Data- and GIS Manager

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The mission of the Division of Health Emergencies (WHE) is to build the capacity of Member States to assess, prevent and manage health emergency risks, and lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations. The WHE Division brings together and enhances WHO's operational, technical and normative capacities in outbreaks, emergencies and risk analysis to address all health hazards across the risk management cycle in a predictable, capable, dependable, adaptable and accountable manner. The Programme is designed to operate within the broader humanitarian and emergency management architecture in support of people at risk of, or affected by, outbreaks and emergencies, consistent with ways that strengthen local and national capabilities.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Reporting to the HIM Programme Area Manager, the Regional Emergency Director and various EURO Incident Managers, and working closely with IMS Pillar Managers and other counterparts at the regional level and in the respective country offices, other regional offices and HQ, the incumbent will have front line responsibility for the EURO emergency data management and GIS activities at the regional level. S/he will collect, analyse, update, and maintain geospatial datasets pertaining to the outbreak and/or health emergency incident, ensuring their reliability and accuracy. The incumbent will build and maintain relationships with other UN agencies, EU partners (especially with ECDC and the Joint EU Research Centre), and other health partners to establish and maintain a library of geospatial data including incident specific datasets and base data. S/he will have ongoing contacts with all, relevant partners in the EURO technical units, other regional offices, WHO headquarters and third parties. During deployment, the duty station may change, and duties may be modified, based upon the technical needs of the Programme.

The incumbent will perform the following duties:

1. Lead the design, development and implementation of an information management and GIS(IM/GIS) strategy for WHO EURO/WHE;
2. Coordinate the development of standard reporting and analytical products to support data-driven decision making in emergencies. More precisely: design, develop and implement data collection tools and reporting mechanisms to gather and share relevant information;
3. Develop and automate processes ensuring the timely collation of relevant publicly available information using scripting and web scraping technologies;
4. Develop and apply data quality monitoring and control mechanisms;
5. Standardize and clean geospatial datasets and associated attributes across incident management system specific datasets;
6. Manage the RO GIS system for emergencies and administer the WHO ArcGIS Online platform;
7. Lead the development of various internal and public information products such as interactive dashboards, web mapping applications, and epi-pack presentations;
8. Contribute to shared IM/GIS workflows and cross-pillar products and applications, such as Joint WHO-EURO/ECDC reports, and mobile applications supporting PHSM messaging;
9. Provide technical expertise in GIS and information management to WHE, WCO, MoH, and other relevant groups;
10. Represent WHO/EURO in relevant IM/GIS communities and expert working groups;
11. Conduct geospatial analysis on collected datasets; create maps, infographics, interactive graphical products and other cartographic products on a regular and ad-hoc basis; in response to the incident manager's and functional team leads' technical needs.
12. Develop the tools for loading/transferring data, including GIS data, between different systems; design and maintain the structures necessary for data storage.
13. Manipulate presentation of geographical information by creating programs to convert GIS information from one format to another.
14. Adapt tools to join together different datasets, including GIS datasets, and create new information or investigate patterns, e.g. estimating the number of people affected by the incident, etc.
15. Perform any other related incident-specific duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: Master degree in geography, cartography, GIS, information management, engineering, geometrics, computer or earth sciences from an accredited/recognized institute. Post graduate courses in geographic information systems (GIS).
Desirable: Post graduate courses or corresponding experience in international public health and/or humanitarian assistance.

Experience

Essential: At least seven years relevant experience, combined at the national and international levels in GIS management, using different GIS tools such as QGIS, other open sources, GIS software and/or ArcGISOnline out of which at least five years experience in Python and/or R scripting: data transformation/quality, integration, and product automation; Experience in design, development and implementation of an IM/GIS strategy; Experience in web scraping and management of unstructured data, dynamic and near-real-time data feeds; Experience in architecting infrastructure, workflows, services and solutions promoting data integration, standardization, sharing and re-use;
Desirable: Experience in health emergency, disaster and outbreak response, particularly in developing countries. Prior humanitarian working experience at field level, with WHO/UN agencies, health cluster partners, recognized humanitarian organizations and/or with an international nongovernmental organization. Experience in mobile app development Experience in applying GIS in a humanitarian context across UN partners, NGOs and local governments;

Skills

Excellent data management skills and experience working with datasets in multiple formalities including shape file, geodatabase, CSV and XLS. Advanced ability to design, manage, analyse and coordinate complex information system projects, computer-based applications, databases and web-based tools. Strong presentation skills.Proven ability to translate requirements into working solutions. Demonstrated ability to analyse data and statistics.

Other Skills (e.g. IT)

Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office applications and the use of complex data bases and spreadsheets; Expert knowledge of ESRI ArcGIS Online (including Dashboards and Experience), ArcGIS Desktop/Pro, and ArcGIS Server; Expert knowledge of Python and/or R scripting.

WHO Competencies

Teamwork
Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
Communication
Producing results
Moving forward in a changing environment

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable: 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 2747 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.

• For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.

• 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.