Programme Manager, Environmental Exposures and Risks (Bonn)

Vacancy Notice No: EURO/13/FT452 Title: Programme Manager, Environmental Exposures and Risks (Bonn) Grade: P5 Contract type: Fixed-Term Appointment Duration of contract:  Two years with possibility of renewal (1) See Additional Information below	Date: 23 October 2013 Original published date: 23 October 2013 Application Deadline: 24 November 2013 (26 day(s) until closing deadline) Republished (Currently accepting applications) Duty Station:  Bonn, Germany   Organization unit: EURO Europe Regional Office (EU/RGO) / EU/DCE Communicable Diseases, Health Security & Environment (EU/DCE) Coordination of Environment and Health (CEH)
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME : The aim of the Division of Communicable Diseases, Health Security, and Environment is (i) to assist countries in the Region to design, establish and run effective health programmes that are able to tackle the burden of communicable diseases in the country, including antimicrobial resistance, and to achieve regional elimination/eradication goals; (ii) to assist countries in developing disease surveillance systems, preparedness for, and response to public health emergencies, in line with the requirements of the International Health Regulations and specific country risks; (iii) to conduct routine health risk intelligence, risk assessment of reported events and, on request, to provide timely and effective support to countries of the European Region; (iv) to determine and monitor environmental risks to health as well as environmental determinant of health, and propose relevant research projects, health interventions and partnership to tackle the acute and long-term health impact of environmental changes, including climate change; (v) to ensure, within EURO, the availability of state-of-the-art competency to provide high level technical support to Member States of the Region, in collaboration with Headquarters and in close partnership with relevant institutions of the Region; (v) to promote WHO leadership in communicable disease control, health security, and health and environment programmes, including through relevant research and use of WHO norms and standards. In this context the Division of Communicable Diseases, Health Security & Environment, specifically aims to address the public health challenges posed by environmental determinants of health, water and air quality, climate change, transports, and the food chain. This work is conducted in close collaboration with the Division of Non Communicable Diseases, the Division of Health Systems, and in partnership with all relevant partners and institutions, globally and in the European region.
Description of duties: Under the guidance of the relevant supervisors, the incumbent will assume the following responsibilities and achieve the following objectives: A. Core responsibilities in assisting Member States in relation to environmental health and in particular in relation to Environmental Exposures and Risks as part of country efforts to strengthen health systems include: dialogue with and advice to policy makers on evidence basis for healthy, effective and equitable policies, measures and strategies. Advise and guide on responsibilities in health systems and involvement of stakeholders with clear lines of accountability and transparency; develop and implement innovative approaches, adapted to regional/country needs, in the technical areas; technical assistance with the development of mechanisms, instruments and tools (such as monitoring and evaluation, performance assessment and performance management and approaches to enhance effectiveness of stakeholder involvement) as well as the estimation of the required resources (human, financial, infrastructure and technological) and knowledge (i.e. through research, evaluation, performance measurement and knowledge management) to build understanding and capacity for improving the assessment and management of specific environmental exposures and risks (i.e. leading policy development and coordination, transforming information into intelligence and applying this to the development and assessment of health policies and strategies; mobilizing its legal and regulatory powers to attain health system goals; recommending that the health system is designed to adapt to changing needs; and exerting influence across other sectors than health and advocating for better health); and advocacy, knowledge transmission and advice for the enhancement of the capacities and skills of health ministries in carrying out their function particularly in relation to environmental determinants of health. B. Core responsibilities in providing intellectual and technical leadership and guidance in directing the assessment and management of environmental exposures and risks include: acting as the WHO EURO focal point for assessment and management of environmental exposures and risks; ensuring technical quality and competence in the area of assessment and management of environmental exposures and risks and to be responsible for the overall timeliness and quality of all programme deliverables of both country and inter country work plans; developing regional plans for assessment and management of environmental exposures and risks and harnessing European and other experience and knowledge, documenting gaps therein for the definition of the research agenda on the subject matter; advising and contributing on the development of relevant WHO guidelines, approaches, and messages, contributing to the WHO normative function; coordinating international activities with relevant organizations and partners in the technical area; supervising WHO contributions to relevant international agreements addressing environmental determinants of health; managing and synthesizing related knowledge to build the evidence base for dissemination to Member States as required; producing authoritative and relevant policy papers and briefs on the subject matter; supporting Divisional efforts to implement follow-up of the commitments taken through declarations at the various Ministerial Conferences on Environment and Health. C. Core responsibilities as a Programme Manager: to provide leadership and managerial oversight to the work of all programme/project staff; to mobilize resources to efficiently deliver services/products within country and inter country work plans; to be responsible for the allocation of resources within country and inter country work plans in coordination with the Strategic Objective Facilitator (ensure availability of funds and monitoring of dates and budget constraints); to perform the general management of the programme's professional and general service staff, as first level supervisor (to include monitoring of workload, funds availability, performance management, and to establish mechanisms which ensure proper coordination within the team regarding travel, holidays), and to regularly monitor and assess the performance of the technical programme through evaluation and reporting.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education: Essential: Advanced university degree in environmental health, public health, environmental sciences or related areas relevant to the post.
Skills:  Functional skills and knowledge: Essential: In depth knowledge of environmental determinants of health, as well as advanced risk assessment or risk management skills documented by the record of relevant publications or/and work experience are essential.Knowledge of standard text, spreadsheet and presentation software applications required. Desirable: Knowledge of political, social and health systems of countries in the European Region documented by relevant work experience would be an asset. Knowledge of the WHO and UN system would be an asset. Competencies: see WHO Global Competencies model at http://www.who.int/employment/competencies/en/ Ensuring the effective use of resources: Establishes measures to monitor resources and progress of activities as planned. Monitors costs and seeks to use the most cost-effective methods. Identifies, organizes and effectively manages the financial and human resources needed to achieve results. Identifies priorities and defines realistic objectives and timelines. Creating an empowering and motivating environment: Ability to provide staff with clear direction and support in meeting objectives. Provides staff with regular feedback, recognizes good performance and addresses performance issues. Motivates staff to achieve individual and team goals. Ability and willingness to work in a team with other health professionals and motivate people of different nationalities and cultures. Producing results: Ability to produce high-quality results and workable solutions that meet client needs. Acts appropriately without prompting and makes things happen; handles problems effectively. Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond: Ability to work collaboratively with team members and counter parts inside and outside the organization to achieve results. Encourages co-operation and builds rapport among fellow team members at all levels. Actively encourages people from different parts of the Organization to work together. Communicating in a credible and effective way: Excellent writing ability, as reflected in a history of high-quality and concise technical reports. Excellent presentation skills, as reflected in a history of high quality technical and policy related presentations in international fora.
Experience: Essential: At least 10 years working experience in environment and health issues at national or international levels, including 3 to 5 years of team management tasks and 3 to 5 years of practical experience in implementing programs related to EH risk assessment or management.
Languages: Essential: Very good command of the English language and working knowledge of another official WHO language and/or WHO EURO official language (ie - Russian, French, German, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese). Desirable: Good knowledge of other European languages.
Additional Information: (1) Extension of appointment is subject to: satisfactory performance, continued need for the function, and; availability of funds. Similar positions at the same grade may be filled using this vacancy notice. WHO has an on-line recruitment system, therefore ONLY applications submitted on-line at www.who.int/employment/en will be accepted. All on-line applications are automatically acknowledged. If you do not receive an e-mail within 24 hours confirming receipt of your application, you should verify your on-line profile. In case of repeated difficulties, contact by e-mail HrsRecruitment@euro.who.int indicating the vacancy title and number in the subject line.
Annual salary: (Net of tax) USD 80 734 at single rate USD 86 904 with primary dependants	Post Adjustment: 52.3 % of the above figure(s). This percentage is to be considered as indicative since variations may occur each month either upwards or downwards due to currency exchange rate fluctuations or inflation.
A written test may be used as a form of screening
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