Regional Emergency Director

The Regional Emergency Director provides technical and managerial leadership to strengthen countries' capacity to prepare for, detect, and respond to health emergencies, including epidemics and pandemics. The role involves leading WHO's health emergency response in the African Region, coordinating with partners, and ensuring operational readiness and strategic planning for health security.

Responsibilities

• Advise the Regional Director on policy, strategic and technical matters related to health emergency preparedness and response in the WHO African Region.
• Provide leadership to staff, ensuring continuous training, development, and promotion of high performance and ethical behavior.
• Lead development of evidence-based policies, strategies and plans for health emergency preparedness, intelligence, surveillance, logistics, and response.
• Provide WHO Country Offices with guidance on organizational readiness activities, focusing on high vulnerability countries.
• Oversee outbreaks and grade two acute/protracted emergencies managed through the Incident Management System, including supervision of Incident Managers.
• Facilitate collaboration with other Clusters, HQ, and external partners to scale up emergency preparedness and response programs.
• Build strategic partnerships and coordinate regional partner networks for emergency preparedness and response.
• Drive resource mobilization activities within the Region.
• Contribute to integrated approaches in health emergency preparedness and response, ensuring technical support for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Coordinate and facilitate development and implementation of the cluster workplan and ensure delivery of outputs.
• Identify research needs to improve emergency preparedness and response at country level.
• Monitor trends in health emergency preparedness and response.
• Document and share evidence and experiences for policy and programmatic actions.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Regional Director and/or Executive Director, WHE.

Requirements

• A Medical degree with postgraduate degree in Public Health or a related field.
• Specialized training or degree in epidemiology is desirable.
• Specialized training or degree in emergency/humanitarian response is desirable.
• Training in leadership or management is desirable.
• A minimum of 15 years’ national and international experience in managing and planning development and implementing health security, emergency, surveillance, disease control and/or public health.
• At least 3 years in a senior management role providing senior level advice with responsibility for human resources and finance.
• Proven experience in policy and strategy development, and in coordinating large-scale projects or pandemics with high political impact in developing countries.
• Relevant experience with UN inter-agency mechanisms for coordinating preparedness and response to health emergencies, including health policy and operational coordination.
• Relevant working experience in both developing and developed countries is desirable.
• Experience in public health or related fields; work experiences that are diverse incorporating private sector, NGOs, other UN or governmental Health related agencies is an advantage.
• Expert knowledge of English with intermediate knowledge of French or expert knowledge of French with intermediate knowledge of English is required.
• Working level of computer literacy with proven ability to use standard office software packages, including eHealth tools.

Skills

• Medical Degree
• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Emergency Response
• Humanitarian Response
• Leadership Training
• Management Training
• Health Security
• Emergency Preparedness
• Disease Surveillance
• Disease Control
• Public Health Policy Development
• Strategy Development
• Project Coordination
• Pandemic Response
• UN Inter-agency Coordination
• Health Policy Coordination
• Operational Coordination
• Human Resources Management
• Finance Management
• Computer Literacy
• Standard Office Software
• eHealth Tools

Languages

English, French