Health Specialist (Vaccine Preventable Disease Control) - Francophone

The Health Specialist provides technical assistance to country offices to strengthen immunization delivery for vaccine-preventable diseases, focusing on Supplemental Immunization Activities and outbreak response campaigns. The role supports health systems strengthening, emergency preparedness, and contributes to achieving UNICEF's Health Strategic Plan and SDG 2030 targets.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical assistance to country offices for design, planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation of Supplemental Immunization Activities and outbreak response immunization for vaccine-preventable diseases.
• Develop monitoring frameworks to measure impact of immunization activities, including post campaign coverage surveys.
• Document best practices and challenges during immunization campaigns.
• Coordinate with partners to contribute to health systems strengthening efforts to ensure sustainable and equitable intervention coverage and disease response.
• Support UNICEF's emergency preparedness and response activities in alignment with Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action and Public Health Emergencies.
• Engage in planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of emergency preparedness and response activities as needed.

Requirements

• Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Public Health, Social Development or related technical field.
• A Bachelor or equivalent (First Level University Degree) in a relevant area combined with 2 additional years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree (applicable to internal staff only).
• A minimum of eight (8) years of progressively responsible professional experience in immunization, public health programme implementation, or emergency response, with a specific focus on vaccine-preventable disease elimination strategies in low- and middle-income countries.
• Familiarity with outbreak preparedness and response frameworks, including coordination with and understanding of WHO, Gavi, CDC, and other global partners.
• Fluency in English and French is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
• Experience working in emergency settings or fragile/conflict-affected contexts.
• Experience working with UNICEF, WHO, Gavi.
• Experience representing UNICEF or similar organizations in regional/global technical working groups.
• Familiarity with digital health tools for campaign planning and monitoring (e.g., ODK, eLMIS, campaign dashboards).
• Knowledge of health system strengthening approaches.
• Experience with Gavi processes related to funding applications for SIAs and outbreak response.
• Experience in strengthening national and subnational immunization capacities, including training frontline workers and health managers.
• Demonstrated ability to promote south-south learning and support institutional development in health systems.
• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

Skills

• Expanded Immunisation Programme Implementation
• Vaccine Preventable Disease Control
• Disease Outbreak Preparedness
• Emergency Response
• Public Health Programme Planning
• Health Service Strengthening
• Supplementary Immunization Activities
• Training Health Workers
• Digital Health Tools
• ODK
• eLMIS
• Campaign Monitoring
• Gavi Funding Processes
• South-South Learning
• Institutional Development
• Coordination with WHO
• Coordination with Gavi
• Coordination with CDC
• Experience in Fragile Settings
• Experience in Humanitarian Contexts

Languages

English, French