WHE External Emergency Roster - Health Information Management & Risk Assessment Lead (HIM)

Purpose of the External Emergency Roster

The purpose of the roster is to provide short-term support during acute events for a period of up to six (6) months which may be extended up to one year depending on operational needs. Placement on the roster entails a general commitment from the external candidate to deploy within 2 to 4 weeks from the time a request for availability is made.

Purpose of the Position

In the context of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, the incumbent will lead WHO’s information team and supervise the respective functional areas, at the country level and provide authoritative advice to the emergency team on risk analysis, strategic information policy, procedures and best practices, monitoring, information and data management. The incumbent will be deployed to emergency operations when required.

Objectives of the Programme and of the immediate Strategic Objective

The mission of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme (The Programme) is to help countries, and to coordinate international action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies.

Organizational context

Reporting to the WHO Health Emergencies (WHE) Lead and under the leadership of the Head of WHO Country Office, the incumbent acts as an advisor to the WHO emergency team on data and information management activities, enabling the development, implementation, and monitoring strategies that maximize the individual and collective impact of WHO throughout the full cycle of the emergency, in the country of deployment. S/he will engage with the local authorities, UN partners and non-health actors to establish strategic partnerships in respect of multi-dimensional information management processes. The present position under WHE (which is a single programme across the Organization) may be relocated to another duty station, including at Regional or Country level, based upon the technical needs of the Programme.

Summary of Assigned Duties

• Lead the team and be responsible for overseeing the work of the Information Management unit and/or coordinate the work of Information Management assets located throughout disparate units.
• Manage the timely and high-quality collection, analysis, production and dissemination of data/information. This includes response specific information (what, where, who, how many, how quickly, current status), internal and external situation reports (SitReps), bulletins, rapid needs assessments, health risk assessments, and the Public Health Situation Analysis; and health inputs into humanitarian needs overviews (HNO), and strategic response plans (SRP).
• Lead the development of project documentation based on the overall strategy and plan, for use by the emergency leadership to mobilize resources.
• Continually adapt planning and project documents based on available information and revolving emergency situation, as required; this includes planning and management of human and material resources, expenditure, status of interventions and partner activities, progress towards achieving objectives, etc.
• Develop and improve field information management procedures at the local and regional levels to ensure that information management in the field provides the best possible functionality and usability to stakeholders.
• Ensure inter-cluster communication and information sharing.
• Oversee and design field epidemiological surveys if/where needed, such as mortality and vaccination coverage surveys, with support from epidemiologists as needed.
• Build the capacity of team members and partners involved in the planning and data/information management process; provide ongoing technical guidance and training on data gathering and analysis, quality assurance, performance monitoring, information dissemination and management.
• Perform any other related duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

Competencies

• Teamwork
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication
• Creating an empowering and motivating environment

Functional Knowledge and Skills

• Demonstrated supervisory and leadership skills, negotiation skills.
• Advanced ability to design, manage, analyze and coordinate complex information system projects, computer-based applications and databases, web-based tools.
• High level of analytical skills.
• Knowledge of programme management and functioning of WHO and the UN system is an asset.

Education Qualifications

Essential

• An advanced university degree (Master’s level or above) in Information Management, Public Health, or Epidemiology; Business or Public Administration, complemented by training in information management from an accredited and recognized academic institution.

Desirable

• Specialization in information management systems.
• Specific training in humanitarian response or information management in emergencies.

Professional Experience

Essential

• At least seven (7) years of relevant experience, at national and international level, in information management, monitoring, needs assessment, project management, data management and information dissemination in the public health or health development sector.
• Previous experience in emergency management or humanitarian context in leadership positions.
• Experience in developing and promoting collaborative partnerships.

Desirable

• Relevant work experience in WHO or UN system; experience working in relevant non-governmental or humanitarian organizations.
• Experience in developing countries.

Use of Language Skills

• Excellent knowledge of English or French (depending on the country of assignment).
• Working knowledge of another WHO official language would be an asset.

Other Skills (e.g. IT)

• Advanced use of MS Office, particularly spreadsheets, data visualization and analysis tools, and databases
• Design and management of information systems
• Familiarity with geographic information systems (GIS)
• Skill in use of one or more statistical analysis programmes (e.g. R, STATA, SAS, SPSS)

Additional Information

• 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.
• 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 - https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values
• 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.
• 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. WHO shall have no responsibility whatsoever for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.
• The purpose of this vacancy is to develop a list of qualified candidates for inclusion in this advertised roster. Successful candidates will be placed on the roster and subsequently may be selected for consultancy assignments falling in this area of work or for similar requirements/tasks/deliverables. Inclusion in the Roster does not guarantee selection to a consultant contract. There is no commitment on either side.