Senior Medical Officer

The Senior Medical Officer is the Chief of the Medical Services Section at UNOG, responsible for overseeing occupational health services, clinical practice, medical administration, and staff management. The role includes advisory, liaison, and representation duties related to health and medical matters within the UN workplace.

Responsibilities

• Oversees the delivery of high-quality occupational health services in the UN workplace, including employment clearances, travel medicine services and travel clearances.
• Oversees the provision of workplace clinical services including first aid and emergency care, access to UN programmes such as PEP kits, vaccination campaigns, and effective referral to local healthcare services.
• Oversees clinical practice in relation to in-person occupational health clinical reviews and examinations.
• Develops and oversees the delivery of occupational health and safety programs including workplace and home ergonomics programs and workplace safety and health risk assessments, as well as developing and implementing risk treatment action plans.
• Oversees and provides specialist guidance on workplace (reasonable) accommodation requests with a medical component in line with UN policies.
• Oversees the delivery of effective workplace or general health promotion programs.
• Develops, exercises and provides a local emergency response / mass casualty capability integrated with local security plans.
• Advises on other aspects of health including public health relevant to the duty station, through liaison and in close coordination with the health authorities of the Host Country.
• Ensures quality in services including the implementation of quality control mechanisms and procedures, the use of published UN clinical guidelines, and adherence to patient safety and adverse event reporting requirements.
• Oversees the provision of recommendations or determinations related to medical entitlements.
• Oversees the certification of sick leave, including where required liaison with individual staff members and their healthcare providers to ensure effective sick leave management.
• Oversees the development and implementation of return-to-work program.
• Monitors sick leave usage in conjunction with human resources staff and prepares and finalizes disability summaries and reports for the Medical Director and UNJSPF.
• Oversees medical evacuation and repatriation services where required.
• Oversees the provision of advisory services to the Geneva based office of the Advisory Board on Compensation Claims Committee (ABCC).
• Undertakes mediation and informal dispute resolution related to medical entitlements and, where required, represents the Medical Services Section in formal dispute resolution bodies such as medical boards or the UN Dispute Tribunal.
• Manages the work and results of all staff working in the Medical Services Section, including occupational safety and health staff.
• Ensures medical confidentiality and release of medical records/information is in accordance with UN policies and requirements.
• Manages access to the EarthMed medical record system.
• Undertakes annual planning.
• Plans and prepares budgets and reports on budget performance and results.
• Ensures the development, generation and reporting of relevant key performance indicators documenting health support performance including responses to audit requests on health performance.
• Ensures timely recruiting and training of all new staff, and effective performance management.
• Ensures effective continuous professional development of staff and their career management.
• Coordinates with the Office of the Director, DHMOSH UNHQ, contributes to the development of UN healthcare policy, including through participation in the working groups of the UN Medical Directors, and ensures alignment of policy and practice in UN health care services.
• Represents the Medical Services Section at events and meetings with other UN entities and in national and international fora.
• Oversees workplace health and MSS communication products, and liaison/outreach with external actors.
• Briefs and advises the Director-General and senior management of client departments on all health matters relevant to the workplace (including mental health and staff well-being), such as health policies, business continuity, enterprise risk management and representation at crisis response and related bodies, makes recommendations taking into consideration the local context, whenever warranted.
• Represents MSS on health and medical entitlements matters before the UN judicial system and UN investigative bodies.
• Ensures effective occupational health representation at the local occupational health and safety committee, or similar body.
• Performs other related duties as required.

Requirements

• Doctorate (MD) or equivalent in medicine, including residency/internship in one of the medical specialties, preferably internal or occupational safety and health medicine, is required.
• Certification in internal and/or travel medicine is desirable.
• Certification in occupational safety and health medicine is desirable.
• A minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible clinical experience in one of the areas of medicine, including at least five (5) years in the Occupational Safety and Health field are required.
• Two (2) years of managerial experience in the medical field including budgeting, supervisory responsibilities and resource management are required.
• Experience in mental health is desirable.
• Experience with project management is desirable.
• Experience in travel medicine related to Occupational Safety and Health is desirable.
• Experience in an international organization is desirable.
• English and French are required at UN Level III for reading, writing, listening and speaking.
• Either Arabic or Spanish or Chinese (Mandarin) or Russian is desirable at UN Level I for reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Skills

• Clinical Medicine
• Occupational Safety and Health Medicine
• Medical Residency
• Medical Certification
• Medical Management
• Budget Management
• Supervisory responsibility
• Resource Management
• Mental Health
• Project Management
• Travel Medicine
• International Organization Experience
• Medical Administration
• Health Advisory
• Staff Management

Languages

English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin), Russian