Health Officer, NO-B, Fixed Term, #127970, Dhaka, Bangladesh #571134

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.
UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, health.

The Health Officer will support the environmental health, climate change and emergency preparedness and response programme as part of the overall health programme of the Country Office. Reporting to the Health Specialist, the focus areas of your work will include technical and operational support for evidence generation on environmental hazards and children’s health, strengthening institutional capacity for policies, legislation, strategies, multisectoral coordination and partnerships as well as social and behavior change campaigns to ensure healthy environments for healthy children within the primary health care system in Bangladesh. In line with UNICEF’s Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action, you will collaborate with relevant government partners and UNICEF Field Offices for effective monitoring and timely response to natural disasters and disease outbreaks including climate adaptation measures. You will also facilitate innovation in programme delivery, knowledge management and capacity building of government partners to ensure delivery of results for children.

How can you make a difference?

The Health Officer reports to the Health Specialist for supervision. The Health Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for the Health Programme within the Country Programme with specific focus on Environmental Health, Climate Change and Emergency Preparedness and Response, from development planning to delivery of results, by preparing, executing, managing, and implementing a variety of technical and administrative programme tasks to facilitate programme development, implementation, programme progress monitoring, and evaluating and reporting of results.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Support to programme development and planning
2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results
3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation
4. Networking and partnership building
5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

For detailed job responsibilities, please see the attached TOR:  JD – Health Officer Environmental health climate change and ERP.doc

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

– A university degree in one of the following fields is required: public health, pediatric health, family health, health research, global/international health, health policy and/or management, environmental health sciences,  epidemiology, or another relevant technical field.

– A minimum of two years of professional experience in the following areas is required: environmental health and climate change planning and programme management, maternal and neonatal health care, and health emergency/humanitarian preparedness.

– Familiarity with government structures and systems is preferred.

– Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.

– Relevant experience in a UN system agency or developmental organization is considered as an asset.

– Fluency in English and Bangla is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others [the 8^th competency (Nurtures, leads and manages people) for a supervisory role]. 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information. The genuine and complete vacancy announcements are published on UNICEF Careers website at https://jobs.unicef.org/en-us/listing/ 

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children.

Internal candidates may be given preference over external candidates. The term “Internal” refers to all staff members with fixed term, continuing or permanent appointments. Internal candidates who are legally permitted to work for UNICEF in Bangladesh, independently of UNICEF appointment, will also be considered.

As per 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.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.