Senior Public Health Officer - Public Health

Before submitting an application, UNHCR staff members intending to apply to this Job Opening are requested to consult the Recruitment and Assignments Policy (RAP, UNHCR/HCP/2017/2 and the Recruitment and Assignments Administrative Instruction (RAAI), UNHCR/AI/2017/7 OF 15 August 2017.

Senior Public Health Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Senior Public Health Officer is a member of a multidisciplinary team and will ensure that UNHCR's public health programmes meet minimum UNHCR and global health standards in order to minimise avoidable morbidity and mortality among populations of concern and towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The incumbent provides strong and timely technical and strategic guidance to UNHCR senior management and partners including on the design and scope of UNHCR¿s responses in health and nutrition, catalyses the engagement of other actors, supports resource mobilisation efforts including with the private sector and monitors the response. The incumbent has close contacts with internal and external stakeholders such as government counterparts, UN Agencies and embassies/donors.
The Senior Public Health Officer plays a crucial role in coordination, planning, and monitoring of public health programmes and responses including support to the collection and use of health and nutrition-related data, design of public health programmes, capacity building of UNHCR personnel and partners, advocacy, information and communication on public health-related issues.
The incumbent should ensure public health strategies address known gaps in health and nutrition programming based on a country-specific needs assessment and in line with UNHCR¿s Public Health Strategy 2019-2023, with particular attention to neonatal and maternal health care, TB and viral hepatitis, medical referral and access to essential surgical care, palliative care, health services for LGBTI individuals and programming for persons with disabilities.
In the Field, the Senior Public Health Officer is a member of the senior management team in his/her duty station and region, will coordinate and provide technical support to a regional network of country-level Public Health, Nutrition and Food Security and HIV focal points as well as Protection and Programme Officers.
The incumbent should also ensure consultation with communities seeking the diverse views of men, women, girl and boys, adolescents, youth, older persons, LGBTI persons, persons with disabilities , including people with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities, in assessing needs, designing, implementing and monitoring responses in line with UNHCR¿s policy on age, gender and diversity mainstreaming.
Public Health programmes include primary health care, secondary health care, community health, reproductive health (including HIV), nutrition, MHPSS and health information systems. In addition to public health staff, major operations may also have dedicated staff focusing on any of these components but public health officers are expected to be very conversant with reproductive health programming and ensure that minimum standards are met.  Depending on the size of the operation the incumbent may be expected to have major responsibilities for nutrition and MHPSS responses.   Senior Public Health Officers will work with the Senior Programme Officer (or other designated staff member) to support operational collaboration and joint programming with WFP on nutrition and food security (including the design and implementation of Joint Assessment Missions and Joint Plans of Action as per our Global Memorandum of Understanding).
The Senior Public Health Officer is normally supervised by a Senior Operations/Technical Coordinator/ Assistant Representative in the Field or by Head of Public Health Section (PHS) at Headquarters. In addition, the incumbent will be expected to work within multi-functional and interdisciplinary teams including with protection staff. The incumbent of position in the Field has a functional line with the Public Health Section in Geneva regarding authoritative guidance and support in technical matters and is expected to maintain regular contact with the PHS.¿

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR¿s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

- Co-ordinate public health, reproductive health, nutrition and HIV activities in support of the government¿s responses and in conjunction with other UN agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other partners, including development actors to ensure delivery of public health and nutrition services to beneficiaries (Persons of Concern (PoCs)   and host community) meet UNHCR and /or nationally recognised and most up-to-date standards and policies.
- Support operations to define the level and scope of UNHCR¿s involvement in public health and nutrition responses in terms of overall and operational objectives during emergency situations and beyond.
- Support the operations engagement in the public health related aspects of contributions of major donors to refugee responses, including the World Bank; this includes taking part in assessments, design of projects, monitoring and evaluation.
- In line with the Global Compact on Refugees, work with governments, humanitarian and development partners to ensure a whole-of-government (i.e. relevant national and local authorities for health and nutrition response) multi-stakeholder approach and planning to harness the comparative advantages of different actors to meet the health needs of POCs.
- Represent UNHCR in Health Coordination and other meetings including inter-sectoral groups such as Technical Working Groups for MHPSS and nutrition.
- Engage in relevant partnership fora, including in line with UNHCR¿s role as a UNAIDS co-sponsor of the Joint Programme on AIDS and co-lead with WFP of the Division of Labour area of HIV in Humanitarian Settings.
- Support countries to respond and catalyse engagement of other actors in line with Memoranda of Understanding with major partners including World Food Progamme (WFP), World Health Organisation (WHO), UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNICEF; this includes the development or updating of country-specific plans of action to delineate the roles, responsibilities and contributions of other actors.
- Support operational collaboration with WFP including the design and implementation of Joint Assessment Missions and corresponding Joint Plans of Action in line with global commitments on targeting of assistance to meet basic needs and data sharing to support assistance distribution (in collaboration with programme and protection colleagues).
- Ensure regular updates and share information within UNHCR as well as with the government, UN and NGO partners and donor communities on the health status and needs of the refugee including in support of UNHCR¿s role in advocacy for the wellbeing and rights of refugees and other persons of concern to UNHCR.
- Support robust and timely emergency responses to new refugee influxes or outbreaks or other situations in line with the Public Health Emergency Toolkit and UNHCR¿s Emergency Handbook and the SPHERE Handbook.
- Contribute to development and implementation of UNHCR¿s Strategic Plan for Public Health and adaptation at country or regional level.
- Work with others in UNHCR to advocate for refugees, returnees and other persons of concern access to local public health, reproductive health (RH) and HIV, MHPSS and nutrition services (including food assistance where relevant) and lobby for inclusion of refugees, returnees and other persons of concern as a specific group in government policies and plans related to health, RH and HIV as well as major donor programmes such as the Global Fund for HIV, TB and Malaria.
- Provide guidance and make recommendations on the overall strategy and focus of Public Health and Nutrition programmes including ensuring public health strategic approaches are developed in a multi-sectoral and co-ordinated manner in co-operation with government, UN agencies, and NGOs and other humanitarian partners with due consideration to the approaches outlined in the Global Compact on Refugees and in support of the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG3.
- Ensure public health strategies address known gaps in health and nutrition programming based on  country-specific needs assessments with due consideration to neonatal and maternal health care, TB and viral hepatitis, palliative care, health services for LGBTI individuals, health and protection services for persons selling sex and programming for persons with disabilities including access to assistive technologies and appropriate associated services.
- Ensure public health strategies inform and are included in multi-year, multi-partner solutions strategies and in funding appeals such as regional refugee response plans or other humanitarian appeals.
- Support the development and monitoring of country specific medium to long term inclusion plans in support of the Ministry of Health and other relevant Ministries (e.g. Social Welfare) and in partnership with development and other actors including the World Bank, regional development banks, International Labour Organisation, UNICEF, WHO and major donors.
- Work with stakeholders, including UN agencies, NGOs, Ministries of Health and academic institutions in the development of public health response plans associated with refugee movements (including in repatriation programmes).
- Maintain and update contingency plans for potential epidemics, refugee and returnee movements.
- Update and disseminate standard practices on public health, MHPSS, nutrition, HIV and reproductive health among partners.
- Support the prioritization of primary health care (including preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative care)
- Ensure, in close co-ordination with other humanitarian actors, that health care services provided to persons of concern (PoCs) are based on Ministry of Health, UNHCR and/or internationally recognized and most up-to-date standards and policies.
- Establish and/or adapt UNHCR internal operating procedures to ensure they are in line with UNHCR and/or international standards and improve efficiency of programme activities; this includes - but is not limited to - referral health care, medicines and medical supplies procurement and management, medical resettlement and resettlement of persons with health needs, cash-based assistance for health care coverage and referral between units and inter-sectoral collaboration.
- Monitor and support compliance with, and integrity of, all Public Health standard operating procedures in conjunction with Project Control and Programme staff and in line with delegated authorities, including flagging to senior managers when these are not in line with global guidance or not being followed.
- Work closely with UNHCR programme, field and protection staff to identify priority health issues and key data requirements for programme planning and monitoring to ensure that minimum UNHCR and international standards are being met.
- Support linkages of public health to WASH programmes throughout all stages of the programme cycle including in outbreak preparedness and response, emergency responses to refugee influxes, WASH in health facilities, and menstrual hygiene management.
- Support inter-sector collaboration throughout all stages of programme cycle between public health and nutrition with WASH, education, environment, shelter, and protection in order to promote synergies and maximise impact.
- Support health focal points to participate in the review and analysis of relevant project proposals and budgetary submissions presented by UNHCR partners within the context of the UNHCR programming cycle.
- Ensure that project plans or proposals submitted to UNHCR for funding adhere to internationally accepted standards, and are based on a comprehensive PHC strategy, rights based and meet the needs of vulnerable persons.
- Ensure consultation with communities seeking the diverse views of men, women, girl and boys, adolescents, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities and LGBTI in assessing needs, designing, implementing and monitoring responses in line with UNHCR¿s policy on age, gender and diversity mainstreaming.
- Ensure implementation of the UNHCR Health Information System and other relevant data collection tools including the balanced scorecard, maternal and neonatal death audits, Health Access and Utilisation Survey and other corporate tools where relevant; support the analysis, interpretation and use of public health data.
- Advocate for the inclusion of refugees and other PoCs in national surveys such as demographic and health surveys, multi-indicator cluster surveys, AIDS indicator surveys including where possible a separate sample for refugees allowing for comparisons and trend analysis over time.
- Support national health systems to disaggregate data by refugee and nationals in key areas based on country specific needs in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
- Ensure the monitoring of public health and nutrition programmes against standard UNHCR and international indicators, to ensure that programmes are evidence-based and implemented in a comprehensive and cost-effective manner.
- Support the planning, implementation, analysis, dissemination and use of nutritional surveys (Standardized Expanded Nutrition Surveys, SENS), health-related surveys and post-distribution monitoring exercises (in collaboration with WFP).
- Promote applied research and programme evaluation to enable the identification of gaps in programme implementation and standards, and to further promote evidence-based activities and guidance.
- In line with policies for Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), ensure PoCs have access to feedback and accountability mechanisms relating to public health and nutrition services including the collection and analysis of data on the satisfaction of PoCs with regards to public health and nutrition services.
- Prepare regular sectoral reports and submit material for preparation of periodic project monitoring reports as required.
- Ensure adequate reporting, timely updates and briefings to donors and management.
- Ensure quality and timely inputs to global reports such as the UNHCR Annual Public Health Report and the Joint Programme Monitoring System report for UNAIDS.
- Support capacity strengthening of UNHCR and its implementing partners to address public health, nutrition, reproductive health, HIV, MHPSS programming in a co-ordinated, multi-sectoral way.
- Share with local and international partners relevant guidelines and information materials on programming relating to refugee public health and nutrition activities.
- Undertake and/or support capacity building needs assessments of UNHCR staff and partners and develop approaches to address capacity gaps including identifying internal and external training opportunities.
- In conjunction with the Public Health Section in headquarters, Global Learning Centre and external actors, support development of capacity strengthening tools and materials including webinars, e-learning materials and online learning tools.
- Plan, organise, facilitate and participate in workshops in conjunction with Bureaux, Public Health Section in headquarters, Global Learning Centre and external actors.

- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications
Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P4/NOD - 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
Medicine, Medical Science, Medical Doctor, Nursing, Public Health
or other relevant field.
(Field(s) of Education marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience
Essential:
- Clinical background (nurse or MD) with postgraduate training in Public Health or other relevant field.
- Knowledge of public health, reproductive health and nutrition in humanitarian situations.
- Exposure to UNHCR mandate, its priorities and principles.
- Good communicator with strong interpersonal and negotiations skills.

Desirable:
- Additional qualifications in Nutrition and WASH and a thorough understanding of the linkages with public health and Food security.
- Ability to coordinate a range of diverse actors and activities to achieve a common objective in the area of Public Health.

Functional Skills
MS-Monitoring & Evaluation
PG-Monitoring Programmes/Projects
MD-Public Health Epidemiology
MD-Experience with HIV/AIDS situations
MD-Reproductive Health
MD-Community Health - Health Data Collection/Analysis/Interpretation
CO-Strategic Communication
UN-UNHCR's Mandate/Policy and Global Strategic Priorities
EX-Experience in complex field emergencies
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates. C001L3 - Accountability Level 3
C002L3 - Teamwork & Collaboration Level 3
C003L3 - Communication Level 3
C004L3 - Commitment to Continuous Learning Level 3
C005L3 - Client & Result Orientation Level 3
C006L3 - Organizational Awareness Level 3
M001L3 - Empowering and Building Trust Level 3
M002L3 - Managing Performance Level 3
M006L3 - Managing Resources Level 3
M005L3 - Leadership Level 3
M003L3 - Judgement and Decision Making Level 3
M004L3 - Strategic Planning and Vision Level 3
X005L3 - Planning and Organizing Level 3
X001L3 - Analytical Thinking Level 3
X008L3 - Stakeholder Management Level 3

The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Please note that the closing date for all vacancies in this Flash Vacancy  is Tuesday 4 February 2020  (midnight Geneva time).