Six-month consultancy with WHO to support antibiotic stewardship

Dear All,

Wow, a news-heavy day … at least two more newsletters this weekend, I think.

See below my signature a posting for a 6-month consultancy in Geneva with WHO to support the antimicrobial stewardship activities of the WHO’s Department of Global Coordination and Partnership on Antimicrobial Resistance.

Deadline is 10 July 2020 for applications. Could this be you?

Stay safe and all best wishes, –jr

John H. Rex, MD | Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. | Operating Partner, Advent Life Sciences. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnRex_NewAbx. See past newsletters and subscribe for the future: https://amr.solutions/blog/. All opinions are my own.

 


Subject: AMR/GCP/2020/6: Consultancy to support the antimicrobial stewardship activities of the WHO’s Department of Global Coordination and Partnership on Antimicrobial Resistance

Contract Type: Consultancy
Application deadline: 10 July 2020
Contact: Rosalie Edma
Email address: edmar@who.int 
Consultancy reference: AMR/GCP/2020/6

This Consultancy is requested by:
Unit:    Antimicrobial Stewardship and Awareness 
Department:    Global Coordination and Partnership on Antimicrobial Resistance

1.    Purpose of the Consultant contract: Support the antimicrobial stewardship activities of the WHO’s Department of Global Coordination and Partnership on Antimicrobial Resistance.

2.    Background: The Department of Global Coordination and Partnership on Antimicrobial Resistance (GCP) leads and coordinates the global One Health response to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through facilitating and managing strategic and innovative partnerships and political advocacy, the implementation of the recommendations of the UN Interagency Coordination Group on AMR, strengthening evidence based and coordinated response in antimicrobial stewardship and awareness across the One Health spectrum in close collaboration with FAO, OIE and other UN and international organisations and contribute towards the achievement of the triple billion targets of the WHO’s 13th Global Programme of Work and the Sustainable Development Goals.  

3.    Planned timelines: As soon as possible 

4.    Work to be performed: The consultant will provide support to the antimicrobial stewardship activities of the GCP Department:

  • Task 1: Liaise with the WHO regional and country offices and other stakeholders in the finalization of the global policy document on antimicrobial stewardship activities.
    • Deliverable 1.1: Collect, coordinate and integrate inputs from stakeholders into the global policy document on antimicrobial stewardship activities. 
    • Deliverable 1.2: Organize virtual consultation(s) of stakeholders in order to finalize the global policy document on antimicrobial stewardship activities.
    • Deliverable 1.3: Develop dissemination and advocacy plan for the global policy document on antimicrobial stewardship activities.
  • Task 2: Support the development and finalization of the training materials on antimicrobial stewardship activities
    • Deliverable 2.1: Assist in finalization of the training materials on antimicrobial stewardship activities in collaboration with GCP staff.
    • Deliverable 2.2: Ensure wide dissemination of the training materials on antimicrobial stewardship activities.

5.    Specific requirements:

  • Qualifications:
    • Essential: Postgraduate degree in public health, medical sciences or pharmacology. 
    • WHO Competencies: Communicating in a credible and effective way; Producing results; Knowing and managing yourself; Moving forward in a changing environment
  • Experience:
    • Essential
      • At least seven years of progressive work experience in antimicrobial resistance or related public health area.
      • Strong technical writing skills.
    • Desirable:
      • Knowledge of antimicrobial resistance and/or communicable disease 
      • Demonstrable knowledge in stewardship activities
      • Experience in developing training materials, including online tools
    • Technical skills and knowledge:
      • Good organizational skills
      • Good analytical and presentation skills
      • Demonstrated capacity to write and communicate effectively
      • Ability to work as part of a team, and high level of interpersonal skills
    • Language requirements:
      • English – advanced level (reading, writing, speaking)

6.    Place of assignment: Geneva, Switzerland  

7.    Travel: When the department or office concerned determines that travel is necessary in order for the consultant to perform his work, a travel request will be raised and per diem will be applied as per WHO payment regulations.

8.    Fee rate, contract duration, timing of payments and performance evaluation: The remuneration will be based on a monthly fee in the range US$7,000 – US$9,000, depending on the selected consultant’s expertise and years of experience. This is in accordance with the WHO remuneration scales for international consultants. The monthly fee will be agreed between WHO and the selected consultant in advance. The contract will cover a 6-month period, and payments will be made following satisfactory completion of a set of deliverables. Other terms and conditions of employment will be in accordance with WHO policy on the employment of consultants (details available upon request). For example, the consultant is responsible for ensuring that they have adequate health insurance (mandatory in Switzerland) and for obtaining any necessary visas and vaccinations required for travel.  

The consultant will also receive CHF 3,000 monthly per diem for living expenses in Geneva.

9.    Application deadline: Interested candidates should send their CV and motivational letter to edmar@who.int not later than 10 July 2020

Additional Information section:

  • 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.

Current funding opportunities:

  • Novo REPAIR Impact Fund is open for global applications through 31 Jul 2020. Go here for current details.
  • 2020 funding rounds for CARB-X have not been announced.
  • The Global AMR R&D Hub’s dynamic dashboard (link) summarizes funders and projects by geography, stage, and more.


Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community:

  • [NEW] 30 June (online, 11.00-16.30 EDT): US DARPA Proposer’s Day in support of a planned Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for their HEALR Program seeking novel antimicrobials. Go here for more on HEALR and here to register for the webinar.
  • 30 Jun 2020 (online, 17:00-18:30 CEST): GARDP REVIVE webinar. Title: “Clinical development of antimicrobials – Phase 1 development challenges.” Speaker: Markus Zeitlinger. Go here to register.
  • 9 Jul 2020 (online, 09:00-10:30 CEST): GARDP REVIVE webinar. Title: “The challenges and opportunities for antimicrobial R&D in low- and middle-income countries – India case study.” Speaker: Anand Anandkumar and Kamini Walla. Go here to register.
  • 17 Jul-2 Aug 2020 (Marine Biology Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA): Residential course entitled “Molecular Mycology: Current Approaches to Fungal Pathogenesis.” This 2-week intensive training program has run annually for many years and gets outstanding reviews. Go here for details.
  • 27 Jul-31 Jul 2020 (online): Small World Initiative Instructor Training Workshop – training for undergraduate professors and high school teachers in wet lab techniques, parallel curricula, & pedagogical instruction to engage students in the hunt to find new antibiotics in soil (also covering distancing learning options). Go here to register.
  • 4 Aug 2020 (Silver Spring): FDA workshop entitled “Development Considerations of Antifungal Drugs to Address Unmet Medical Need.” Go here to register.
  • 5 Aug 2020 (Silver Spring): FDA workshop entitled “Developing Antifungal Drugs for the Treatment of Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever) Infection.” Go here to register.
  • September 2020. University of Sheffield (UK). Applications are being taken for a new 1-year (full-time) or 2-year (part-time) Masters of Science course in Antimicrobial Resistance. The program runs annually from September and covers microbiology, clinical practice and policy. The course webpage is here.
  • 9-10 Sep 2020 (Washington, DC): US PACCARB public meeting. Go here for details.
  • 26-29 Oct 2020 (online meeting), Annual ESPID meeting (European Society for Pediatric ID, #38)
  • 10-13 Apr 2021 (Vienna): Annual ECCMID meeting (#31)
  • 20-24 June 2021 (Toronto): International Symposium on Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD-12). Go here for details.
  • 3-7 Jun 2021 (Anaheim), ASM Microbe 2021. Go here for details.
  • 8-11 Oct 2021 (Aberdeen, Scotland): 10th Trends in Medical Mycology. Go here for details.
  • 16-24 Oct 2021 (Annecy, France): Interdisciplinary Course on Antibiotics and Resistance (ICARe). This is a soup-to-nuts residential course on antibiotics, antibiotic resistance, and antibiotic R&D. The course is very intense, very detailed, and gets rave reviews. Registration is here and is limited to 40 students.
  • 18-21 May 2021 (Albuquerque, New Mexico): Biannual meeting of the MSGERC (Mycoses Study Group Education and Research Consortium). Save-the-date announcement is here, details to follow.

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