| The mission of WHO is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. | |
| Vacancy Notice No: AFRO/14/TA201 Title: EBOLA OUTBREAK - SURGE CAPACITY - FOREIGN MEDICAL TEAM (FMT) COORDINATOR Grade: Contract type: Temporary appointment Duration of contract: minimum 3 months (with possible extension) | Date: 17 December 2014 Application Deadline: 31 March 2015 (82 day(s) until closing deadline) Currently accepting applications Duty Station: Multiple duty stations Organization unit: AF Africa (AF) Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea (including district level) |
| OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME : The current Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak began in Guinea in December 2013 and now involves intense transmission in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. On Friday 25th July 2014 the Director-General (DG) of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (2005), and grading the outbreak to Grade 3 in line with the WHO Emergency Response Framework (ERF). There is heightened concern about the risk of Ebola spreading to other countries. Within this framework, a WHO Ebola Response team is dedicated exclusively to coordinate international response, and mobilise international technical assistance from WHO, the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) and other partners and stakeholders to provide direct support for national outbreak response activities and in the field. The UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, agreed on the establishment of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) by the UNSG - the first of its kind - headquartered in Accra and providing a UN-wide initiative that draws together all the assets of all relevant UN agencies to tackle this crisis together. In this regard, WHO is the lead agency for a number of strategic objectives. | |
| Description of duties: Under the overall guidance of the WHO Country Representative (WR) and in and in close liaison with the Ebola in-country Field Coordinator, the incumbent will provide overall and specific support to the Foreign Medical Teams (FMTs) in-country as part of the West Africa Ebola outbreak response. The incumbent will: - Coordinate FMT management activities at every level of WHO/UNMEER and the FMT Clinical Lead (WHO HQ); - Coordinate within the in-country team to leverage other services of the team in support of FMT operations (e.g., logistics, IPC, clinical care, epidemiology and data management); - Maintain an overview of the situation in the country and ensure that updates for the FMT response are provided on a regular and timely basis to all levels of WHO/UNMEER; - Analyse and synthesize incoming field information on treatment infrastructure, foreign medical team personnel and/or international health responders and reporting thereof; - In collaboration with the MOH, and under the supervision of the Emergency Coordinator, regularly host FMT coordination meetings focusing on the operational planning and implementation requirements to successfully integrate FMTs into Ebola Treatment Centres/Units (ETCs/ETUs); - Facilitate deployment, training, formal in-country reception, and set up of arriving FMTs; - Ensure that IPC trainings are provided to incoming teams on a regular basis; - Serve as liaison between FMTs, MOH, and other in-country actors involved in the establishment and management of ETCs/ETUs, and identify/address needs of FMTs/MOH/other actors as required for successful integration of arriving FMTs; - Conduct assessments of locations that may require FMT support; - Support FMTs to fill gaps in terms of material, trainings and human resources that limits their function; - FMT critical incident management support as required. | |
| REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS | |
| Education: Essential: Advanced university degree in Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, Hospital Administration, Information Management, Humanitarian Action, Social Science or related field, with relevant extensive experience in setting up emergency health clinics in low resource settings. Desirable: - Combined Public Health and Clinical training, with additional training in programme planning and management in unstable environments and within the UN system; - Previous experience working with international care providers and/or foreign medical teams. | |
| Skills: Functional skills and knowledge: - Understanding of FMT and/or international care providers structure, processes, standards and organisation; - Understanding of emergency response, with a focus on health care delivery in insecure environments; - Understanding of medical logistics and supply management; - Understanding of training needs for hospital personnel operating in an emergency response clinic. Other skills: - Strong leadership and diplomatic skills, as well as capacity to lead meetings, build inter-sectoral relationships, negotiate and solve problems; - Good communication, writing, and reporting skills; - Proven ability to multi-task across various planning and implementation processes within a high stress environment; - An understanding of psychological needs of staff working in high-stress/high anxiety response environments and the ability to draw upon appropriate tools and resources to ensure staff welfare is incorporated into hospital planning and management. | |
| Experience: Essential: - At least 7-10 years of combined international and national experience in Public Health in emergency settings and/or humanitarian information management; - Experience in health services coordination and planning in emergency contexts, and supervision of emergency hospital/clinic/care unit set up in insecure environments; - Experience in planning, coordinating, implementing, and managing emergency response operations and/or the management of epidemic-prone diseases, outbreaks or relevant humanitarian response. Desirable: - Previous experience with hospital/clinic and/or foreign medical team coordination in West Africa (particularly in one or more of the affected countries); - Previous experience working in collaboration and negotiation with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and multiple actors for health care planning and emergency response desirable. | |
| Languages: Languages: Depending on the country of assignment: - For French speaking countries: Good working knowledge (written & spoken) of French. Knowledge of English an advantage. - For English speaking countries: Good working knowledge (written & spoken) of English. Knowledge of French an advantage. Desireable: Other UN languages | |
| Additional Information: THIS VACANCY IS GENERIC AND OUTLINES THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS. - ONLY THOSE APPLICANTS WHO ARE CONSIDERED FOR DEPLOYMENT AGAINST A SPECIFIC POSITION WILL BE CONTACTED. AS REFERENCE CHECKS WILL BE MADE THROUGH YOUR CURRENT AND PREVIOUS EMPLOYERS AT THE POINT OF SHORTLISTING, PLEASE ENSURE THAT THEY ARE INFORMED OF THE URGENCY TO PROVIDE RAPID FEEDBACK. PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU INDICATE THEIR E-MAIL ADDRESS WHEN COMPLETING YOUR PERSONAL HISTORY FORM. PRIOR TO DEPLOYMENT CANDIDATES MUST: - HOLD A VALID YELLOW FEVER VACCINATION CERTIFICATE - COMPLETE THE ONLINE UNDSS BASIC II SECURITY IN THE FIELD TRAINING WHICH IS ACCESSIBLE THROUGH https://training.dss.un.org/courses/v21/pages/dss_login_register.php - PROVIDE ALL COPIES OF DEGREES/DIPLOMAS INDICATED IN THEIR PERSONAL HISTORY FORM | |
| Annual salary: (Net of tax) at single rate | |
| This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level. | |
| Online applications are strongly encouraged to enable WHO to store your profile in a permanent database. Please visit WHO's e-Recruitment website at: www.who.int/employment. The system provides instructions for online application procedures. | |
| All applicants are encouraged to apply online as soon as possible after the vacancy has been posted and well before the deadline stated in the vacancy announcement. | |
| WHO is committed to workforce diversity. | |
| Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual. Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted. | |
