Technical Officer Job in Kenya

Grade: P3

Contract type: Fixed-Term Appointment

Duration of contract:  post of limited duration for one year
Application Deadline: 3 November 2011

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME : Control of communicable and tropical diseases and surveillance. Rapid and effective response to outbreaks of infectious diseases and emergency healthcare in Somalia. Training of health workers on case detection and case management.
Description of duties: The incumbent's role includes coordinating and managing emergency response activities with partners epidemiological issues. He/she will work independently and has decision making roles in managing and ensuring the effective utilization of available resources. He/she will generate regular epidemiological outputs for both internal and external communications. Under the direct supervision of the EHA Coordinator and the overall guidance of the WHO Representative Somalia with the technical support from the Regional Advisor (EHA/EMRO), the incumbent is responsible for the following assigned duties: 1. Conduct field visits for health mapping activities in emergency areas including Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps and settlements. 2. Assist in emergency health interventions in areas that were declared an emergency together with humanitarian UN agencies and partners. 3. Supervise and follow up on allocation of emergency medical supplies and distribution to health facilities and mobile clinics especially in central/South Somalia and Mogadishu and its surroundings. 4. Develop and adopt training material for the implementation of the Integrated Communicable Diseases Surveillance (IDSR) in all three zones of Somalia. 5. Supervise and assist in development and implementation of Integrated Communicable Disease Surveillance (IDSR) and response system in emergencies; including training of national and relevant NGO and health cluster partners' staff involved in surveillance and response activities including standardized case definitions and recommended case management protocols. 6. Supervise the weekly reporting of communicable disease surveillance and response in identified emergency areas under surveillance and ensure comprehensiveness of coverage and technical quality of communicable diseases surveillance reporting from identified health facilities. 7. Conduct outbreak monitoring for all three zones of Somalia including through rumor verification; conduct training and coordinate specimen collection from suspected cases; and transfer of samples to various referral laboratories and subsequent follow up and relay of diagnostic outcomes. 8. Analyze reported communicable disease data and trends in order to coordinate and organize adequately outbreak investigation teams and effective response activities with partners of the health cluster and partners on the ground. 9. Prepare weekly epidemiological activity and other highlights among other relevant reports for various consumers. 10. Ensure relevant information and data submitted to the Health Cluster in support of monthly dissemination of Health Cluster information. 11. Develop zonal/ regional epidemiological reports and trends assessments for communicable diseases. Expected achievements: 1. All outbreak rumors adequately responded to within 96 hours. 2. Weekly field activity highlights are generated timely and disseminated. 3. All epidemiological data is analyzed and presented in a technically relevant manner and disseminated appropriately. 4. WHO is well represented in outbreak meetings, outbreak related issues and matters related to surveillance.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education: Essential: University degree in Public Health or Epidemiology. Desirable: Research and training experience are an added advantage; training in communicable diseases in emergencies or management of public health risks.
Skills: Functional Skills and Knowledge: Ability to manage several types of data; develop and manage large databases; technically analyze, interpret and present data; write reports; participate in proposal development and donor report writing; estimate supplies needs in the event of emergency; develop context specific training materials and conduct field based trainings for health workers and or partners. Other Skills (e.g. IT): Good working knowledge of MS Excel, Epi Info, MS Access, Stata 9, MS Publisher and other relevant software including GIS applications; Excellent interpersonal skills. Competencies: 1. Ensuring effective use of resources; 2. Producing results; 3. Guides and motivates staff towards meeting challenges and achieving objectives; 4. Communicating in a credible and effective way; 5. Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences.
Experience: Essential: At least 5 years experience working in emergencies especially communicable diseases
Languages: Excellent knowledge of English. Knowledge of Arabic desirable
Additional Information: Duty Station: Nairobi. Other entitlements will be determined based on the length of assignment. Applicants are kindly requested to pay attention to the screening questions as they will be used to screen out unqualified candidates. Only qualified applicants with the relevant experience will be considered. Other similar positions at the same level may be filled from this vacancy notice.
Annual salary: (Net of tax) $56018 at single rate $60013 with primary dependants	Post Adjustment: 33.3 % of the above figure(s). This percentage is to be considered as indicative since variations may occur each month either upwards or downwards due to currency exchange rate fluctuations or inflation.
A written test and interviews may be used as a form of screening
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.