County Bundibugyo Virus Disease Readiness and Response Coordinator - NOA ( Multiple duty Station)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that the deadline for receipt of applications indicated above reflects your personal device's system settings.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION:

To provide operational leadership and coordination for Bundibugyo Virus Disease readiness and, if required, response activities in the assigned high-risk county. The incumbent will support the County Health Department to establish and maintain functional coordination, translate national plans into county action, close priority readiness gaps, and ensure rapid activation of surveillance, investigation, isolation, referral, laboratory, IPC/WASH, RCCE, logistics, and response arrangements following a suspected or confirmed case.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

South Sudan faces a high risk of importation of Bundibugyo Virus Disease because of porous international borders, frequent population movement, informal crossing points, and major transport corridors linking the country with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The risk is highest in border and transit countries where surveillance, health-facility readiness, infection prevention and control, referral systems, laboratory access, and community engagement remain limited.

WHO is supporting the Ministry of Health, the National Public Health Institute, State Ministries of Health, and County Health Departments to implement a 30-day readiness surge and strengthen preparedness in priority counties. Yei, Morobo, including Kaya, Kajo-Keji, Yambio, Ezo, and Nzara require immediate field-level coordination because of their border exposure, movement patterns, referral roles, and proximity to high-risk corridors.

The County BVD Readiness and Response Coordinator will serve as WHO’s principal field coordination focal point in the assigned county. The position will work with county authorities and partners to operationalize the national readiness and response plan, maintain a current picture of readiness, resolve bottlenecks, and ensure that any alert triggers a timely, coordinated, and safe response. The coordinator will also ensure that BVD readiness is integrated with ongoing surveillance and response to cholera, measles, malaria, mpox, and other concurrent public health emergencies

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:

Under the direct supervision of the EPR Team Lead/Incident Manager, with day-to-day technical guidance from the designated WHO field or hub supervisor, and in close collaboration with the County Health Department, State Ministry of Health, National Public Health Institute, WHO technical teams, UN agencies, and operational partners, the incumbent will:

• Provide day-to-day leadership and coordination of WHO-supported BVD readiness and possible response activities in the assigned county.

• Support the County Health Department to establish or strengthen a functional county incident management and coordination mechanism with clear leadership, pillar responsibilities, meeting schedules, action tracking, and escalation pathways.

• Prepare, update, and monitor a costed county BVD readiness and response action plan aligned with national guidance, identify gaps, and available partner capacity.

• Convene or support regular county coordination meetings, document decisions, assign actions, monitor deadlines, and escalate unresolved operational constraints to state and national levels.

• Maintain an up-to-date mapping of partners, health facilities, points of entry, border crossings, referral routes, ambulances, isolation capacity, laboratories, community structures, and critical supplies.

• Coordinate rapid county readiness assessments and track corrective actions across surveillance, alert management, contact tracing, laboratory, case management, IPC/WASH, RCCE, safe and dignified burial, logistics, and points of entry.

• Ensure dissemination and operational use of approved BVD case definitions, alert notification procedures, investigation tools, referral pathways, IPC guidance, and other national protocols.

• Work with the Field Epidemiologist to strengthen indicator-based and event-based surveillance, community alerts, zero reporting, verification, investigation, line listing, and cross-border information exchange.

• Ensure that suspected viral haemorrhagic fever alerts and unexplained deaths are immediately notified, safely assessed, and linked to investigation, isolation, sampling, referral, and risk communication actions.

• Coordinate readiness and deployment of multidisciplinary rapid response teams, including clear rosters, terms of reference, transport, communications, supplies, and activation procedures.

• Work with the IPC/WASH Officer to improve screening, triage, isolation, hand hygiene, PPE use, environmental cleaning, waste management, occupational safety, and ambulance decontamination in priority facilities.

• Work with the RCCE Officer to establish community engagement, rumour management, feedback, and risk communication mechanisms involving local authorities, chiefs, religious leaders, women, youth, transport groups, schools, and border communities.

• Coordinate with laboratory and logistics teams to ensure availability of sample-collection kits, triple packaging, referral documentation, safe transport, PPE, IPC supplies, communications, fuel, and other operational requirements.

• Validate designated isolation and referral facilities and ensure that patient movement, ambulance dispatch, clinical handover, and decontamination arrangements are documented and tested.

• Plan and coordinate orientation, drills, tabletop exercises, and functional simulations to test alert notification, investigation, sample referral, patient transfer, IPC, and county incident management arrangements.

• Maintain a county readiness dashboard and daily action tracker covering activities, gaps, alerts, investigations, training, supplies, partner support, and decisions requiring escalation.

• Provide accurate and timely daily and weekly reports to WHO, the County Health Department, State Ministry of Health, and national incident management structures.

• Ensure consistent documentation of meetings, decisions, field visits, supervision findings, corrective actions, and operational lessons.

• Support integration of protection, accountability to affected populations, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, gender, disability inclusion, and respectful community engagement in all county activities.

• Monitor staff safety, field access, and operational constraints and coordinate with WHO operations and security colleagues on safe movement and continuity of essential activities.

• If a suspected or confirmed case occurs, support immediate activation of the county response structure, development of incident action plans, deployment of teams, and coordination of response pillars and partners.

• Perform other emergency-related duties assigned by the supervisor.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

Essential: First university degree in medicine, nursing, clinical medicine, public health, epidemiology, environmental health, health services management, humanitarian health, or another health-related field from a recognized institution.

Desirable: Advanced university degree or specialized training in public health, epidemiology, outbreak response, incident management, humanitarian coordination, infection prevention and control, or health emergency management.

Experience:

Essential:

Essential:

• At least two years of relevant professional experience in public health, disease surveillance, outbreak preparedness and response, emergency coordination or health Programme management.

• Experience supporting or coordinating activities with national, state or county health authorities and operational partners.

• Experience preparing and monitoring operational plans, action trackers, field reports, and partner activities.

• Experience working in field locations and under demanding operational conditions.

Desirable:

• Experience with WHO, a Ministry of Health, UN agency, national public health institute, or humanitarian organization.

• Experience in viral haemorrhagic fever preparedness or response, including Ebola readiness.

• Experience with an Incident Management System, Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, rapid response team, or Health Cluster coordination mechanism.

• Experience in South Sudan and knowledge of the assigned county, border corridor, local health system, and community structures.

• Experience in surveillance, IPC/WASH, RCCE, laboratory referral, case management, or emergency logistics.

Functional Skills and Knowledge (Describe skills and knowledge specific to the post):

• Sound understanding of outbreak preparedness and response, incident management, and county-level public health coordination.

• Ability to translate national strategies and technical guidance into practical field actions.

• Strong planning, organizing, facilitation, problem-solving, and follow-up skills.

• Ability to coordinate multidisciplinary teams and partners while maintaining clear roles and accountability.

• Ability to assess operational gaps, prioritize actions, and escalate risks quickly.

• Ability to prepare concise plans, situation updates, meeting records, and decision-focused reports.

• Ability to communicate clearly and respectfully with government officials, health workers, community leaders, and partners.

• Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, and deliver results under pressure.

• Sound judgement, integrity, discretion, and respect for confidential information.

• Willingness and ability to work and travel in remote, border, and access-constrained settings.

Information technology skills

• Good knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and online collaboration tools.

• Ability to use electronic data-collection, reporting, and dashboard platforms.

• Experience with DHIS2, EWARS, mobile data tools, GIS, or other emergency information systems is an asset.

COMPETENCIES:

• Teamwork

• Communication

• Producing results

• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences

• Moving forward in a changing environment

Languages:

Required: Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English

Desirable: Working knowledge of Arabic and relevant local languages used in the assigned duty station is an asset.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• In the event that your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual.
• Staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply.
• For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.
• WHO is committed to workforce diversity.
• WHO also offers a wide range of benefits to staff, including parental leave and attractive flexible work arrangements to help promote a healthy work-life balance and to allow all staff members to express and develop their talents fully.
• The statutory retirement age for staff appointments is 65. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete the term of appointment will normally be considered.
• WHO's workforce adheres to the WHO Values Charter and is committed to put the WHO Values into practice.
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• This is a National Professional Officer position. Therefore, only applications from nationals of the country where the duty station is located will be accepted. Applicants who are not nationals of this country will not be considered.