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Qualifications

Background

Purpose of the Position

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant health threat particularly in resource-limited settings, where effective microbiological services and reserve category antibiotics may be unavailable.  Until capacity for continuous antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance is stablished, the AMR division at WHO recommends the implementation of periodic national surveys of prevalence, health and economic burden of AMR, to help strengthen capacity in countries where surveillance systems are still nascent, and to accelerate the availability of quality assured representative AMR data that can inform national and global policy and action. Malawi is among the first countries to pilot the implementation of this type of survey, which focuses on estimating AMR in human bloodstream infections, in individuals seeking acute hospital inpatient care. 

Objectives of the Programme and of the immediate unit or field activity (Overview of the programme):

The overall objective is to coordinate the planning and implementation of the survey in accordance with pre-defined scientific and quality standards, and in close collaboration with the Malawi Ministry of Health (MoH), WHO, clinical and laboratory personnel and topic experts.

Organizational Context (Describe the work environment, the role of the individual within the team – team member, specialist, adviser, facilitator, coordinator/manager, representative, expert, authority in the field, etc.; available guidelines and degree of independence in decision making, and nature and purpose of contact within and outside the Organization):

A full-time national survey coordinator is needed for the operational oversight and the day-to-day management of the survey. The survey coordinator will be responsible for managing and organizing various aspects of survey including preparation of work plans, training of survey team on survey techniques and procedures, use of survey tools and equipment, data management, and review of survey results.

Summary of assigned duties (Describe what the incumbent has to do to achieve main objectives; include main achievements expected):

Under the supervision of a WHO Technical Officer responsible for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in collaboration with the principal investigator/s, the role of the survey coordinator is to:

1.       Coordinate and facilitate all activities related to the planning and implementation of the survey.

2.       Coordinate and contribute t the development of essential survey documents and tools including:

3.       Technical documents and tools (e.g., protocol, standard operating procedures, training materials, other).

4.       Governance and management documents and tools (e.g. communications plan, quality plan, delegation log, other).

5.       Tools for the efficient monitoring of survey activities

6.     Develop and coordinate a system for tracking amendments of all survey documents through version control.

7.   Coordinate and contribute to tasks related to survey management, including selection of field staff, logistics, training and competency assessments, and supervision and monitoring of all survey activities including collection of biological specimens and clinical information.

8.     Provide day-to-day coordination, oversight, and direction to central and peripheral operational teams and provide timely/prompt response to their queries

9.   Manage the central operational team tasked with supporting training, supervision, and monitoring of operational field teams at hospitals and laboratories participating in the survey

10.  Ensure that survey activities adhere to quality standards and procedures outlined in the protocol and coordinate activities related to quality management and quality improvement

11.   Ensure the smooth and timely communication with all participating parties and technical partners

12.  Act as a link between operational survey teams and senior management, and communicate promptly any issues identified to facilitate timely implementation of corrective measures

13.  Work with the survey epidemiologist to ensure data timeliness, completeness, and quality, and to facilitate periodic analysis and reporting of results to senior management 

 Qualifications, experience, skills, and languages

Education (Qualifications):

Essential: Bachelor’s Degree in a Medical Discipline

Desirable: Training in Research methodologies, Masters` degree in pharmacology, pharmaceutical science, public health, epidemiology, or a related discipline.

Experience:

Essential: At least one year of experience working in public health and communicable diseases epidemiology.

Desirable: Work experience with WHO or another UN agencies or international public health organization.

Languages:

Essential: Excellent knowledge of the English 

Other Skills (e.g. IT):

·         Excellent oral and written communication skills

·         Report and scientific article writing skills.

·         Excellent knowledge of statistical analysis methods and packages

Functional Skills/Knowledge

·         Documented experience in management of projects in the health sector (for example health research, implementation science, surveillance or related).

·         Experience in planning of national AMR surveys in resource-limited settings

WHO Competencies

1)      Communicating in a credible and effective way

2)      Producing results

3)      Fostering integration and teamwork

  4)    Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences

      Additional information

·    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 final candidates.

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

•         The selected candidates will be contacted to provide certified documents.