Roster of International consultant – Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance and/or laboratory strengthening for AMR

The WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia is establishing a roster of qualified consultants to strengthen national and regional AMR surveillance, clinical microbiology services and laboratory systems. Consultants will provide technical assistance for planning, implementation, analysis and reporting using WHO tools, standards and recommendations, contributing to technical guidance, protocols, training packages and implementation tools.

Responsibilities

• Conduct desk or country assessment of AMR surveillance systems, data flows, governance arrangements, indicators, data quality, bacteriology and mycology capacity, laboratory networks, diagnostic stewardship and reporting processes, with prioritized and feasible recommendations.
• Design assignment-specific protocols, standard operating procedures, data dictionaries, validation checklists, surveillance tools, indicator frameworks, laboratory-strengthening plans, survey materials, diagnostic-stewardship tools, guidance documents or One Health implementation products.
• Develop cleaned or validated datasets; statistical, microbiological or genomic analyses; reproducible code or pipelines; tables, figures, maps, dashboards or visualization specifications; interpretation notes; and quality documentation, as applicable.
• Adapt guidance documents, training packages and tools for clinical bacteriology and mycology; laboratory quality management; antimicrobial susceptibility testing; external quality assurance; specimen referral; laboratory networks; and diagnostic stewardship.
• Develop training needs findings, curricula, presentations, exercises, job aids, workshop or webinar facilitation, mentoring records and a brief evaluation of learning and follow-up needs.
• Prepare GLASS submission-related outputs, national or regional surveillance reports, laboratory-capacity reports, policy briefs, technical reports, manuscripts, systematic reviews, presentations or other communication products.

Requirements

• A first university degree or medical degree in epidemiology, public health, medicine, clinical microbiology, laboratory sciences, biostatistics, statistics, mathematical modelling, health informatics, data science, computer science, bioinformatics, veterinary public health, environmental health, pharmacy, health economics or another field relevant to the assignment.
• An advanced university degree or medical degree with postgraduate specialization in one of the fields listed above or another field relevant to the assignment.
• Additional postgraduate training, specialization or professional certification relevant to the technical profile, such as clinical microbiology, bacteriology, mycology, field epidemiology, laboratory quality management, diagnostic stewardship, data analytics, geographic information systems, genomic epidemiology, health information systems, monitoring and evaluation, or adult learning.
• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in one or more of the technical profiles advertised.
• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience in one or more of the advertised technical profiles.
• Demonstrated experience producing high-quality, assignment-relevant outputs such as surveillance assessments, protocols, analytical products, laboratory tools, technical reports, training packages, dashboards, scientific publications or policy products.
• Implementation of recognized antimicrobial susceptibility testing standards, such as CLSI or EUCAST.
• Microbiological proficiency testing or external quality-assurance programmes.
• Bacteriology or mycology laboratory assessments and laboratory-system strengthening.
• Mycological diagnosis, diagnostic stewardship or laboratory quality management.
• Experience with AMR surveillance and GLASS-related methods, tools or reporting.
• Experience working with ministries of health, national AMR programmes, public health institutes, reference laboratories, academic institutions or One Health coordination mechanisms.
• Experience in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in the WHO South-East Asia Region.
• Experience with WHO, another United Nations entity or an international public health organization.
• Experience facilitating multidisciplinary or multisectoral work and transferring skills to national teams.
• Experience implementing infectious-disease surveys or clinical research studies in accordance with good clinical and data-management practices.
• A publication record in peer-reviewed journals or authorship of technical guidance, national reports, research proposals, systematic reviews or evidence-synthesis products.
• Experience developing and applying bioinformatics pipelines, where relevant to the assignment.
• Advanced knowledge and competence in at least one advertised technical profile, with a sound understanding of public health surveillance or laboratory-system principles relevant to the assignment.
• Ability to apply relevant WHO standards, methods and tools to national or regional contexts.
• Ability to analyse complex information, assure data or laboratory quality, interpret findings and formulate practical recommendations.
• Excellent technical writing, presentation and communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex findings clearly to technical and policy audiences.
• Ability to work effectively in multicultural and multidisciplinary settings and to deliver quality outputs within agreed timelines.
• Quality-assured microbiological testing, assessment of bacteriology or mycology laboratories, and design or implementation of external quality-assurance programmes.
• Knowledge of GLASS, national AMR surveillance systems, One Health surveillance and relevant laboratory standards.
• Knowledge of laboratory networks and specimen-referral systems in resource-limited settings and associated challenges.
• Proficiency in one or more relevant platforms or languages, such as R, R Markdown, R Shiny, Python, SQL, Power BI, DHIS2, geographic information systems, statistical software, laboratory information systems, web technologies or bioinformatics tools.
• Knowledge of data governance, privacy, security, interoperability and reproducible analytical practices.
• Knowledge of adult learning, training design, facilitation and mentoring approaches.
• Expert knowledge of English.
• Intermediate or expert knowledge of another official United Nations language or a language used in a WHO South-East Asia Region Member State, where relevant to the assignment.

Skills

• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Clinical Microbiology
• Laboratory Sciences
• Biostatistics
• Mathematical Modeling
• Health Informatics
• Data Science
• Bioinformatics Analysis
• Veterinary Public Health
• Pharmacy
• Health Economics
• Bacteriology
• Mycology
• Field Epidemiology
• Laboratory Quality Management System
• Diagnostic Stewardship
• Data Analytics
• Geographic Information System
• Genomic Epidemiology
• Health Information Systems
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Adult Learning
• Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing
• CLSI Standards
• EUCAST Standards
• Microbiological Proficiency Testing
• External Quality Assurance
• AMR Surveillance
• GLASS Reporting
• Laboratory System Strengthening
• One Health Coordination
• Infectious Disease Surveys
• Clinical Research
• Good Clinical Practice
• Data Management Practices
• Technical Report Preparation
• Scientific Article Publication
• Policy product development
• Bioinformatics Pipelines
• Public Health Surveillance
• Laboratory System Principles
• WHO Standards
• Data Quality Assurance
• Technical Presentations
• Multisectoral Facilitation
• Training Design
• Mentorship
• Laboratory Networks
• Specimen Referral Systems
• R Markdown
• R Shiny
• Python
• SQL
• Power BI
• DHIS2 Knowledge
• Statistical Software Stata
• Laboratory Information Management System
• Web Technology
• Data Governance
• Data Privacy
• Data Security
• Interoperability
• Reproducible Analytical Practices

Languages

English