OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME
The Pacific Health Security and Communicable Diseases unit covers three main areas of work - (1) WHO's Health Emergencies Programme (WHE), (2) communicable diseases, and (3) reproductive and maternal health/gender and equity.
The mission of WHE is to build the capacity of Member States to manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations.
WHE brings together and enhances WHO's operational, technical and normative capacity in outbreaks, emergencies and risk analysis to address all health hazards across the risk management cycle in a predictable, capable, dependable, adaptable and accountable manner. It is designed to operate within the broader humanitarian and emergency management architecture in support of people at risk of, or affected by, outbreaks and emergencies, consistent with ways that strengthen local and national capabilities.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
- Coordinate implementation of the Pacific Health Security Coordination Plan (PaHSeC) project within the Pacific Health Security and Communicable Diseases (PSC) unit and ensure its compliance with the defined WHO project management methodology and standards.
- Provide management support to the PSC Team Coordinator in the areas of PaHSeC strategy, stakeholder engagement, and reporting based on detailed project planning, resource scheduling, progress monitoring, issue resolution and risk management.
- Act as the principal point of contact point for the WHO regarding status of assigned projects with national health authorities, PaHSeC partners, donors and supervisors. Work closely with the Risk Communication Officer to develop advocacy materials on PaHSeC outputs and outcomes.
- Ensure proper capture of Member State and partner requests for technical support under PaHSeC, identify and contract consultant services and other resources to support agreed initiatives.
- Establish proper project governance structures, and timely monitoring of financial and technical progress to ensure that activities are on plan, on time, and on budget.
- Ensure effective management of available resources, quality delivery of expected outcomes and outputs, and active engagement with the team.
- Develop project related documentation, concept papers, business cases, project initiation documents, detailed stage plans, progress reports etc. in line with project management and reporting requirements.
- Actively manage all stakeholder engagements, calling regular internal and external PaHSeC working group meetings, provide the Secretariat function to these activities and provide regular progress updates.
- Ensure visibility of project plans, status, dependencies, risks, and issues. Actively manage and track critical paths and milestones across projects.
- Identify project risks and implementation challenges and work closely with responsible team leads to mitigate these risks and identify solutions to address business needs.
- Ensure timely and sufficient reporting to supervisors in order to make informed decisions.
- Communicate issues to supervisors, partners and governing bodies (including preparing briefing documents for the Pacific Heads of Health and Pacific Health Ministers' Meeting) in a timely manner and ask for intervention when and where necessary.
- Perform other duties as assigned by supervisor.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Essential:
- Master level university degree in business administration, project management, finance, information management, public health medicine or related discipline from an institution or university recognized in the International Association of Universities' Worldwide Database of Higher Education Institutions, Systems and Credentials.
Desirable:
- Professional qualification or foundation certification in project management methodologies such as Project Management Institute (PMI), Prince 2 or Six Sigma.
Experience
Essential:
- At least seven years' relevant experience at the national and international levels in programme/project planning, management and successful delivery of complex cross functional or interdependent projects.
- Experience in successfully applying project management methodologies in managing projects, such as PMI, Prince2 or Six Sigma.
- Experience in managing large scale and complex projects. Proven experience in implementing tracking systems, reporting mechanisms and improvement initiatives.
Desirable:
- Experience in managing complex projects within a UN and health context. Experience in change management, quality assurance, and communications. Experience in budget and finance.
Skills