The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life, as envisaged by 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We are on the ground in more than 170 countries and territories, working with governments and people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges to help empower lives and build resilient nations. The United Nations Development Programme UNDP Indonesia Country Programme 2016-2020 developed in partnership with the Indonesian Government addresses the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals and support national efforts to advance the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

The programme contributes directly to MoH National Action Plan 2015-2019, objective 1) increasing the health status of society and; 2)increasing the responsiveness and protection to society towards social and financial risks related to health and Outcome 2 of the UNDP country Programme for Indonesia (2016-2020), which are aligned with the Indonesian Government Health Sector’s Objectives, commitment to Universal Health Coverage, SDG3 Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages (target 3.8 in particular) and other Sustainable Development Goals. One of its efforts is to be involved in supporting the transformation of health technology in the Ministry of Health through Network Strengthening and the Bio Informatic Biomedical & Genome Science Initiative (BGSi).

BGSi is a new initiative of the Indonesian Ministry of Health (MOH). The initiative will act as a multi-institutional ecosystem that aims to support collaborative biomedical and genomic activities in Indonesia by leveraging strengths in technology and infrastructure including biobanking, data management, high throughput sequencing and bioinformatics.

The initiative aims to build a national asset established under the Indonesia Ministry of Health with two major focusses. First, to establish a national biobank focused on six conditions (diabetes, cancer, stroke, tuberculosis, psoriasis, and rare/genetic diseases) which will store samples from participants where each sample will be connected to a registry that manages all information associated with the participant (demographic and clinical) and second, to generate Whole Genome Sequence information, for each of those participants, that will be curated in a national database. Samples and genomics information from healthy participants will also be collected and generated by this initiative. All samples and data will be made available to researchers nationally and internationally through BGSi.

The initiative will be organized around a headquarter facility located in Jakarta, housed in the MOH repository building and the historical Eijkman building, that will host the biobank and WGS labs respectively. BGSi  HQ will manage the registry system and provide technical support for the Hubs and the entire ecosystem. A second and just as important part of the ecosystem is the hospitals (referred to as HUBs) where each HUB is in charge of managing activities related to recruitment, sample collection and tertiary analysis for the disease it has been assigned.

Therefore, UNDP need an International Specialist BGSI who will be responsible for supporting activities leading to the establishment and development of BGSi, the formulation of its business and its scientific strategy, the building of its team, its engagement with the peripheral hubs and other key stakeholders. Specialist will be responsible for contributing to the design the projects of interest to the MOH. You will identify and elevate potential new business opportunities and assist in pursuing those opportunities. This will involve the review and analysis of these opportunities to develop insightful, value added proposals for BGSi by recommending solutions and offerings and following up on those.

Technical Advisory for BGSI establishment

• Participates or leads teams in the design, development and delivery of BGSi strategy and activities.
• Reviews and analyzes requirements or problems and assists in the development of proposals of cost-effective solutions in accordance with BGSi requirements.
• Provides direction and guidance to the technical and managerial team.
• Develops detailed documentation and specifications.
• Performs qualitative and/or quantitative analyses to assist in the identification of BGSi issues and the development of specific solutions.
• Designs, structures and delivers BGSi reports and presentations that are appropriate to the characteristics or needs of the audience.
• Recommends improvements and alternative solutions to resolve problems.
• Identifies new business opportunities of follow-on work and new leads at BGSi.
• Provides follow-up with HUBs, external collaborators, and various stakeholders.
• Supervise a diverse, interdisciplinary team of scientists and bioinformaticians and will closely collaborate with researchers and clinicians across the Hubs.

The incumbent of the position should avoid any kind of discriminatory behavior including gender discrimination and ensure that

• Human rights and gender equality is prioritized as an ethical principle within all actions.
  Activities are designed and implemented in accordance with “Social and Environmental Standards of UNDP”.
• Any kind of diversities based on ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, disability, religion, class, gender is respected within all implementations including data production.
• Differentiated needs of women and men are considered.
• Inclusive approach is reflected within all actions and implementations, in that sense an enabling and accessible setup in various senses such as disability gender language barrier is created.
• Necessary arrangements to provide gender parity within all committees, meetings, trainings etc. introduced.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.