to changes

Languages and level required

Expert knowledge of English and French

Location

Home-based (any location)

Travel (If travel is involved, a medical certificate of fitness for work will be required.)

Regular visits to Lyon may be scheduled but adapted, based on travel restrictions in place.

A couple of visits in Central Africa may also be organized, based on travel restrictions in place.

Remuneration and budget (travel costs excluded)

Remuneration: Payband level B - Monthly rate range: USD 7,000 - 9,980

Living expenses (A living expense is payable to on-site consultants who are internationally recruited):

Not applicable

Work schedule / Duration of contract:

Start date: 01/10/2021. End date: 31/03/2022. (6 months)
Renewal of the contract after 31 March 2022 will be subject to performance appraisal and availability of funds.

Additional Information section :

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• 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 and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.
• WHO's workforce adheres to the WHO Values Charter and is committed to put the WHO Values into practice.
• Consultants 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 a consultant contract does not create an employer/employee relationship between WHO and the Consultant.
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