Roster PAHO Consultant - , Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) for Epidemic and Outbreak Preparedness and Response

OBJECTIVE OF THE OFFICE/DEPARTMENT

This is a requisition for employment at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO)

Contractual Agreement:

Non-Staff - International PAHO Consultant

Job Posting:

August 6, 2026

Closing Date:

September 1, 2026, 11:59 PM

Primary Location:

Organization:

CDE Communicable Diseases Prevention, Control, and Elimination

Schedule:

Part time

PURPOSE OF CONSULTANCY

This requisition is for a consultancy at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Objective of the Department

The Communicable Disease Prevention, Control, and Elimination Department (CDE) promotes, coordinates, and implements technical cooperation activities directed toward the surveillance, prevention, control, elimination and/or reduction of communicable diseases, zoonoses and environmental threats to health that are technically sound and appropriate for the political and sociocultural context in which they are implemented. It strives to achieve a sustainable impact on health by providing normative guidance, furthering the implementation of evidence-based interventions, fostering alliances that strengthen country capacity, improving the effectiveness of inter-country collaboration, and facilitating policy and decision-making processes

Background

The Communicable Disease Prevention, Control, and Elimination Department supports Member States in strengthening preparedness, surveillance, prevention, and response capacities for communicable diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Infection prevention and control (IPC) is a core component of both outbreak preparedness and the AMR response. Health care facilities are often at the front line of detection, care, and containment of epidemic-prone diseases and health care-associated outbreaks, and weaknesses in IPC systems can amplify transmission of respiratory viruses, viral hemorrhagic fevers, multidrug-resistant pathogens, and emerging resistance mechanisms among patients, health workers, and communities.

In this context, and with a view to strengthening implementation of the AMR Action Plan 2027-2031, International Health Regulations (2005), regional health emergency preparedness priorities, and PAHO’s AMR agenda, CDE is seeking an IPC consultant to provide technical and strategic support for preparedness and response to epidemics and outbreaks caused by multidrug-resistant organisms such as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and other priority pathogens.

The consultant will support the development, adaptation, implementation, and monitoring of IPC and AMR-related guidance, tools, training packages, and operational procedures for health care settings and field response operations, ensuring alignment with PAHO/WHO recommendations, AMR surveillance priorities, laboratory detection capacities, and country needs.

The work will emphasize readiness of health services to rapidly detect, isolate, manage, and safely refer suspected cases; protect health workers; prevent health care-associated transmission; strengthen respiratory protection programs; and contain outbreaks in high-risk units, including neonatal, intensive care, oncology, surgical, and long-term care settings. Particular attention will be given to emerging resistance mechanisms, unusual AMR clusters, and outbreaks involving multidrug-resistant organisms with limited treatment options.

Purpose of the consultancy

Provide technical and strategic support to strengthen infection prevention and control preparedness and response capacities for epidemics, outbreaks, and AMR-related events in health care and community-facing response settings, including outbreaks of multidrug-resistant pathogens in hospitals, neonatal outbreaks, and emerging resistance mechanisms.

The consultant will contribute to strengthening national and regional IPC readiness, AMR outbreak investigation and response support, training, implementation monitoring, and the translation of evidence-based IPC, AMR surveillance, laboratory, and antimicrobial stewardship guidance into practical actions during preparedness and emergency operations.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:

Description of duties

Under the general supervision of the CDE Director and the direct supervision of the designated technical lead for IPC, AMR, and outbreak preparedness and response, the consultant will be responsible for:

• Providing technical guidance on IPC preparedness and response measures for epidemic- and outbreak-prone diseases, including Ebola and other viral hemorrhagic fevers, influenza (seasonal and zoonotic), other respiratory viral diseases, and health care-associated outbreaks caused by multidrug-resistant organisms.
• Supporting investigation, risk assessment, containment, and follow-up of outbreaks involving MDR, XDR, or difficult-to-treat pathogens in hospitals and other health care settings, including neonatal units, intensive care units, oncology wards, surgical services, and long-term care facilities.
• Supporting the development, review, adaptation, and dissemination of IPC and AMR-related guidelines, standard operating procedures, checklists, and job aids for health care facilities, isolation areas, triage points, referral pathways, high-risk units, and field response operations.
• Contributing to preparedness assessments and readiness planning for health facilities and national IPC and AMR programs, including identification of gaps and priority actions to prevent and contain transmission of epidemic-prone pathogens and multidrug-resistant organisms.
• Designing and delivering capacity-building activities, training, simulations, and mentoring on IPC measures, respiratory protection, PPE, isolation and cohorting, patient placement and flow, environmental cleaning, management of dead bodies caused by emerging infectious diseases, waste management, screening, communication of laboratory alerts, and containment of AMR threats.
• Facilitating coordination between IPC teams, microbiology laboratories, AMR surveillance systems, antimicrobial stewardship programs, clinicians, hospital leadership, and public health authorities to translate laboratory and epidemiological data into timely response actions.
• Providing remote or in-country technical support for outbreak investigations and response operations, upon request, in coordination with PAHO country offices, ministries of health, reference laboratories, and relevant emergency response mechanisms.
• Supporting monitoring, documentation, and reporting of IPC and AMR preparedness and response activities, including lessons learned, after-action reviews, and recommendations to strengthen national and regional readiness.
• Supporting implementation, dissemination, and continuous improvement of the PAHO virtual course on hospital outbreak investigation and response through the technical review and update of the training manual based on the latest evidence, including quality assurance of the English translation.
• Providing technical expertise to PAHO Incident Management System (IMS) response teams, as requested, to support IPC during outbreaks of emergencies caused by prone diseases.

Requirements and technical skills

Education:

• University degrees in medicine, nursing, public health, epidemiology, infection prevention and control, health sciences, or a related field.
• A master’s degree or postgraduate training in public health, epidemiology, infectious diseases, infection prevention and control, health emergency management, or a related discipline would be an asset.

Professional Experience:

Nine years of progressively responsible experience in infection prevention and control, preferably including AMR, outbreak preparedness, health emergency response, health care-associated infection prevention, or communicable disease control in national or international public health settings.

• Demonstrated experience supporting IPC programs, outbreak readiness assessments, and implementation of IPC measures in hospitals and other health care facilities.
• Experience supporting prevention, investigation, or containment of health care-associated outbreaks caused by multidrug-resistant organisms, including carbapenem-resistant organisms and other emerging resistance threats.
• Experience developing technical guidance, training materials, standard operating procedures, or operational tools for IPC, AMR, and outbreak response.
• Experience working with high-risk hospital services, such as neonatal units, intensive care units, oncology wards, surgical services, or long-term care facilities, would be an asset.
• Experience in preparedness and response activities for epidemic-prone diseases, such as Ebola or other viral hemorrhagic fevers, influenza (seasonal and zoonotic), COVID-19, or RSV will be an asset.

Languages:

Essential: Very good knowledge of English or Spanish and working knowledge of the other language. A working knowledge of French and/or Portuguese will be an asset.

Required Skills:

• Strong technical knowledge of IPC principles and practices for outbreak preparedness and response in health care settings, including both epidemic-prone pathogens and AMR-related threats.
• Practical knowledge of standard, contact, droplet, airborne, and enhanced precautions, including PPE selection, donning and doffing, isolation, cohorting, triage, patient flow, environmental controls, and terminal cleaning.
• Knowledge of AMR, health care-associated infections, multidrug-resistant organisms, emerging resistance mechanisms, laboratory alert pathways, and the interface between IPC, AMR surveillance, and antimicrobial stewardship.
• Ability to assess IPC and AMR readiness, identify operational gaps, interpret surveillance and laboratory information, and formulate feasible recommendations for national authorities and health care facilities.
• Strong facilitation, training, mentoring, and simulation design skills for multidisciplinary audiences, including IPC staff, laboratory teams, clinicians, antimicrobial stewardship teams, and public health responders.
• Excellent technical writing skills, including the preparation of guidelines, SOPs, mission reports, training materials, outbreak reports, and operational tools.

• Ability to work effectively in multicultural, multidisciplinary, and emergency response environments.
• Capacity to coordinate with ministries of health, health facilities, PAHO country offices, technical partners, emergency response teams, laboratories, IPC committees, and antimicrobial stewardship programs.
• Analytical ability to synthesize information from assessments, surveillance data, laboratory alerts, trainings, and outbreak response activities into actionable recommendations.
• Autonomy, sound judgment, adaptability, and results-oriented approach under time-sensitive conditions.

Location:

The incumbent will work remotely from his/her place of residence.

Remuneration: Band B

Daily Pay Rate: Depending on deliverables, daily rates can vary from US$258 to US$314 (based on 20 working days per month)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• Successful candidates will be placed on the roster and subsequently may be selected for consultancy assignments falling in this area of work or for similar requirements/tasks/deliverables. Inclusion in the Roster does not guarantee selection for a consultant contract. There is no commitment on either side.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• All applicants are required to complete an on-line profile to be considered for this consultancy. For assessment of your application, please ensure that your profile in the PAHO Career page is updated; all experience records are entered with elaboration on tasks performed at the time. Kindly note that CV/PHFs inserted via LinkedIn are no accessible.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. PAHO/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/. PAHO will also use the databases of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation http://www.chea.org/search/default.asp and College Navigator, found on the website of the National Centre for Educational Statistics, https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator to support the validation process. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to PAHO/WHO Regulations, and e-Manual.
• For information on PAHO please visit: http://www.paho.org
• PAHO/WHO is committed to providing a respectful and supportive workplace for all personnel .
• PAHO is an ethical organization that maintains high standards of integrity and accountability. People joining PAHO are required to maintain these standards both in their professional work and personal activities.
• PAHO also promotes a work environment that is free from harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and other types of abusive behavior. PAHO conducts background checks and will not hire anyone who has a substantiated history of abusive conduct.
• PAHO personnel interact frequently with people in the communities we serve. To protect these people, PAHO has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. People who commit serious wrongdoings will be terminated and may also face criminal prosecution.
• PAHO/WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.
• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority. The execution of the work under a consultant contract does not create an employer/employee relationship between PAHO and the Consultant.
• PAHO/WHO shall have no responsibility whatsoever for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by PAHO/WHO.