Technical Officer (Infection Prevention and Control)

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

At the center of the work of the Department Integrated Health Services (IHS) is what and how health care is delivered and experienced, in the encounter between the person getting healthcare and the provider. Ensuring healthcare for all at every stage of life is at the heart of UHC. How health care is organized affects access and health outcomes. Our objective is to get care to people and people to the care they need. We aim at trusted and quality healthcare for all that is safe, effective, respectful and compassionate, timely, and efficient. To do this, we provide strategic and normative guidance and operational tools that support countries in optimizing how health services are designed, delivered, and measured to improve the settings where care is delivered and how they relate, to equip workers with process tools, competencies, and equipment and to engage and empower patients, families and communities for shared decision-making at all levels. Though our “integrator” role, we amplify the impact of WHO's normative guidance across the organization, anchoring it on the complex reality at point of care and people‘s comprehensive needs. More specifically, we foster integrated delivery at the point of care by working across disease- and population-specific health programs and we drive alignment of health system components towards shared service delivery goals. We adopt a holistic approach to health and healthcare, rooted in the understanding that each person and situation is unique and the importance of the values, preferences and beliefs and the context in which healthcare is accessed. In October 2015 a new IPC global unit was established within the IHS department to provide coordination and technical leadership role in supporting integration of IPC work delivery at WHO HQ, in collaboration with and in support to other programmes and regional offices (ROs). The IPC unit works jointly with the IPC team in the WHE division and with the AMR division. The main functions of the IPC unit are the following: 1) strategic and technical leadership and collaborative development of high-quality IPC normative and guidance products; 2) coordination of IPC and sepsis work across HQ and with ROs and external stakeholders, through the IPC Taskforce and Global IPC Network; 3) advocacy, communications and global campaigning on hand hygiene and other relevant IPC topics; 4) country capacity building and technical support through development and implementation of IPC training and other improvement resources, in collaboration with other departments, ROs, and country offices; 5) measuring, learning, and reporting of IPC indicators and health care associated infections and sepsis surveillance, including research on IPC implementation and impact monitoring at the global, national and facility level, in particular in low-and middle-income countries. The work of the IPC unit also spans coordination of the WHO work on sepsis prevention, diagnosis and clinical management. The immediate strategic objective relevant to this post is to provide technical and clinical expertise on IPC implementation and sepsis epidemiology and prevention to the IPC unit and in support to the WHE and AMR divisions.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

The focus of the incumbent's work is to contribute to the strategic thinking and implementation for the IPC unit work with a focus on sepsis and support to the work on IPC in health emergencies preparedness, readiness and response and to combat AMR. The specific terms of reference are:

• Provide technical and clinical expertise to develop resources related to sepsis epidemiology and prevention, and the implementation of the WHO global action plan and monitoring framework on IPC.
• Provide technical and clinical expertise for the development of IPC technical guidance, and implementation resources for health emergencies, with special focus on outbreak preparedness, readiness and response, and for AMR prevention and control in human health.
• Represent the IPC unit at all relevant meetings in these areas of work, including the regular incident management system (IMS) and AMR meetings, according to ongoing needs and collaborations.
• Provide technical expertise in response to enquiries and requests for technical input by other departments, regional and country offices, partners and stakeholders.
• Provide technical support to countries, health care facilities and key stakeholders to build and strengthen national and local plans, capacity and infrastructure for IPC.
• Provide technical support to the programme manager to disseminate and implement the IPC unit technical products and to strengthen coordination with IPC and sepsis focal points in regional and country WHO offices, other relevant WHO units and working groups (at HQ, regional, sub- regional and country levels), WHO Collaborating Centers, in-country and international IPC stakeholders and experts, and the Global IPC Network.
• Provide technical support to the IPC unit head in his/her role and activities to ensure leadership, coordination and high-quality technical results according to the unit functions and work plans.
• Perform all other related duties as assigned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: An advanced level university degree (master's level or above) in Medicine, Medical Sciences or Nursing with specialization in IPC, hygiene, public health or infectious diseases.

Desirable: Postgraduate qualifications in epidemiology and/or clinical research.

Experience

Essential:

• A minimum seven years of progressive responsibility and clinical experience of implementing IPC including sepsis and AMR prevention, ideally at facility, national and international levels. This must include experience of IPC implementation, including in low and middle-income countries and during outbreak response and health emergencies.
• Experience of IPC health facility assessments and health care associated infections (HAI) and AMR surveillance, and subsequent development and implementation of appropriate IPC intervention plans.
• Experience of IPC programme data collection and interpretation as part of quality improvement of IPC programmes.
• Demonstrated experience in writing practical, field level IPC documentation as well contributing to the development of higher level IPC guidance documents, strategies and technical articles.

Desirable:

• Experience in risk communications in the context of IPC.

Skills

• Advanced expertise in IPC, including guidelines development, and proven clinical experience of implementing IPC, including as part of outbreak response in health emergencies and activities to combat AMR are required. This includes technical expertise in assessing IPC programmes at national and facility level, conducting health care-associated infection and AMR surveillance, and development and implementation of guidance, strategies and tools to reduce the spread of epidemic-prone and antimicrobial resistant pathogens, within both health care and community settings.
• Clinical experience and expertise in sepsis epidemiology and prevention are also required.
• Familiarity with the WHO IPC core components, facility assessment tools, strategies and implementation tools is essential.
• The incumbent must have excellent interpersonal and communication skills and be comfortable operating within a multicultural team (an English-French bilingual setting) and the ability to function in a rapidly changing and sometimes high pressure environment.
• The incumbent needs to be robust in the defense of ensuring that the principles of good IPC practice are applied IPC yet diplomatic and sensitive to local conditions.
• A practical, hands-on and results oriented approach is also required.
• Excellent writing skills to enable translation of technical concepts into understandable and useable documents at field level is also essential. At the same time, excellent scientific writing skills are necessary to enable contribution to normative documents, publications/reports and scientific articles.

WHO Competencies

• Teamwork
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication
• Producing results
• Knowing and managing yourself

Use of Language Skills

Essential:

• Expert knowledge of English.
• Intermediate knowledge of French.

Desirable:

• Intermediate knowledge of Spanish.
  
  

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 77,326 (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 5329 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 and/or an asynchronous video assessment may be used as a form of screening.

• In the event 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.

• According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.

• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and E-Manual.
  
  

• The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.

  The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its workforce. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply.

  Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to reasonableaccommodation@who.int
  
  

• An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. 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 (https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values) 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 short-listed candidates.
  
  

• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
  
  

• WHO also offers wide range of benefits to staff, including parental leave and attractive flexible work arrangements to help promote a healthy work-life balance and to allow all staff members to express and develop their talents fully.
  
  

• The statutory retirement age for staff appointments is 65. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete the term of appointment will normally be considered.
  
  

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• Staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply.
  

• Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at shws@who.int.
  
  

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