.
Purpose of consultancy:
The purpose of this consultancy is to provide specialized technical and operational support to strengthen public health laboratory systems in the WHO South-East Asia Region. The consultancy will support the phased implementation of the Public Health Laboratory Recognition Programme by building regional assessment capacity, facilitating laboratory self-assessments and developing laboratory-specific improvement plans. It will also strengthen national capacity for the detection and characterization of priority bacterial and fungal pathogens through assessments of antimicrobial resistance national reference laboratories, implementation of standardized laboratory procedures, and development or revision of national essential diagnostics lists for antimicrobial resistance. The consultancy will contribute to more standardized, quality-assured and sustainable laboratory services capable of supporting disease surveillance, antimicrobial resistance monitoring and public health emergency preparedness and response.
Background:
Public health and national reference laboratories are essential for disease surveillance, outbreak detection and response, antimicrobial resistance monitoring, and broader health-security decision-making. Despite continued investment across the WHO South-East Asia Region, laboratory capacity remains uneven, and assessments are not always linked to standardized requirements, sustained technical support or structured improvement plans.
WHO is therefore proposing to establish a voluntary Public Health Laboratory Recognition Programme for Pathogens of Epidemic and Pandemic Potential to unify capacity-building efforts by national authorities, WHO and partners. The programme will assess designated laboratories against standardized terms of reference covering sustainable diagnostic capacity, quality management, biosafety and biosecurity, public health functions and national laboratory-network coordination. Following a laboratory self-assessment and on-site review, compliant laboratories will receive time-limited WHO recognition, while laboratories with identified gaps will be supported to develop and implement corrective action plans.
In parallel, stronger national capacity is required for the detection and characterization of priority bacterial and fungal pathogens, including antimicrobial resistance. This consultancy will support implementation of the Recognition Programme and assessment and improvement of AMR national reference laboratories. Together, these activities will strengthen the quality, reliability, safety and sustainability of laboratory services for surveillance, preparedness and public health response.
Deliverables
Support the implementation of the Public Health Laboratory Recognition Programme
Activity 1.1 : Planning, organizing and facilitating regional webinars, country orientation sessions and technical consultations to introduce the programme, explain the recognition standards and assessment methodology, guide laboratory self-assessments, and support countries and laboratories in preparing for participation
Activity 1.2: Planning and delivering a regional training-of-trainers workshop to establish a cohort of qualified experts capable of supporting laboratory assessments, improvement planning and implementation of the Recognition Programme.
Activity 1.3: Planning, coordinating and participating in in-country technical missions to support initial laboratory self-assessments using standardized assessment tools, identify priority gaps, and develop laboratory-specific corrective action and quality-improvement plans.
Strengthen national laboratory capacity for the detection and characterization of priority bacterial and fungal pathogens
Activity 2.1: Assessing the capacity, functions and operational readiness of antimicrobial resistance national reference laboratories
Activity 2.2: Facilitate hands-on mentoring and remote technical support to selected national reference laboratories to address priority gaps identified through assessments and improvement plans.
Activity 2.3: Support development of national AMR laboratory network coordination mechanisms, including referral pathways, specimen transport arrangements, reporting flows and communication between reference laboratories and sentinel sites.
Activity 2.4: support adaptation of WHO standardized laboratory protocols/SOPs for detection, identification, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, quality assurance, biosafety, and referral of priority bacterial and fungal pathogens, aligned with national laboratory systems.\\
Deliverables
Regional orientation and consultation package for the Public Health Laboratory Recognition Programme, including agenda, presentations, participant lists and summary reports.
Training-of-trainers workshop report, including training materials, list of trained assessors, participant evaluation results and recommendations for maintaining a regional assessor pool.
Completed laboratory self-assessment and on-site assessment reports for selected laboratories, using standardized assessment tools covering diagnostic capacity, AST practices, quality management, biosafety and biosecurity, data management, workforce capacity and laboratory-network functions.
Laboratory-specific corrective action and quality-improvement plans, including prioritized gaps, timelines, responsible parties and resource needs.
Standardized SOP package for priority bacterial and fungal pathogen detection and characterization, including AST, quality control, biosafety, isolate referral and data reporting procedures.
External quality assessment/proficiency testing improvement plan, including participation status, results review and corrective actions for selected laboratories.
Draft or revised national essential diagnostics list for AMR, including priority tests, equipment, reagents and consumables needed for sustainable implementation.
Final consultancy report, summarizing activities completed, deliverables produced, country-specific progress, key challenges, recommendations and proposed next steps.
Qualifications, experience, skills and languages
Educational Qualifications:
Essential: Minimum university degree in Laboratory medicine, Laboratory sciences, microbiology, pathology, molecular biology, virology, bacteriology, infectious diseases, epidemiology, public health and/or global health.
Desirable: Advanced degree or training in public health, epidemiology, infectious diseases or microbiology.
Experience
Essential: Minimum of five years’ relevant experience working in laboratory diagnostics or related work at public health laboratories or clinical laboratories, or research laboratories.
Desirable:
Experience in planning and conducting training activities.
Experience in developing country setting in the area of surveillance and response to emerging and/or re-emerging diseases.
Previous relevant international experience in working for WHO in a developing country context.
Previous work experience in Asia is an asset.
Skills/Knowledge:
Essential:
Proven knowledge and skills in Public health laboratory preparedness for infectious hazards including emerging and re-emerging diseases of public health emergencies of international concern, laboratory support for public health response readiness and microbiological risk assessment
Give technical advice and guidance taking into consideration the views of multiple stakeholders and partners in resource-limited contexts;
Proven ability to promote consensus, communicate progress and results, and resolve issues in a proactive manner, while ensuring effective work practices andethics.
Strong managerial, monitoring, evaluation, organizational skills including ability to negotiate with national and international authorities and partners.
Ability to work flexibly, autonomously and efficiently, in a fast-paced environment, with the ability to adapt to shifting priorities.
Strong writing skills including for presentations, proposals, concept notes, reports and other documents.
Excellent communication, interpersonal and diplomatic skills.
Experience synthesizing information and communicating effectively in a timely manner to broad and diverse audiences.
Ability to work harmoniously as a member of a team, adapt to diverse
Desirable:
Sound knowledge of standards, methodology and techniques in public health laboratories, including those in microbiology, molecular biology, virology, bacteriology, and biosafety and biosecurity.
Knowledge in communicable disease prevention and control, including the concept and principles of surveillance, laboratory confirmation, risk assessment, rapid response and preparedness; knowledge of international public health laboratory systems including quality management systems and external quality assessment schemes.
Languages and level required (Basic/Intermediate/Expert):
Essential: Expert knowledge of of English
Location: On site for insurance purposes: New Delhi, India
Travel : The consultant is expected to travel. Tentative travels to Sri Lanka, Bangaldesh, Timor Leste, India, and Bhutan
Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded):
Remuneration: USD 8,000 monthly within Band Level – B pay band range
Living expenses: N.A as home based
Expected duration of contract: Full time for 6 months
Additional information:
This vacancy notice is being issued for establishing Roster for International Consultants - Public Health Laboratory Assessments.
Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
A written test may be used as a form of screening.
If your candidature is retained for 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.
For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.
The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits workforce 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 workforce. 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 for WHO jobs.
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 [email protected]
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 (https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values) 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 short-listed candidates.
WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority.
WHO shall have no responsibility for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.
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 [email protected].
In case the recruitment 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 the link for detailed guidance on completing job applications: Instructions for candidates.
