Animal Health Information Officer – WAHIAD Department – OIE Paris, France

Positioning and reporting

Under the authority of the Deputy Director “International Standards and Science” and the direct supervision of the Head of the World Animal Health Information and Analysis Department (WAHIAD) and her/his Deputy.

Duration: 2 years
Salary conditions: between 2.250-2950€ net per month (depending on the experience)
Expected start date: 01/01/2022

Job purpose

The Animal Health Information Officer contributes to the publication of a transparent and coherent animal health situation in Members through the collection, verification and dissemination of animal health information provided by Members and non-member countries through the OIE World Animal Health Information System (OIE-WAHIS). In particular, he/she is responsible for following the notification process of countries or territories, as well as participating in capacity-building activities on disease notification (training and e-learning support), active search for non-official animal health information activities and contributing to the improvement of OIE-WAHIS.

Missions and activities

Following the notification process of designated countries or territories

• Applying a standard verification process on six-monthly reports, annual reports and annual reports on wildlife;
• Interacting with countries’ nominated representatives on issues related to notification, including providing them with support in order to facilitate disease notification;
• Participating in trainings of countries’ representatives on OIE-WAHIS, delivering global and regional training;
• Following-up with countries to encourage them to provide regular and timely animal health reports in line with their obligations;
• Provide regular reports on the state of play of notifications;
• Participating in the coordination of team activities within the WAHIAD.

Participating in activities associated with the development of OIE-WAHIS and its evolution

• Contribute to the development of functional specifications;
• Participate in the functional testing and validation of functionalities, providing feedback to the project management team;
• Contribute to the identification of needs and follow-up on future evolutions.

Contributing as required to the activities of the team:

· Participating in the Early Warning System of OIE-WAHIS.

• Applying a standard verification process on immediate notifications, follow-up reports and final reports;
• Proposing relevant tools to facilitate the standard verification process and follow-up processes;
• Reviewing formats of working databases, developing automated tools within these databases to facilitate the verification and follow-up processes.
• Developing and establishing monitoring and evaluation indicators of the verification and follow-up processes.

· Participating in the team for active search for non-official animal health information of OIE-WAHIS.

• Verifying the non-official information related to the animal and public health situation;
• Contacting the countries when needed to verify the information found through the active search

· Participating in the training team

• Support the development of training content for OIE-WAHIS users
• Provide support to OIE-WAHIS users;
• Participate in the preparation and design of material for training OIE-WAHIS users and OIE Focal Points
• Review and improve training methods;
• Oversee and contribute to the development of e-learning platforms.

Qualifications and Experience

Required qualifications

• A graduate degree in veterinary sciences (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine)
• At least 3 years of professional experience with data collection, processing, and analysis of animal diseases;
• Proven experience working with databases and geographical information systems.

Additional requirements

• Exposure to or work experience with Veterinary Services, animal or human health institutions, research institutions.
• Additional degree in aquatic and/or terrestrial animal health, wildlife health, epidemiology or public health.

Requirements

Technical skills

• Excellent command of English, both written and oral
• Proficiency in a second OIE official language (French or Spanish)
• Very good command of the Microsoft Office Package (Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook)
• Good computer skills in geographical information systems (e.g. QGis), database management systems (e.g. Microsoft Access)

Additional competencies

• Good knowledge of a third OIE official language (French or Spanish);
• Working knowledge of Russian;
• Good computer skills in statistical software (e.g. R).

Interpersonal skills

• Proactivity and initiative;
• Keen sense of observation, attention to detail and accuracy;
• Ability to work under pressure, and to efficiently prioritize work across multiple parallel tasks;
• Courtesy, tact and ability to establish and maintain good working relations in a multinational and multicultural environment;
• Good communication skills and team working abilities especially under tight deadlines.

Working conditions

This post requires flexibility to travel internationally and long hours in a seated position at a computer.