Pharmacist

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The objectives of WHO’s emergency programme are to design and implement programs that prepare the health sector to deal with emergencies and improve health during and after crises. Within the emergency program, the objectives of WHO’s emergency response team are to support Member States by:

1. Promptly assessing the health needs of populations affected by the crisis, identifying priority causes rehabilitation plans. This includes providing prompt, credible health information and ensuring the continuity of essential health services.

2. Coordinating and monitoring emergency health relief efforts under the aegis of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Health Cluster, of which WHO is the lead agency.

3. Ensuring that critical gaps in the health response are rapidly identified and filled.

4. Revitalizing of ill-health and death, preparing damage estimates, and developing emergency response5.and building the capacity of national health systems to deal with preparedness, mitigation, and response.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

In the context of the current emergency, the incumbent will play a crucial role in supporting health systems strengthening efforts and the public health response by providing technical guidance and support in pharmaceutical supply. During deployment, the duty station may change, and duties may be modified based on the technical needs of the program requirements.

The incumbent will perform the following duties:

1. Act as a focal person within the WHO field presence in Gaziantep to manage medicines-related tasks through coordination with health authorities, donors, and health partners in Turkey and Northwest Syria.

2. Lead/Coordinate the technical working group and subgroup meetings with all relevant partners, producing and circulating minutes, related decisions, and tracking the latter, recommending improvements to current and future field operations based on lessons learned.

3. Provide technical assistance to health partners in developing essential drug lists for different types of healthcare in northern Syria.

4. Advise and support WHO local and international pharmaceutical procurement and delivery for cross-border operations in northern Syria.

5. Offer technical assistance to health partners for the development, implementation, and monitoring of medicines policy and action plans in line with WHO’s Medicines Strategy.

6. Establish mechanisms, in collaboration with health partners, for streamlining medicine supplies and their management, both for emergencies and routine health services.

7. Build the capacity of health partners to effectively manage pharmaceuticals in northern Syria, including the development and implementation of necessary regulations.

8. Initiate a program of training and capacity building in the areas of medicine supply management, quality control, storage, dispensing, prescription, and use of medicines in line with WHO treatment guidelines.

9. Initiate a system for reporting and detecting trends in antibiotic use in Northwest Syria, with a clear strategy to address the impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

10. Draft and revise technical documents, briefing notes, meeting reports, information products, and content as appropriate.

11. Proactively participate in the development of project proposals to mobilize resources.

12. Provide input to communications and information products (Situation Reports, health cluster bulletins, outbreak bulletins, etc.) as required.

13. Manage and supervise staff and consultants, including task assignment, performance evaluation, and professional development.

14. Coordinate team activities, ensuring effective collaboration and communication within the team.

15. Contribute to project cycle management, including planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the WHO Gaziantep Field Presence health projects.

16. Perform any other incident-specific related duties as required by the functional supervisor.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: First university degree in pharmacy and/or health-related field from an accredited/recognized institute.
Desirable: Post graduate degree in public health or in pharmaceutical related sciences.

Experience

Essential: At least 5 years of experience in pharmaceutical supplies management in emergency at the national level.
Desirable: Experience or knowledge of WHO mandate and goals in Health Action in Crises or experience in UN organizations/agencies.

Skills

• In-depth knowledge of public health programmes with focus on pharmaceutical supply chain management

• Demonstrated knowledge and experience of operational management of health aspects/consequences of humanitarian crises in field settings.

• Demonstrated skills in capacity building, proposal and report writing.

• Knowledge of and experience with needs assessments in emergency settings, strategic information analysis and planning.

• Managerial skills for the development, implementation and analysis of technical cooperation programmes and activities, including the development of programmatic indicators.

WHO Competencies

Teamwork
Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
Communication
Producing results
Knowing and managing yourself

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of Turkish/Arabic.

REMUNERATION

Remuneration comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 47,857 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable) and 30 days of annual leave.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• 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: http://www.whed.net/. 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 Manual.

• The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The 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.

• The 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 (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply.

• Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to reasonableaccommodation@who.int

• 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.

• 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: http://www.who.int.

• 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 shws@who.int.

• This is a National Professional Officer position. Therefore, only applications from nationals of the country where the duty station is located will be accepted. Applicants who are not nationals of this country will not be considered.

• 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