Technical Officer, Country Office Support

The Technical Officer supports strategic coordination and follow-up of WHO country-level work in the European Region, contributing to effective delivery of the Country Office Support programme and strengthening links between country offices, the Division of Programme Management, and senior leadership. The role involves analysis, strategic engagement, coordination of onboarding, and support for high-level visits and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Support the COS Team Lead in the design and implementation of key areas of work, ensuring that sensitive political, operational and programmatic issues emerging from WHO country offices are analyzed, escalated and followed up as appropriate.
• Support the Team Lead in preparing and enabling the strategic engagement of senior leadership on country priorities, including through retreats, strategic briefings, performance management processes and other mechanisms that inform decision-making and strengthen accountability for country impact.
• Oversee the updating as well as quality, completeness and strategic use of Pulse Sheets by WHO Representatives and Heads of Country Offices, ensuring that they serve as essential tools for gathering country intelligence, issue tracking, leadership briefings and monitoring of follow-up on country priorities.
• Coordinate the technical induction and onboarding of new WHO Representatives and Heads of Country Offices, ensuring that they are strategically briefed on Regional Office priorities, governance and operational processes, country intelligence systems, and channels for engagement with DPM and senior leadership.
• Work closely with WHO Representatives and Heads of Country Offices to design and coordinate high-level visits to the Regional Office, ensuring that agendas, briefings and follow-up actions are aligned with country priorities and strategic opportunities.
• Contribute to routine tasks and requests, including those related to monitoring, analysis and reporting on country-level work, including maintenance of the Country Presence Portal, of the global country support network convened by WHO headquarters and involving all regions.
• Carry out any other assigned functions as required to support the overall objectives of the COS team.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree at Master's level in public health, international relations, health administration, public administration, social sciences or another field relevant to the functions of the position.
• Additional postgraduate training in global health, public policy, international relations, management or a related field is desirable.
• Certifications or training in project management or public health policies is desirable.
• At least seven years of progressively responsible professional experience in public health, international relations, country support, partnerships or programme management, including experience in supporting strategic coordination, senior-level engagement and work with Member States and/or country offices.
• Familiarity with global health policies, WHO frameworks, and experience in working with Member States and Country Offices is desirable.
• Demonstrated knowledge of WHO's mandate, strategic frameworks and country cooperation modalities.
• Strong analytical, organizational and project planning skills, with the ability to translate country intelligence and complex inputs into clear advice, priorities and follow-up actions.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the capacity to engage credibly with high-level stakeholders with discretion and tact in a politically sensitive environment.
• Strong drafting skills including concept notes, briefing notes, strategic documents, and correspondence for internal and external audiences.
• Ability to prepare strategic briefings and recommendations for senior management, drawing on country intelligence, programme priorities and organizational processes.
• Demonstrated knowledge of collaborative platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and other interactive professional platforms.
• Expert knowledge of English and intermediate knowledge of Russian.

Skills

• Public Health
• International Relations
• Health Administration
• Public Administration
• Social Sciences
• Project Management
• Public Health Policies
• Programme Management
• Strategic Coordination
• Senior-Level Engagement
• Country Support
• Partnership Management
• Global Health Policies
• UN Frameworks
• Country Cooperation Modalities
• Analytical Skills
• Organizational Skills
• Project Planning
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Drafting Skills
• Strategic Brief Preparation
• MS Teams
• Zoom

Languages

English, Russian