Health Officer (NO-1), Prishtina, Kosovo #00127827, Temporary Appointment

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Health 

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education, and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

How can you make a difference?

The Health Officer reports to ECD Specialist, Head of Section for close guidance and supervision. The Health Officer provides professional technical, operational, and administrative assistance throughout the programming process through the application of theoretical and technical skills in researching, collecting, analyzing, and presenting technical programme information while learning organizational rules, regulations, and procedures to support the development and formulation of the Health Programme within the Kosovo Programme.

Key Functions, Accountabilities, and Related Duties/Tasks

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

   Support to programme development and planning

• Research and analyze Kosovo and regional political, social, economic development trends. Collect, analyze, verify, and synthesize information to facilitate programme development, design, and preparation.
• Support the Ministry of Health, the Institute of Public Health, and local health institutions in planning the sustaining and strengthening of essential health services for maternal and child health and development.
• Prepare technical reports and inputs for programme preparation and documentation, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and relevancy of information.
• Facilitate the development and establishment of sectoral programme goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based planning through analysis of health needs and areas for intervention and submission of assessments for priority and goal setting.
• Provide technical and administrative support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical programme transactions, preparing materials and documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support programme planning, results-based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluation of results.
• Prepare required documentations and materials to facilitate the programme review and approval process.

  Programme management, monitoring, and delivery of results 

• Support the Ministry of Health in strengthening the monitoring and evaluation framework for primary health care maternal and child health indicators, with focus on the provision of the universal progressive home visiting programme, early childhood intervention, and the regular immunization programme.
• Work with all relevant partners in the implementation of the Communication and Demand Generation Plan for the introduction of rotavirus, pneumococcal and HPV vaccines.
• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to collect, analyze and share information on implementation issues; suggest solutions on routine programme implementation and submit reports to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decisions. Keep records of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews, and annual sectoral reviews with governments and other counterparts and prepare minutes/reports on results for follow up action by higher management and other stakeholders.
• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative, and other assets), and verify compliance with approved allocation and goals, organizational rules, regulations, procedures, as well as donor commitments, standards of accountability, and integrity. Report on issues identified to ensure timely resolution by management and stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
• Prepare inputs for sectoral programme donor reporting.

  Technical and operational support to programme implementation 

• Undertake field visits and surveys, and share information with partners and stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks, and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.
• Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners, and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes, and best practices on health-related issues to support programme implementation, operations, and delivery of results.

  Networking and partnership-building 

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with health sector government counterparts and other Kosovo stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to enhance programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to deliver concrete and sustainable results.
• Draft communication and information materials for the Kosovo programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships/alliances, and support fund raising for health programmes.
• Participate in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) on health programmes to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of health programmes/projects, and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with the UNDAF development and planning process.
• Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.

  Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders.
• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
• Assist with oversight of research and ensure results are available for use in knowledge products.
• Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders.

         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 policy and/or management, socio-medical, health education, nursing/midwifery, or another relevant technical field.

• A minimum of one year of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: public health planning and management, maternal and neonatal health care. Experience working in the health sector/ early childhood development, and/or maternal and child health in Kosovo or another relevant context, is considered an asset. Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.

• Fluency in English is required.  Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

• UNICEF is committed to being an inclusive workplace, and we encourage applications from people with disabilities and minority groups.

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

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.

[add the 8^th competency (Nurtures, leads and manages people) for supervisory role]

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

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 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 promote the protection and safeguarding of all children.