Job Description

Background and purpose of the position

Somalia continues to face persistent risk from poliovirus transmission and outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs), compounded by fragile health systems, population movement, insecurity, hard-to-reach areas. In line with the Regional Director’s vision to integrate polio, EPI and VPD surveillance functions, WHO Somalia is strengthening state-level leadership to improve sensitivity, timeliness and quality of disease detection and response.

The State PVD Surveillance Officer position is established to provide dedicated epidemiological and programmatic leadership for polio surveillance and VPD surveillance, as well as integrated surveillance for epidemic-prone diseases and other priority public health events, while maintaining polio surveillance as the primary priority in line with the final phase of polio eradication.

Objectives of the position

The state PVD Surveillance Officer will strengthen polio surveillance and integrated VPD surveillance systems at the state, region and district levels to ensure:

1. High-quality Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) and Environmental Surveillance (ES) operations meeting global standards.
2. Early detection and investigation of suspected polio and VPD outbreaks/events, and other public health events

Organizational context

Under the technical guidance of National VPD Officer and Public Health Intelligence Lead, and overall leadership of EPRI Team Lead, the incumbent will work closely with technical officers at state level and public health officers at districts:

This position provides technical leadership to ensure high-quality coordination across surveillance, reporting, network performance, data analysis, outbreak investigation, and risk assessment.

Summary of the assigned responsibilities

1. Polio surveillance
   • Lead and oversee AFP and ES surveillance implementation across all regions and districts in the assigned state
   • Monitor key AFP and ES surveillance indicators (core and non-core) and guide districts on corrective actions
2. Integrated Vaccine-Preventable Disease (VPD) and Epidemic-Prone Diseases surveillance (support role)
   • Provide technical support and oversight for surveillance of priority VPDs and Epidemic-Prone Diseases
   • Support integration of VPD surveillance within IDSR frameworks, aligned with national guidelines.
3. Outbreak investigation
   • Lead field investigation for suspected or confirmed poliovirus outbreak/event VPD outbreaks and support field investigation for other VPDs and epidemic-prone disease outbreaks
   • Support Rapid Risk Assessment in coordination with the national technical team
4. Capacity building and supervision
   • Build capacity of WHO Public Health Officers (PHOs), government health staff, reporting health facilities’ focal points
   • Support and participate in training activities related to AFP and VPD surveillance, outbreak preparedness and investigation, and data quality improvement
5. Data analysis, monitoring and reporting
   • Conduct regular analysis of surveillance data to assess performance at district and regional levels, particularly for poliovirus
   • Prepare state-level surveillance summaries, presentations, and dashboards for sharing with national teams, state ministries of health, and partners
6. Coordination and partnership
   • Maintain close coordination with State Ministries of Health, district health authorities, relevant NGOs and implementing partners involved in surveillance activities
7. Other duties
   • Perform any other duties as assigned by the supervisor in support of WHO’s mandate in Somalia

Experiences and Qualifications

• Education (essential): Medical degree (M.B,B.S)
• Education (desirable): Master’s degree in public health, epidemiology or communicable disease control

Experience

• Essential: Minimum 3 years of public health experience, including polio and/or VPD surveillance at national or sub-national level. Proficiency in MS Office and data analysis tools.
• Desirable: Experience working with WHO, UN agencies or international NGOs. Strong coordination and interpersonal skills for working with government and partners. Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP) training.

Competencies

• Teamwork
• Producing results
• Ensuring effective use of resources

Language skills

• Excellent knowledge of English and Somali

Skills Required

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