Position Title: Senior Programme Officer (Health in Emergencies)

Job Code: SVN 2024 259

Duty Station: Geneva, Switzerland

Classification: Professional Staff, Grade P4

Type of Appointment: Special short-term graded, six months

Estimated Start Date: As soon as possible

Closing Date: 31 October 2024

Context:

Under the direct supervision of the Director of MHD and in coordination with the Department of Humanitarian Response and Recovery (DHRR), in close collaboration with the Senior Migration Health Advisor MHD HQ, as well as in close collaboration with other IOM Headquarters (HQs) Departments and Divisions, Regional Offices (ROs), Country Offices, and IOM staff engaged in emergency health operations worldwide, the selected candidate will be responsible to participate in, coordinate and support IOM’s health response to humanitarian emergencies and respective population mobility globally, encompassing the various stages of emergency preparedness, response, transition, and early recovery.

Accordingly, the successful candidate will take the lead role in delivery of migration health assistance for crisis-affected populations; in setting up and ensuring adherence to global standards within IOM’s health response to emergencies in field operations; as well as ensuring synergies of IOM’s emergency health programming with all other sectors of humanitarian assistance under the mandate of IOM led by DHRR, and in liaison with relevant donors and external partners.

Core Functions / Responsibilities:

1. Act as global focal point for emergency migration health operations response to humanitarian and public health emergencies, in coordination with the MHD colleagues at HQ and field level, DHRR and other Departments and Divisions, IOM field locations, and with key humanitarian, emergency and health partners.
2. Working closely with Regional Thematic Specialists (RTS), the incumbent will lead and support the development and/or integration of MHD health projects with other sectors of humanitarian response programming. This would be part of the global migration health programmes, notably working with IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), WASH and Protection programmes as well as IOM’s involvement in Disaster Risk Reduction fora; and IOM’s overall role as Global Co-Lead in the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster.
3. Participate in and coordinate the implementation of IOM’s large-scale health response to humanitarian emergencies, particularly for L3 operations by analyzing trends and gaps in system-wide and IOM-specific health responses; and putting forward recommendations to address such gaps, as well as design programmes.
4. Travel regularly to support RTS and Country Office emergency health operations, including,but not limited to, conduct and update detailed needs and resource assessments for health response; design or review technical and operational IOM Country Office plans; facilitate IOM participation in health clusters and other essential emergency health response partner mechanisms at the country level, and engage in communications with health authorities and donors.
5. Draft IOM inputs as focal point to the Global Health Cluster’s policies and standards on emergency health operations.
6. Ensure inclusion of health components in country-based MCOF strategies such as needs and risk assessments, essential health service packages, coordination and information management.
7. Write, disseminate and regularly update MHD guidelines and position papers for projects on migration health assistance in crises, for field operations, encompassing all stages of the project management cycle, in collaboration with relevant divisions and departments, and relevant staff in Regional and Country Offices.
8. Act as focal point for global reporting on MHD emergency health projects, and write inputs for annual reports and other periodic updates. Work closely with MHD HQ team and RTS to ensure that reporting is carried out systematically, properly and timely with quality information and data collection.
9. Identify training needs and facilitate capacity strengthening of IOM staff engaged in health responses to humanitarian emergencies, including through development and implementation of training courses targeting IOM staff, health and non-health, in collaboration with MHD RTS, DHRR and other HQ Departments and Divisions, as well as key health partners, such as WHO GHC and national/regional governmental and NGO partners.
10. Support the MHD Director and Global Offices in Brussels and Washington, D.C., establish and maintain close relationships with relevant health and humanitarian partners at the global level, such as the WHO Health Emergency Programme, the US CDC, the ECDC, DG-ECHO, NGOs, academia and donors, etc. on all aspects related to IOM’s health response to humanitarian emergencies.
11. Represent IOM and deliver presentations on IOM’s health response to humanitarian emergencies during external high-level meetings, workshops and international conferences.
12. Perform such other duties as may be assigned.

Required Qualifications and Experience:

Education

• Master’s degree in Medicine, Health Sciences, Public Health Administration or a health related field from an accredited academic institution with seven years of relevant professional experience; or,
• University degree in the above fields with nine years of relevant professional experience.
• Professional/formal training certificate in disaster management, or field epidemiology training is highly desirable.

Experience

• Field experience in design and implementation of health projects in emergency settings, both conflict and natural disasters and in different regions in the world is highly desirable; and,
• Experience in working or liaising with global health partners and the international humanitarian and cluster system, as well as with national and international health authorities and institutions in emergency settings is highly desirable.

Skills

• Familiarity with project management cycle;
• Sound and proven understanding of internal and international migration and human mobility issues;
• Strong organizational and people skills, including building and leading teams.;
• Knowledge and skills in project planning, management and evaluation, including resource mobilization and grant management;
• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills; and,
• Demonstrated capacity to adapt experiences, tools and approaches developed in other settings to the local context.

Languages

IOM’s official languages are English, French, and Spanish. All staff members are required to be fluent in one of the three languages.

For this position, fluency in English is required (oral and written). Working knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish) is an advantage.

Proficiency of language(s) required will be specifically evaluated during the selection process, which may include written and/or oral assessments.

Notes

•Estimated start date: 01 December 2024

•This position is solely for the temporary replacement of staff on parental leave.