Research and Development Officer

Job Description

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION:

The purpose of this vacancy is to develop a list of qualified candidates for inclusion in this advertised roster for WHO Health Emergency Programme (WHE), Nepal. Successful candidates will be placed on the roster and subsequently may be selected for the assignments falling in this area of work or for similar requirements/tasks/deliverables. Inclusion in the Roster does not guarantee selection to a SSA contract. There is no commitment on either side.

The objective of the programme:

The objective of the WHO Nepal Country Office is to implement the Country Cooperation Strategy by supporting the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), Government of Nepal (GoN) in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of national health policies, strategies and plans and developing and managing WHO’s technical cooperation programmes at the country level. The Country Office collaborates with the Government of Nepal and relevant stakeholders in support of their efforts of achieving national health goals; of ensuring the attainment of universal health coverage and of contributing to global and regional public health action by providing need-based technical assistance in national level policy formulation, setting norms and standards, improving knowledge dissemination and management, monitoring country health situation and building sustainable institutional capacity, to play a greater leadership role in different national level policy technical forums. WHO provides guidance and technical support in organizing the humanitarian health response following multi-hazard emergencies and in revitalizing the capacity of the health sector to recover and rebuild from emergencies in appropriate and sustainable ways. In the inter-emergency period the objectives are to increase the capacity and resilience of the Nepal Health System to reduce risk, prevent and prepare for disasters, to mitigate adverse health consequences, through supporting the Emergency Risk Management interventions prioritized in the national plan for the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030); and the health security interventions for enhancement of core capacities required to comply with the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 as prioritized in the National Action Plan on Health Security (NAPHS), National Action Plan on Anti-Microbial Resistance (NAP-AMR) and National Pandemic Preparedness and Response Plan (NPPRP).WHO strives to integrate and harmonize the actions undertaken for enhanced ERM and Health Security with the interventions implemented to achieve the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and health systems strengthening through appropriate capacity building and co-ordination mechanisms and partnerships. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) supports the MoHP, GoN to direct and coordinate the rapid provision of life-saving emergency health interventions at scale in the aftermath of multi-hazard emergencies and disasters and subsequently assists in the rapid recovery of the health system in collaboration with national and international partners. Thereupon it provides technical support to the MoHP and partners to enhance health sector emergency risk management through prevention risk reduction or mitigation; preparedness and response readiness to build a health system that is resilient to multi-hazard disasters including public health emergencies.

Summary of Assigned Duties:

Under the overall guidance of the Team Leader-WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE), and the direct supervision of the Epidemiologist, WHE, the Research and Development Officer will perform the following duties:

• Develop a database of operational research questions mainly pertaining to WHE in consultation with the team lead, technical leads and national professional officers
• Prepare a list of various online courses on research methodology and operational research methods applicable to the WHE team.
• Conduct literature review and develop and maintain a database (in the form of evidence table) of relevant research literature on selected research questions.
• Identify and suggest extra reading materials for the WHE team
• Facilitate to identify an appropriate candidate(s) in the WHE team and the relevant government counterpart to lead selected research studies
• Facilitate and assist in developing appropriate research methodology (protocol development) for selected research questions with the help of technical leads
• Facilitate and assist in obtaining necessary ethical approval for planned research studies
• Facilitate and assist in planning the field implementation of research activities under the guidance of technical leads, national professional officers and FMO teams at the provincial level
• Facilitate in-field implementation of research activities and monitor the progress of implemented research activities (may needs to do field visits for monitoring purposes when necessary)
• Facilitate, assist and engage in research data analysis
• Facilitate and assist in research or survey report, manuscript drafting and finalization with the consultation of technical leads
• Plan and conduct basic research methodology workshops for the WHE team
• Plan and conduct quantitative and qualitative research data analysis with introduction for appropriate software for WHE team
• Perform other relevant duties as assigned by the Team Lead-WHE or WHO Representative. This includes traveling to provinces on duty travel or duty-station reassignment at any time as per the program requirements.

Qualifications

Education

Essential: MBBS

Desirable: MPH or MSc in public health/community medicine

Experience

Essential:

• Experience in research related field of work for one year or more.
• Active participation in all aspects of research studies and surveys.
• Publication of research activity in the form of dissertation, thesis or presentations in scientific forums.
• Experience in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.
• Excellent working skills in MS-Office package.
• Experience in data analysis software like SPSS, Stata and R.
• Experience in qualitative data analysis.
• Experience in reference management software like Endnote, Mendeley or Zotero.

Desirable:

• Published article(s) in a peer-reviewed journal.

Functional Skills and knowledge:

• In-depth knowledge of the key health security risks; situations, needs and priorities in all-hazards public health emergency preparedness, and response.
• Ability to generate options, decide, prioritize, execute and multi-task under pressure.
• Ability to effectively work with government, development partners/donors and collaborating agencies.
• Technical expertise: Overall attitude at work is also required mandatory competencies.
• Good knowledge in outbreak response, disease control and emergency risk management in the health sector.

Other skills:

Good knowledge of computer applications and software including MS Office applications (specifically excel, word and ppt.). Ability to coordinate with the government, manage projects, build partnerships with multiple partners in the context of health emergencies.

WHO Competencies:

1. Teamwork
2. Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
3. Communication
4. Ensuring the effective use of resources

Use of languages skills:

Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English and Nepali.

REMUNERATION:

Monthly Salary: (Net of tax) NPR 196,102.00 (Level VIII) at single rate (taxable as per Nepal Government laws and appointment will be through Special Services Agreement, SSA).

Grade : Level VIII

Duty station : Anywhere in Nepal.

Closing Date: May 12, 2022, 5:59:00 AM