Coordinator (Infection Prevention & Control) - World Health Organization (Apply by: February 10, 2016)

Vacancy Notice No: HQ/16/HIS/FT44 Title: Coordinator (Infection Prevention & Control) Grade: P5 Contract type: Fixed-term Appointment Duration of contract:  One year - renewable, subject to satisfactory performance and continuing need for the post	Date: 20 January 2016 Application Deadline: 10 February 2016 (11 day(s) until closing deadline) Currently accepting applications Duty Station:  Geneva, Switzerland Organization unit: HQ/HIS Health Systems and Innovation (HQ/HIS) / HQ/SDS Service Delivery and Safety (HQ/SDS)
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME : In the context of WHO priority for Universal Health Coverage, the Service Delivery and Safety (SDS) Department works with Member States and key global stakeholders to strengthen health service delivery systems that are safe, high quality, people-centred, and integrated. The department focusses on interventions that improve the quality of health services, from prevention to palliation, with a particular attention to innovations and technologies that improve the health system performance. SDS covers the areas of services organization, patient safety and quality improvement, medical products of human origin, palliative care, traditional and complementary medicine; it catalyses efforts on quality of care from other departments and has a leading role in developing evaluation approaches and training materials for ensuring progresses in equitable access to high quality and respectful health care. Given the high burden of health care-associated infections worldwide as one of the most frequent complications of health care delivery and the many gaps and inefficiencies in infection prevention and control (IPC) programmes, infrastructure and practices in many countries, a new IPC unit is being established within the SDS department in order to provide leadership and comprehensive technical expertise on IPC and to strengthen the support provided to Member States.
Description of duties: The purpose of the position is to provide expertise and global leadership on infection prevention and control (IPC) to the different programmes of the Service Delivery and Safety (SDS) Department and the different levels of WHO across HQ, regional and country offices. In close collaboration with the different SDS units, other WHO departments and WHO regional and country offices, the focus of the incumbent's work is to develop approaches and programmes to reduce health care associated infections in the context of health services improvement and to support IPC capacity building at regional and country levels. The specific objectives include working with international partners to develop global priority setting in IPC, to develop programmes to achieve sustained improvement in IPC, including hand hygiene, injection safety and best practices for clinical procedures in health care, and to work with regional and country offices to implement other essential IPC measures, while supporting the actions of countries, health care settings and key stakeholders to build and strengthen national and local capacity and infrastructure for IPC. The incumbent also leads for the organization the area of infection prevention and control to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in health care and represents the Department, Cluster and Organization in WHO and international fora on the topic of IPC and AMR. The specific terms of reference for this position include the following: - Lead on the development of strategies and tools for the implementation of IPC measures and the assessment of their impact. - Propose and lead research activities for the implementation of IPC measures, especially in developing countries. - Provide technical expertise for the estimation of the burden of health care-associated infection and AMR in health care worldwide. - Facilitate and monitor the dissemination and implementation of hand hygiene and other IPC guidelines in collaboration with other team members, regional focal points and international and national stakeholders. - Provide support to countries, health-care settings and key stakeholders to build and strengthen national and local plans, capacity and infrastructure for IPC, including for combating AMR and for health systems recovery in Ebola affected countries - Liaise, network and strengthen collaborations with focal points in regional and country WHO offices, other relevant WHO units (at the global, regional, sub-regional and country levels), in-country and international stakeholders, international experts in the field of IPC, and donors, in particular in the African and European regions. - Develop objectives for the work plans of the WHO Collaborating Centers (WCC) on Patient Safety and IPC and provide evaluation role against objectives. Provide coordination of IPC activities within WHO and expand collaboration with other WHO programmes related to IPC.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education: Essential: Medical degree and post graduate qualifications in infectious diseases and infection prevention and control (IPC). Desirable: Postgraduate qualifications in public health and epidemiology. 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 these will be reviewed individually.
Skills:  Expertise in infection prevention and control, substantial knowledge in medical practice, public health and patient safety. Leadership, sense of responsibility, good interpersonal and presentation skills. Computer literacy in standard office applications WHO Competencies 1. Promoting WHO's position in health leadership 2. Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond 3. Producing results 4. Communicating in a credible and effective way 5. Moving forward in a changing environment
Experience: Essential: Minimum 10 years of progressive responsibilities and experience in the field of infection prevention and control (IPC), of which at least 8 years at the international level; at least eight years of experience in developing countries. Minimum ten year experience in interacting with international agencies and conducting clinical research. At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience at a managerial level in the field of public health. Experience at a senior level in the areas of quality of service delivery and patient safety. Experience at a senior level working with international organizations and with national administrations. Proven experience in managing resources and partners. Demonstrated ability to lead a multi-disciplinary team to deliver a global health programme. Desirable: Experience of programme management and evidence-based guidelines development.
Languages: Essential: Expert knowledge of English and French.
Additional Information: This VN is published in English only. 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. WHO's salaries are calculated in US dollars. They consist of a base salary and a post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station and exchange rates. Other benefits include: 30 days annual leave, family allowance, home travel, education grant for dependent children, pension plan and medical insurance. Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WHO: http://www.who.int, to learn more about WHO's operations http://icsc.un.org, click on: Quick Links > Salary Scales > by date.
Annual salary: (Net of tax) US$ 81'704 at single rate US$ 87'948 with primary dependants	Post Adjustment: 85.8 % 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.
This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level.
A written test and interviews may be used as a form of screening
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