Senior Project Advisor for Bioinformatics

Job Description

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The mission of WHO’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Programme (The Programme), is to support countries to coordinate action, prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies. The Pandemic Fund Ethio Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) project in Ethiopia is a significant initiative aimed at reinforcing the country’s capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to public health emergencies, including pandemics in a One Health approach. The WHO manages the EPPR project in collaboration with other partners as an implementing entity.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION 

In the context of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, at the country level, recognizing that the Animal Health Institute (AHI), under the Ministry of Agriculture, is one of the key national implementing entities of the Pandemic Fund EPPR Project, the Senior Project Advisor for Bioinformatics will provide high-level technical and strategic support to animal health–focused surveillance, laboratory, and genomics activities, and will contribute to evidence-based decision-making within the One Health framework and strengthening the institute’s capacity to analyze pathogen genomic data, support AMR surveillance, enhance data interoperability, and facilitate timely sharing of animal health information with national and international stakeholders.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Based at the AHI, reporting to the EPPR project manager under the overall guidance of the WHE Team Lead, and working closely with the project management team, the incumbent will provide technical support to the Animal Health Institute (AHI) in the implementation and oversight of activities under the EPPR Pandemic Fund project aimed at enhancing animal health–focused surveillance and laboratory capacities.

GRADE

NO-C

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

During the assignment, the assigned duties below may be modified based on the technical needs of the program.

1. Perform quality control, assembly, mapping, variant calling, and annotation of NGS data generated from platforms such as Illumina, Oxford Nanopore, and other relevant technologies.
2. Conduct phylogenetic analysis, genomic epidemiology, and comparative genomics of animal and zoonotic pathogens to support surveillance and outbreak investigations.
3. Analyze PCR-derived sequence data, whole-genome sequencing data, and metagenomics datasets in support of routine diagnostics and research activities.
4. Design, optimize, and document bioinformatics pipelines tailored to different pathogens and project objectives.
5. Develop, deploy, and maintain bioinformatics tools and workflows on local servers and cloud-based platforms, as appropriate.
6. Manage, organize, curate, and archive genomic datasets in line with AHI data management, quality assurance, and biosafety policies.
7. Interpret bioinformatics outputs and translate analytical results into scientifically robust conclusions relevant to surveillance, diagnostics, and research.
8. Support submission of sequence data and associated metadata to international databases such as GenBank, GISAID, and other relevant repositories, in compliance with national and international guidelines.
9. Prepare clear and comprehensive technical reports, summaries, and visualizations, including phylogenetic trees, genomic maps, and dashboards, for internal and external stakeholders.
10. Contribute to the preparation of scientific manuscripts, surveillance bulletins, technical reports, and policy briefs as required.
11. Ensure proper documentation of analytical workflows, assumptions, and outputs to support reproducibility and quality assurance.
12. Provide hands-on training, mentorship, and technical backstopping to AHI staff on bioinformatics tools, pipelines, and best practices.
13. Develop, adapt, and update standard operating procedures (SOPs) and guidelines for bioinformatics and genomic data analysis.
14. Provide troubleshooting and technical support related to bioinformatics pipelines, computational infrastructure, and workflow optimization.
15. Work collaboratively with national, regional, and international partners involved in genomics, molecular epidemiology, and surveillance activities.
16. Participate in scientific meetings, technical working groups, and project review discussions as required.

 

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential:

First University Degree (BSc) in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Molecular Biology, Biotechnology, Genomics, or a closely related field

Desirable:

An advanced university degree MSc or PhD in Bioinformatics.

Experience

Essential:

• A minimum of five (5) years’ experience in bioinformatics analysis.

Desirable:

• More than five (5) years of experience in in pathogen genomics, molecular epidemiology, or infectious disease research

FUNCTIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Ability to build partnerships with local and international institutes to foster knowledge sharing and technical exchange.
• Strong knowledge of genomics technologies such as next-generation sequencing (NGS)
• Ability to facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration to integrate pathogen genomics and bioinformatics with other disciplines.
• Proven experience of providing mentorship to staff to enhance their technical competencies and troubleshoot experimental challenges.
• Interpersonal skills, diplomacy, tact and discretion, sound judgment and initiative
• Demonstrated ability to work within a multi-disciplinary and multi-national team(s).

WHO COMPETENCIES

1. Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences.
2. Fostering integration and teamwork
3. Communicating in a credible and effective way
4. Producing results
5. Knowing and managing yourself

USE OF LANGUAGE SKILLS

Proficiency in English and Amharic Languages is essential, proficiency in additional language is desirable

OTHER SKILLS (E.G. IT SKILLS)

• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office applications
• Strong proficiency in Linux/Unix environments and scripting or programming languages such as Python and R.
• Hands-on experience with bioinformatics workflow managers and platforms (e.g., Galaxy, Nextflow, Snakemake).
• Demonstrated experience with sequence analysis, assembly, and phylogenetic tools, including but not limited to BLAST, MAFFT, IQ-TREE, BEAST, BWA, Bowtie, SAMtools, SPAdes, Conda/Anaconda, EP2ME, and other relevant tools.
• Familiarity with public sequence databases, metadata standards, and data submission procedures.

REMUNERATION

This is a Special Service Agreement (SSA) contract at NO-C, with a monthly remuneration of $3,598.00 paid in local currency equivalent.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

1)    The duty station for this position is Sebeta.

2)      This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level

3)      Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

4)      A written test and/or an asynchronous video assessment may be used as a form of screening.

5)      In the event your candidature is retained for an 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.

6)      According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.

7)      Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and E-Manual.

8)      The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits and employs staff 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.

9)      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.

10)   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 reasonableaccommodation@who.int

11)   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.

12)   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.

13)   WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

14)   For information on WHO’s operations please visit: http://www.who.int

15)   This post is subject to local recruitment and will be filled by persons recruited in the local commuting area of the duty station.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The mission of WHO’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Programme (The Programme), is to support countries to coordinate action, prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies. The Pandemic Fund Ethio Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) project in Ethiopia is a significant initiative aimed at reinforcing the country’s capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to public health emergencies, including pandemics in a One Health approach. The WHO manages the EPPR project in collaboration with other partners as an implementing entity.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION 

In the context of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, at the country level, recognizing that the Animal Health Institute (AHI), under the Ministry of Agriculture, is one of the key national implementing entities of the Pandemic Fund EPPR Project, the Senior Project Advisor for Bioinformatics will provide high-level technical and strategic support to animal health–focused surveillance, laboratory, and genomics activities, and will contribute to evidence-based decision-making within the One Health framework and strengthening the institute’s capacity to analyze pathogen genomic data, support AMR surveillance, enhance data interoperability, and facilitate timely sharing of animal health information with national and international stakeholders.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Based at the AHI, reporting to the EPPR project manager under the overall guidance of the WHE Team Lead, and working closely with the project management team, the incumbent will provide technical support to the Animal Health Institute (AHI) in the implementation and oversight of activities under the EPPR Pandemic Fund project aimed at enhancing animal health–focused surveillance and laboratory capacities.

GRADE

NO-C

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

During the assignment, the assigned duties below may be modified based on the technical needs of the program.

1. Perform quality control, assembly, mapping, variant calling, and annotation of NGS data generated from platforms such as Illumina, Oxford Nanopore, and other relevant technologies.
2. Conduct phylogenetic analysis, genomic epidemiology, and comparative genomics of animal and zoonotic pathogens to support surveillance and outbreak investigations.
3. Analyze PCR-derived sequence data, whole-genome sequencing data, and metagenomics datasets in support of routine diagnostics and research activities.
4. Design, optimize, and document bioinformatics pipelines tailored to different pathogens and project objectives.
5. Develop, deploy, and maintain bioinformatics tools and workflows on local servers and cloud-based platforms, as appropriate.
6. Manage, organize, curate, and archive genomic datasets in line with AHI data management, quality assurance, and biosafety policies.
7. Interpret bioinformatics outputs and translate analytical results into scientifically robust conclusions relevant to surveillance, diagnostics, and research.
8. Support submission of sequence data and associated metadata to international databases such as GenBank, GISAID, and other relevant repositories, in compliance with national and international guidelines.
9. Prepare clear and comprehensive technical reports, summaries, and visualizations, including phylogenetic trees, genomic maps, and dashboards, for internal and external stakeholders.
10. Contribute to the preparation of scientific manuscripts, surveillance bulletins, technical reports, and policy briefs as required.
11. Ensure proper documentation of analytical workflows, assumptions, and outputs to support reproducibility and quality assurance.
12. Provide hands-on training, mentorship, and technical backstopping to AHI staff on bioinformatics tools, pipelines, and best practices.
13. Develop, adapt, and update standard operating procedures (SOPs) and guidelines for bioinformatics and genomic data analysis.
14. Provide troubleshooting and technical support related to bioinformatics pipelines, computational infrastructure, and workflow optimization.
15. Work collaboratively with national, regional, and international partners involved in genomics, molecular epidemiology, and surveillance activities.
16. Participate in scientific meetings, technical working groups, and project review discussions as required.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential:

First University Degree (BSc) in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Molecular Biology, Biotechnology, Genomics, or a closely related field

Desirable:

An advanced university degree MSc or PhD in Bioinformatics.

Experience

Essential:

• A minimum of five (5) years’ experience in bioinformatics analysis.

Desirable:

• More than five (5) years of experience in in pathogen genomics, molecular epidemiology, or infectious disease research

FUNCTIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Ability to build partnerships with local and international institutes to foster knowledge sharing and technical exchange.
• Strong knowledge of genomics technologies such as next-generation sequencing (NGS)
• Ability to facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration to integrate pathogen genomics and bioinformatics with other disciplines.
• Proven experience of providing mentorship to staff to enhance their technical competencies and troubleshoot experimental challenges.
• Interpersonal skills, diplomacy, tact and discretion, sound judgment and initiative
• Demonstrated ability to work within a multi-disciplinary and multi-national team(s).

WHO COMPETENCIES

1. Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences.
2. Fostering integration and teamwork
3. Communicating in a credible and effective way
4. Producing results
5. Knowing and managing yourself

USE OF LANGUAGE SKILLS

Proficiency in English and Amharic Languages is essential, proficiency in additional language is desirable

OTHER SKILLS (E.G. IT SKILLS)

• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office applications
• Strong proficiency in Linux/Unix environments and scripting or programming languages such as Python and R.
• Hands-on experience with bioinformatics workflow managers and platforms (e.g., Galaxy, Nextflow, Snakemake).
• Demonstrated experience with sequence analysis, assembly, and phylogenetic tools, including but not limited to BLAST, MAFFT, IQ-TREE, BEAST, BWA, Bowtie, SAMtools, SPAdes, Conda/Anaconda, EP2ME, and other relevant tools.
• Familiarity with public sequence databases, metadata standards, and data submission procedures.

REMUNERATION

This is a Special Service Agreement (SSA) contract at NO-C, with a monthly remuneration of $3,598.00 paid in local currency equivalent.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

1)    The duty station for this position is Sebeta.

2)      This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level

3)      Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

4)      A written test and/or an asynchronous video assessment may be used as a form of screening.

5)      In the event your candidature is retained for an 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.

6)      According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.

7)      Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and E-Manual.

8)      The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits and employs staff 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.

9)      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.

10)   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 reasonableaccommodation@who.int

11)   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.

12)   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.

13)   WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

14)   For information on WHO’s operations please visit: http://www.who.int

15)   This post is subject to local recruitment and will be filled by persons recruited in the local commuting area of the duty station.