Senior Medical Officer

Senior Medical Officer

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
The Senior Medical Officer will provide regional teams with medical capacity in support to their staff health and welfare strategic objectives, and operational planning.

In close collaboration with the Staff Welfare Section and the Senior Regional Medical Officers, the Senior Medical Officer will support, facilitate and implement, the projects/programmes identified at global and regional levels, aiming at the health prevention, protection and promotion of national and international staff.

The incumbent will maintain daily contacts with all levels of HCR staff both at HQ and in the field. The collaboration also extends to the bureaux and other sections and services outside DHRM that are involved in supporting the staff health and psychosocial welfare such as the Office of the Ombudsman, the Field Safety Section, Career Management, and Medical Advisor to the Administration and to Compensation claims board and to insurance companies (MIP and UNSMIS) and others.

The Senior Medical Officer will have relationship with local attending physicians, Regional Security Adviser, DPKO/DFS missions¿ medical authorities, UNCTs, UN Dispensary Physicians, UN Examining Physicians, etc.

The Senior Medical Officer reports to the Chief, Medical Section, and will have supervisory responsibilities internally (administrative staff, laboratory staff and nurses).

Rotational requirement:
The SMO is a rotational position; as the regional medical officer this position will be rotational to field duty stations, regional hubs.

FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT
Accountability
- The promotion, prevention and protection of the health and safety of UNHCR staff is in line with DHRMs People Strategy.
- A holistic approach is taken to staff health and psychosocial welfare.
- Advocacy, promotion and dissemination of relevant policies, measures and information of general interest within UNHCR and externally is supported.

Responsibility
- Visit the workplace and advise on the provision of safe and healthy conditions by informed scientific assessment of the physical and psychological aspects of the working environment.
- Develop and manage mitigation measures by implementing initiatives in support to health prevention, protection and promotion, ensuring medical compatibility with job requirements.
- Provide travel medical services for staff on official travel, incorporating destination-specific health advice, facilitating access to immunization, prophylactic medications and travel medical kits.
- Provide support with relevant UNHCR polices and standing administrative instructions, as well as promote compliance with relevant health and safety legislation.
- Assess the fitness of workers for specific tasks, ensuring a satisfactory fit between person and job, recommending suitable adjustments to enable a person to undertake the work they have been selected to perform safely and effectively, considering any health issues or disabilities they may have.
- Manage the return to work of staff members after extended sick leave. Manage workers who are on sick leave, work with other health professionals to ensure the earliest return of functional capacity and return to work.
- Monitor the health of workers who are potentially exposed to hazards at work through health surveillance programmes. -       Advise staff about all medical and health issues related to their work.
- Analyse data from surveillance programmes, statistics from causes of sick leave, medical evacuations, deaths, work related illnesses or accidents using sound epidemiological methods to identify trends in worker health and recommend any remedial measures necessary to improve worker health.
- Advise employees and country representatives/line managers regarding work-related health issues.
- Perform as required and assess the daily medical examinations and clearances of staff concerning recruitment, periodic medical examination, pre-departure briefing for missions to the field, etc.
- Manage immunization programmes for workplace biological hazards and for business travelers.
- Provide technical advice in terms of health services required and support UNHCR COs in the management and monitoring of the implementation of the Service Level Agreements or Memoranda of Understanding ruling the integration and sharing of the field medical services provided from DPKO/DFS Missions or other UN Entities to UNHCR staff.
- Systematically record staff health data onto the corporate global medical database (MEDGATE) to produce reliable reports on staff health trends, challenges and risks to business continuity.
- Assess potential cases of occupational injuries and illness; investigate, manage and report individual cases appropriately and establish if this is a single case or if there is wider incidence.
- Establish functional and operational relations with the Regional Staff Welfare Officer, Regional Medical Officers and Regional Security Advisor in order to constitute a functionally coordinated emergency safety network at the regional level for all UNHCR staff.
- Ensure medical compliance to MOSS prescriptions in terms of first aid kits availability, maintenance and training in the offices, vehicles and provide the relevant training.
- Provide health education on health risks and work and living conditions, including stress prevention programs in coordination with the RSWOs to broaden staff awareness of alcohol and drug abuse and their impact on staff health.
- Provide first aid and emergency services in response to accidents occurring in the workplace.
- Implement and develop existing health and psychosocial welfare policies.

Authority
- Recommend, facilitate and support emergency medical evacuations of national and international staff and dependents.
- Assess and clear the centres for medical evacuations for UNHCR workforce and family members.
- Review, assess and take decisions about work accommodations, fitness for work, and mobility that are based on individualized medical risk assessments.
- Monitor of care and follow-up of chronic medical conditions to facilitate the return to work.
- Take long term/impact decisions on staff member fitness to work (disability, medical constrains) always in consultation with Chief of Section.
- Provide surge capacity to the corporate and UN System emergency response capacity (UNMERT) including mass casualty incidents.
- Access to confidential staff medical data.

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
- Degree of Medical Doctor (MD).
- Minimum 10 years of clinical practice as a Medical Doctor/ Practitioner of which at least 1-2 years should be in an international organization in hardship duty stations.
- Experience in occupational health and safety and/or travel medicine and/or tropical and infectious disease, and /or emergency medicine, minimum 2 years experience.
- Project design and management experience (education and competency to successfully lead and direct projects).minimum 2 years experience.
- Fluency in English very good knowledge of French.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES
- Advanced degree in occupational health/public health/community medicine/family medicine/international health.
- Certification in OHS and emergency medicine (ATLS, ACLS, or PGTLS or equivalents).
- Experience in managing employee assistance programs like HIV or substance abuse or other wellbeing programmes.
- Supervisory experience of other health personnel.
- Demonstrated leadership and team building skills.