OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The mission of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme (The Programme) is to build the capacity of Member States to manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations. The Health Emergency Intelligence and Surveillance Systems division (WSE) is responsible to build a system of collaborative intelligence enabling better decisions to avert and manage public health threats and risks. Its goal is to enable, strengthen and support countries, regional and global actors in averting and managing public health threats and risks through collaborative problem solving and decision-making for short-term action and long-term policies, informed by better data and analytics. The WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence is a new office of WHO, locatedin Berlin. It works with partners to enable the generation of public health relevant information to provide timely actionable insights and improve decision making to prepare for, avert and respond to public health threats. It also aims to reduce fragmentation and inefficiency by creating an ecosystem that promotes collaboration across multiple professional disciplines, sectors, and initiatives; and empower decision makers, public health professionals, and civil society to make informed public health decisions.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

The Data Scientist (Public Health) will:

  • Provide technical expertise and guidance in the area of data science principles and methods to the unit (III), including but not limited to network analysis, spatial analysis, natural language processing and machine learning.
  • Actively develop new code, modify existing code, implement and maintain computational, statistical and visualization methods to address novel analytic challenges, including the development of natural language processing tools e.g. stemmers, sentiment analysis libraries, taxonomies, etc. to facilitate the early detection, assessment and analysis of health threats and risks.
  • Communicate and promote the value of III tools to others to achieve buy-in and support both internally to WHO and externally to other stakeholders including collaborators and potential donors.
  • Perform data discovery and develop new approaches to detecting events and trends within real-time data sources such as online media, social networks, imagery, geospatial data, communications logs, transaction records, etc.
  • Research, create, and validate models as required for anomaly detection and analysis, risk assessment and others as required within the scope and mandate of the team.
  • Develop and maintain relationships with collaborators.
  • Respond to and, as appropriate, integrate feedback from collaborators into targeted solutions.
  • Work directly with collaborators to facilitate their understanding of developed tools and applied methods.
  • Help to manage and orchestrate joint strategies for analysis, development and implementation of targeted solutions.
  • Create, manage and work with evolving databases so that the results can be:
    1. produced as part of anoverall system supporting the unit's strategic approach to global public health intelligence, and
    2. used in conjunction with results from other stakeholders and collaborators.
  • Contribute to the publication of research methods and results in peer-reviewed journals, including generating results, contributing to writing, and preparing responses to critiques.
  • Present papers at national and international conferences to disseminate research findings.
  • Systematically document code and analytic approaches which will ensure information sharing with collaborators and stakeholders.
  • Contribute expertise and content to new funding proposals.
  • Support and advise the unit policy activities as required, particularly around data science principles and concepts, and ensure adherence to WHO policies regarding data, including privacy, security, data management, and documenting and releasing code.
  • Strengthen collaboration with technical teams at major private sector research labs / groups, academia and other organisations to maintain relationships, remain abreast of activities and explore joint initiatives.
  • Perform all other related duties as assigned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: An advanced level university degree (Masters level) in health informatics, data science, biostatistics, applied mathematics, computer science, engineering, physics or other related technical disciplines.
Desirable: PhD in health informatics, data science, computer science, statistics, mathematics or related field.

Experience

Essential: At least seven years' professional work experience with successful track record and progressively responsible experience in data analysis or data visualization. Demonstrated experience with analytical techniques such as text mining, sentiment analysis, machine learning, event detection, and modeling of complex systems. Experience working with diverse programming languages, libraries, packages and technologies,including but not limited to R (ggplot2, plotly, igraph, mlr), Python (pandas,Seaborn, Pattern), NoSQL (e.g. mongoDB), JavaScript, and Git (or other versioning software). Experience developing processes for data management andaccess, analysis and data visualization. Demonstrable experience documenting processes and/or writing scientific research articles. Experience planning and executing research projects. Experience working directly with internal and external clients to define requirements for data analysis and reporting. Demonstrated experience with natural language processing, machine learning, simulation, and predictive and visual analytics. Demonstrated work experience at the international level.
Desirable: Experience working with WHO, UN Agencies or other international organizations, and good understanding of inter-agency collaboration. Demonstrated experience coordinating multidisciplinary projects between data/science/technology and public health, emergency management, international development, humanitarian experts or any other relevant field from social, physical or biological sciences. SQL and Unix admin experience

Skills

  • Strong skills in coding, data management, data analysis and data visualization.
  • A theoretical and practical understanding of health statistics, spatial statistics, and simulation methods.
  • Demonstrated competency in the application of Bayesian statistics.
  • Applied knowledge of cloud technology (e.g.Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services)
  • Theoretical and applied knowledge of natural language and machine learning principles and algorithms.
  • Strong skills in developing clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.
  • Excellent presentation and communication skills, with emphasis on writing skills.
  • Demonstrated peer-reviewed publication history.
  • Demonstrated problem-solving skills

WHO Competencies

Teamwork
Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
Communication
Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond
Knowing and managing yourself

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of French. Intermediate knowledge of WHO Language.

REMUNERATION

WHO salaries for staff in the Professional category are calculated in US dollars. The remuneration for the above position comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 75,602 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable), a variable post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station, and currently amounts to USD 2218 per month for the duty station indicated above. Other benefits include 30 days of annual leave, allowances for dependent family members, home leave, and an education grant for dependent children.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level
  • Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
  • A written test may be used as a form of screening.
  • In the event that your candidature is retained for an 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.
  • Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual.
  • Staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply.
  • WHO is committed to workforce diversity.
  • WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.
  • WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.
  • WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
  • WHO has a mobility policy which can be found at the following link: http://www.who.int/employment/en/. Candidates appointed to an international post with WHO are subject to mobility and may be assigned to any activity or duty station of the Organization throughout the world.
  • Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.
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Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify. Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.