Environmental Surveillance Officer - NOC at World Health Organization (WHO)

Job ID: 2106955
Grade: No grade
Contractual Arrangement: Special Services Agreement (SSA)
Contract Duration: (Years, Months, Days):  6 Months
Organization: AF_NGA Nigeria

Job Description

• Under the general supervision of the PEP Cluster Lead, and the direct supervision of the Surveillance Officer, the incumbent performs the following functions:
• Prepare and support the implementation and monitoring of a comprehensive surveillance work plan.
• Support the National and State authorities to achieve and sustain certification standard Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance.
• Facilitate the conduct of other AFP complimentary surveillance activities, such as the Environmental Surveillance
• In collaboration with other partners, facilitate outbreak risk assessments and timely outbreak investigations within the scope of the health emergencies.
• Strengthen the capacities of the National and state surveillance teams for the effective and sustained surveillance of vaccine preventable diseases and other epidemic prone diseases through training.
• Undertake regular field supervision visits to assess and evaluate the implementation of surveillance activities, identify gaps and recommend corrective actions based on key performance indicators.
• Support the functioning of the national polio committees through facilitation of meetings, provision of data and adequate documentation.
• Support the national polio laboratories through field visits, facilitation of accreditation exercises, logistics and poliovirus containment.
• Support the surveillance of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) and Adverse Events of Special Interest (AESI) through training, provision of logistics and supporting the National Expert Committee on AEFI
• Perform any other incident-specific related duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

Required Qualifications
Education:

• Essential: First level University Degree in Medicine and/or Public Health Planning and Administration, Complemented by training in Public Health / Epidemiology / Health Science.
• Desirable: Master's Degree in Public Health or equivalent. Training in epidemiology and/or outbreak investigation will be an asset.

Experience:

• Essential: At least 7 years of experience required in public health surveillance with an emphasis on emergency response relief and/or the management of epidemic-prone diseases.
• Desirable: Experience in the areas of outbreak investigation and response for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, particularly in developing countries.

Skills:

• Demonstrated knowledge, competency and professional skills on the public health aspects of infectious disease control,
• Epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response with particular attention to the application of an all-hazards approach in the context of the International Health Regulations (2005) and the use of event-based and indicator-based surveillance, as well as descriptive epidemiology and principles of public health in communicable disease surveillance and response;
• Managerial skills for the development, implementation, monitoring and analysis of public health programmes for infectious diseases within a highly demanding work environment.
• Sound knowledge and skills in database management and statistical analysis, secondary data review, survey designing and implementation, monitoring and evaluation systems design or use, and public health information management.
• Strong professional oral and writing skills including the development of reports, oral presentations and technical guidance and advocacy documents.

Competencies:

• Teamwork
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication
• Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond
• Knowing and managing yourself
• Creating an empowering and motivating environment.

Use of Language Skills:

• Essential: Expert knowledge of English and local language.