Under the overall supervision of the WHO Representative and direct supervision of the Incident Manager/Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) team lead, the Epidemiologist/Public Health Specialist will support the investigation and response to emergency health and nutrition and events of national or international concern with the national or regional RRTs. The expert will specifically execute the following tasks:

• Provide leadership and guidance on technical matters related to early detection, verification, investigation and response to public health and nutrition incidents; ensuring efficiency of data collection, correlation, analysis, interpretation and timely reporting at health facility at the district levels.
• Support the verification of data on reported public health and nutrition emergency or rumours received from multiple sources, conduct retrospective analysis of reported incidents: determine trends, distribution patterns, and efficiency of the verification mechanism.
• Support emergency health and nutrition data quality improvement, use of data for monitoring of trends, alert and action thresholds (triggers)
• Support supervision, training and on-job mentorship in building the core surveillance (health and nutrition), alert and response capacities
• Support the early warning systems for public health and nutrition emergencies
• Support the preparation and dissemination of public health and nutrition emergencies news, technical documents, updates and assessments to key decision makers
• Initiate and/or support/strengthen scientific documentation of response efforts and activities in line with WHO global best practice.
• Produce regular and written feedback to FMOH/RHB/ ZHB and other response actors, and report to the WR.
• Perform any other incident-specific related duties, as required by the functional supervisor and WR.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education
Essential: First degree in medicine (Medical Doctor) or Public Health or Nursing or any other related field with post graduate in epidemiology or public health from an accredited/recognized institution or organization;
Desirable: Advanced training in biostatistics and related field.
Experience
Essential: At least three years’ experience in areas of public health or epidemiology;
Desirable: Extensive experience in epidemiological surveillance and investigation with reportable diseases in the country. Experience working in disease outbreaks or health emergencies. Experience working with UN/WHO or other large international organizations would be an added advantage.
Skills
Ability to work harmoniously as a member of WHE team, experience in the areas of emergency health and nutrition investigation/assessment and response
Computer skills including statistical packages used for data management and analysis
Languages: Excellent knowledge of English and fluency in the working language of the country
Primary Location: Ethiopia