Epidemiologist, Geneve

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The vision of the Division of Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Care (PPC) is to advance health for all by anticipating change and integrating promotion, prevention and care across all health and disease areas to address today's greatest health burdens and tomorrow's challenges​.Within the PPC division, the department of Malaria & Neglected Tropical Diseases (MNT) aims to advance towards eradication of Malaria and neglected tropical diseases by providing global leadership, shaping the scientific and research agenda, developing ethical and evidence-based global guidance, monitoring global progress, trends and emerging threats. The incumbent will work within the Department of Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases(MNT), under the Strategic Information for Impact (SII) unit. The role requires close coordination across WHO regional and country offices, endemic countries, and implementing partners. SII's vision is for countries to lead data-driven, efficient, and equitable surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation systems for malaria and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in collaboration with other units at MNT. It aims to enable the generation of high-quality and timely data used to inform evidence-based decision-making and guides technical strategies and tailored actions at national, regional, and global levels, accelerating disease control, elimination, and eradication. The unit plays a central role in strengthening malaria and NTD health information systems across all levels of the health system, in developing technical guidance for surveillance processes, data integration, and the effective use of information across sectors, and in monitoring and analyzing malaria and NTD trends, emerging threats, and the impact of climate change on disease patterns, while fostering collaboration at global, regional, and country levels.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Under the direct supervision of the Epidemiologist team lead, the incumbent will be responsible for following tasks:

• Design, plan, and implement applied analytics to generate robust evidence that informs global or regional decisions, guidance related to malaria and/or NTDs, or MNT strategies and recommendations to external partners.

• Contribute to the production of the Annual World Malaria Report by implementing data management and analytical processes, working closely with internal and external partners, with a particular focus on burden of disease estimation and household survey analysis.

• Continuously review and update analytical methodologies and approaches implemented by SII, with a focus on the method for estimating malaria burden of disease. 

• Prepare analytical outputs for internal and external review, and incorporate feedback into the analysis as needed to support the publication of the World Malaria Report, and other reports as needed.

• Lead the formulation of specific sections related to analytics in the World Malaria Report including methods. 

• Participate in the development of guidance for the use of malaria and NTD data to support operations, policies and strategies, progress reviews and impact evaluations at all levels of the health system. 

• Contribute to analysis of stratification, intervention mixes and prioritization to ensure comprehensive sub-national stratification and intervention mix analysis to enhance efficient targeting of resources (i.e. Sub-National Tailoring of malaria interventions and strategies).

• Contribute to other technical assistance including reviewing malaria and NTD progress and capacity building activities working with relevant WHO departments and partners.

• Build relationships and collaborations with partners working on malaria and NTD analytics including those in other units of WHO, the UN, academic institutions, technical partners. 

• Provide inputs into donor reports and assist the SII unit head to mobilize resources associated with analytical activities.

• Liaise with other teams within MNT and with other departments in WHO to encourage collaboration on cross-cutting work and assist in the use of data to guide decisions.

• Assist in all other activities covered by the Strategic Information for Impact (SII) team at the MNT as required.
  

  REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

  Education

  Essential: A first university degree in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Mathematics, Computer Science or related topic.
  Desirable: Advanced university degree (Master's level or higher-level degree) in Epidemiology, Biostatics or related field.
  

  Experience

  Essential: 

• At least 5 years of professional experience working in malaria-endemic countries.

Experience of having worked with national malaria programmes primary (and/or NTD) in one or more country/countries and familiarity with the working and policy-making environment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Proven experience with survey and routine/programmatic data collection, management. analysis, and use in malaria and/or NTDs.

Demonstrated exposure at the international level.

Experience working with electronic surveillance platforms (e.g., DHIS2), data collection tools (e.g., ODK) and/or data visualization applications (e.g., Tableau).

Desirable: 

Demonstrated skills and experience in workshop organization, design and facilitation.

Experience managing and implementing research projects with multiple actors.

Skills

Expert knowledge of at least one statistical and geospatial analysis program (e.g., R, SAS, Stata, Python, ArcGIS).

Concrete knowledge in malaria primarily epidemiology (and/or NTD).

Expert knowledge in epidemiology and biostatistics.

Demonstrated strong analytical capacity using statistical software (e.g. R, STATA), and geospatial software with expert-level proficiency in R.

Demonstrated expertise in database management and health information systems (e.g. MS Access, Epi Info, DHIS2), with expert proficiency in the use of DHIS2.

Demonstrated capacity to understand, interpret, and critically assess spatio-temporal and mathematical modeling outputs.

Demonstrated capacity to effectively use and evaluate AI tools and methods.

Ability to effectively engage with diverse analytical academic groups and partners.

Excellent writing and presentation skills.

Willingness and ability to take responsibility; self-starter, self-motivated, self-manager, including ability to demonstrate initiative and work on her/his own after instructions from supervisors.

Ability to multi-task effectively and prioritize workload to meet deadlines, in a pressured environment with competing demands and high expectations.

Ability to identify key issues, anticipate risks and alert management with proposed recommendations.

WHO Competencies

Teamwork

Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences

Communication

Knowing and managing yourself

Producing results

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of French. Intermediate knowledge of another UN official language.

REMUNERATION

WHO salaries for staff in the Professional category are calculated in US dollars. The remuneration for the above position comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 71,335 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable), a variable post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station, and currently amounts to USD 5011 per month for the duty station indicated above. Other benefits include 30 days of annual leave, allowances for dependent family members, home leave, and an education grant for dependent children.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Staff members separated due to the 2025 Prioritization and Realignment Process will receive special consideration according to the applicable regulatory framework.

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 and/or an asynchronous video assessment 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: Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.

According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.

Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and eManual.

The Director-General retains the discretion to not make any appointment to this vacancy, to make an appointment at a lower grade, or to make an appointment with a modified job description, including shortening the duration of the appointment.

Staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply.

WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. WHO recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.

WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its staff. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States ( are strongly encouraged to apply.

Persons with disabilities may request reasonable accommodations (modifications or adjustments to the application or recruitment process) to support their participation in the application and recruitment process. Please send an email to E-Mail auf uncareer.net ansehen with your full name, the vacancy number you are applying for, and specific details of the accommodation needed in your request.

An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.

WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with WHO and an underlying premise of the international civil service. Candidates appointed to a fixed-term position in the International Professional category (Grades P1-D2) are eligible for Geographical Mobility and may be assigned to any activity or duty station of the Organization throughout the world.

WHO also offers 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 years. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete the term of appointment will normally be considered.

Please note that WHO's contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at E-Mail auf uncareer.net ansehen.

WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

For information on WHO's operations please visit:

*For WHO General Service staff who do not meet the minimum educational qualifications, please see e-Manual III.4.1, para 220.

In case the website does not display properly, please retry by: (i) checking that you have the latest version of the browser installed (Chrome, Edge or Firefox); (ii) clearing your browser history and opening the site in a new browser (not a new tab within the same browser); or (iii) retry accessing the website using Mozilla Firefox browser or using another device. Click this link for detailed guidance on completing job applications: Instructions for candidates