Consultant- Product Manager
( 2307448 )
Contractual Arrangement : External consultant
Contract Duration (Years, Months, Days) : 11 months
Job Posting: Aug 31, 2023, 11:53:34 AM
Purpose of consultancy
To contribute to the software development management of the Partners Platform for all hazards and related projects, ensuring timely development of new functionality and necessary changes as well as effective communication with the different stakeholders.
Background
Health emergencies continue to have significant and sometimes catastrophic impacts on countries’ health, economies, and development. Both recent and ongoing public health events have demonstrated that the many communities remain at high risk, and that strong levels of national preparedness across all relevant sectors are crucial to ensuring the effective management of health emergencies, when they occur. As part of the WHO Transformation Agenda a unit on Readiness Assessment and Prioritization was created in the Country Readiness Strengthening Department of WHO Health Emergencies Preparedness and IHR Division of the WHO Health Emergencies Program (WHE).
Due to the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 crisis, in 2020, WHO has developed the COVID-19 Partners Platform (e.g., Platform). Based on the success of this Platform in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now expanding towards all hazards i.e., Cholera, EVD, Mpox and Measles. With the Platform being a web-based tool, it enables collaboratively scale-up preparedness and response towards all hazards. This is the first time all countries can show the world what actions they are planning and implementing, to request international support, and to track contributions and progress in real-time.
The Partners Platform for all hazards:
- Facilitates planning aligned to international guidance developed in collaboration with countries and partners.
- Supports the monitoring of preparedness and response activities at national and subnational levels.
- Enables the costing of resource requests when they are not available at the country-level.
- Provides visibility into the donor contributions that have been committed in the context of this outbreak.
Deliverables:
- Deliverable 1: Improvements to Partners Platform agile software development process.
- Activity 1.1: Contribute to the software development of the Partners’ Platform and participate in respective meetings to develop new functionalities requested by internal and external stakeholders.
- Activity 1.2: Contribute to the improvement of the software development process to more accurately estimate, plan and implement new functionality.
- Activity 1.3: Facilitate the onboarding process for new users in Azure and DevOps, ensuring their access rights are appropriately assigned.
- Activity 1.4: Ensure the timely resolution of issues raised by the WHO cybersecurity team.
- Deliverable 2: Upgrade of Partners Platform 3.0 (Third version).
- Activity 2.1: Attend and participate in meetings with UI/UX designers and internal stakeholders to discuss and agree on the design changes for Partners Platform 3.0.
- Activity 2.2: Translate the design changes into development tickets in DevOps and coordinate their implementation with the development team, providing guidance and clarifications as needed.
- Activity 2.3: Test the design changes and ensure they meet the desired standards and functionality.
- Activity 2.4: Demo the upgraded Partners Platform 3.0 to internal stakeholders, showcasing the new design changes and gathering feedback for further improvements.
- Deliverable 3: New business requirements for different functionalities for Partners Platform.
- Activity 3.1: Collect requirements for new functionality from internal and external stakeholders.
- Activity 3.2: Translate the stakeholders’ requirements into development tickets in DevOps.
- Activity 3.3: Provide technical guidance to the development team in estimating the new requirements.
- Activity 3.4: Agree on and coordinate timelines for development of new requirements with the different project teams.
- Deliverable 4: New functionality meeting stakeholder requirements.
- Activity 4.1: Demonstrate and communicate new releases of Partners Platform functionality with relevant internal and external stakeholders.
- Activity 4.2: Facilitate user acceptance testing with the relevant stakeholders to ensure the new functionality meets the business needs.
Qualifications, experience, skills and languages.
Educational Qualifications:
Essential:
- Advanced university degree in management, public health, engineering, computer science or related field.
Experience
Essential:
- A minimum of 5 years of experience in project management and/ or IT business analyst including proven experience in leading product management and software development.
Desirable:
- Experience in health activities and programs in WHO Emergency fields.
Skills/knowledge
- Knowledge of Agile management methodology, including Scrum framework with thorough understanding of diverse business and software development processes.
- Excellent organizational skills, good communication and ability to work with people of different backgrounds.
- Demonstrated knowledge of information management and monitoring systems preferably related to emergency response and relief operations.
Languages required:
Essential:
- Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable:
- Intermediate knowledge of French and another Official UN Language.
Location
Off-site
Home based.
Travel
The consultant is expected to travel.
Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded):
Remuneration:
Band level B-USD 7,000 – 9,980 per month.
Living expenses (A living expense is payable to on-site consultants who are internationally recruited):
N/A
Expected duration of contract:
11 months.
Additional Information
- This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
- 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.
- WHO is committed to workforce diversity.
- WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
- Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.
- 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.
- Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority. The execution of the work under a consultant contract does not create an employer/employee relationship between WHO and the Consultant.
- WHO shall have no responsibility whatsoever 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.
- Consultants working in Switzerland must register with the applicable Swiss cantonal tax authorities and social security authorities, within the prescribed timeframes (Guidelines issued by the Swiss Mission are available at: https://www.eda.admin.ch/missions/mission-onu-geneve/en/home/manual-regime-privileges-and-immunities/introduction/Manuel-personnes-sans-privileges-et-immunites-carte-H/Non fonctionnaires et stagiaires.html
