ROSTER: Accelerated Disease Control Consultancy, Immunization Section, Global Programme Division, Remote with possibility of multiple duty stations for deployment as required, Req # 595014

Consultancy Title: ROSTER: Accelerated Disease Control Consultants

Section/Division/Duty Station: Immunization Section, GPD

Duration: 01 September 2026 to 30 August 2029

Home/ Office Based: Remote

About UNICEF 

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

UNICEF supports countries to achieve immunization and public health goals by accelerating the control, elimination, and prevention of vaccine-preventable and epidemic-prone diseases. Despite significant progress, widening immunity gaps and persistent inequities in access are driving a resurgence of outbreaks across regions. Fragile health systems and uneven coverage continue to fuel transmission of diseases such as measles, diphtheria, cholera, yellow fever, and meningitis. At the same time, emerging and re-emerging threats such as Ebola and mpox require strengthened preparedness and rapid response capacity, including timely, high-quality and targeted vaccination strategies during outbreaks.

The Accelerated Disease Control (ADC) workstream previously established a pre-screened experts pool in 2021 to streamline and expedite the recruitment process at global and country levels through the technical screening of consultants with expertise in areas related to accelerated vaccine preventable disease control objectives. Considering increasing outbreak risks and evolving programmatic priorities, experts' pool needs to be updated to ensure access to a broad and up-to-date range of technical expertise aligned with current global, regional, and country needs.

Therefore, ADC workstream is establishing a renewed Pool of qualified technical experts to meet this demand and invites qualified experts to apply

Scope of Work:

The purpose of this announcement is to establish a pre-screened Experts Pool to support the ADC functions in delivering targeted technical assistance focused on disease elimination, outbreak preparedness and response, and related priorities. Experts are expected to work in close collaboration with UNICEF Programme Division, Centers of Excellence (CoEs), UNICEF country offices, WHO regional and country offices, and partners (e.g., MSF, IFRC, Africa CDC, CDC, JSI) to provide timely technical support applying the latest guidance, tools, and approaches to strengthen country capacity.

The focus of support will be on accelerating elimination and control of priority vaccine-preventable diseases, strengthening preparedness and response to outbreaks of epidemic-prone diseases, and supporting implementation and evaluation of targeted immunization activities in outbreak and high-risk contexts. Priority diseases include measles, rubella, diphtheria, yellow fever, meningitis, cholera, Ebola, mpox, and maternal and neonatal tetanus, as well as other emerging threats where applicable.

Key areas of work include supporting the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of preventive and reactive vaccination activities, including Supplementary Immunization Activities (SIAs) and outbreak response immunization (ORI), conducting immunity gap and risk analyses to inform targeted interventions, supporting the development and implementation of outbreak preparedness and response plans, including vaccination strategies where applicable, providing technical support during outbreak response and emergency contexts through rapid deployment, supporting after-action reviews including Root Cause Analysis (RCA), outbreak investigations, and documentation of lessons learned, providing technical support on MNTE risk assessments, planning, implementation and pre-validation/ validation; support new vaccine introductions; support knowledge management and evidence generation and documentation; and contributing to operational research and programme evaluation to strengthen outbreak response and disease control strategies

Qualified experts from this pool may be tasked to support national counterparts across one or more of these areas based on country needs.

Candidates may apply under one or more technical areas. Technical evaluation will be conducted against the competencies and experience relevant to the selected technical area(s). Inclusion in the expert pool does not guarantee engagement, and deployment will be based on country needs and consultant availability.

Technical Area 1: ACCELERATING DISEASE CONTROL AND ELIMINATION PROGRAMMES

Background

Persistent immunity gaps and inequities in access to immunization services continue to slow progress toward elimination and control of priority vaccine-preventable diseases, particularly measles. Many countries rely on a combination of routine immunization and supplementary activities to reach missed populations, especially in high-risk and fragile settings. Strengthening implementation of elimination strategies and improving programme performance are essential to prevent outbreaks and sustain gains. In the case of maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination (MNTE), UNICEF plays a key role in supporting both strategy development and implementation at country level.

Purpose

Support countries to accelerate progress toward elimination and control targets for priority diseases.

Scope of Work

• Support implementation and monitoring of elimination strategies for priority diseases including measles, rubella, yellow fever, meningitis, and Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Elimination (MNTE) with the development of relevant programmatic strategies.
• Conduct immunity gap analysis, risk assessments, and evaluations including for MNTE validation Support planning, implementation and monitoring of high-quality SIAs, catch-up campaigns, and other relevant interventions
• Strengthen monitoring of elimination indicators, programme performance, and corrective actions
• Support implementation of integrated approaches for outbreak prevention and risk mitigation, including for high-risk diseases such as diphtheria
• Support for planning, implementation, and evaluation of new vaccine introduction particularly for MR, Yellow Fever, and Meningitis
• Contribute to knowledge management by supporting evidence generation, systematic documentation, and dissemination of lessons learned and best practices across MNTE and ADC interventions.

TECHNICAL ACTIVITY 2: OUTBREAK PREPAREDNESS & RESPONSE

Background

The frequency and scale of outbreaks of measles and other epidemic-prone diseases, including diphtheria, cholera, and yellow fever, have increased in many regions due to widening immunity gaps, weak surveillance, and population movement. Timely detection and rapid response are critical to limiting transmission and reducing morbidity and mortality. Countries require strengthened capacity for outbreak preparedness, including planning, risk assessment, and readiness, as well as rapid operational support during outbreaks to implement effective response measures.

Purpose

Strengthen country capacity for timely detection, preparedness, and effective response to outbreaks.

Scope of Work

• Support development of vaccine-preventable outbreak preparedness and response plans
• Conduct risk assessments and readiness evaluations
• Support design and implementation of Outbreak Response Immunization (ORI) campaigns and ring vaccination strategies where applicable
• Provide technical support for outbreak response for measles, diphtheria, cholera, yellow fever, meningitis, Ebola and mpox (including vaccination strategies where applicable)
• Support after-action reviews including RCAs and documentation of lessons learned
• Strengthen coordination across surveillance, immunization, RCCE, and emergency response systems
• Support countries in the preparation and review of applications for outbreak response funding and vaccine access.
• Provide technical expertise and support to operationalization of preventive and outbreak response components of approved Gavi applications.

TECHNICAL ACTIVITY 3: POLIO INTEGRATION, POST-CERTIFICATION & CESSATION SUPPORT

Background

With progress toward global polio eradication, countries are transitioning polio assets and capacities to support broader health priorities. Sustaining essential functions such as surveillance, laboratory networks, and outbreak response capacity remains critical in the post-certification period. Integrating polio resources into routine immunization and primary health care systems provides an opportunity to strengthen overall disease control and outbreak preparedness efforts.

Purpose

Support countries in Polio Integration with Routine Immunization and other health service delivery, transitioning polio assets and sustaining essential functions.

Scope of Work

• Support planning and implementation of polio transition strategies, including activities related to pre-cessation immunity building.
• Support the implementation of the Routine Immunization and Polio integration initiative, including the development of a joint country costed action plan and integrated multiantigen campaigns
• Regulatory and supply chain support for IPV2 and hexavalent introduction
• Support polio cessation activities, including supporting the bOPV campaigns and other relevant activities
• Ensure integration and expansion of polio assets into routine immunization programs, Primary Health Care, and outbreak response systems.
• Strengthen coordination with GPEI partners and national programmes at the national and subnational level
• Integrate the polio outbreak preparedness and response plan into the national vaccine-preventable disease preparedness and response plan

TECHNICAL ACTIVITY 4: IMMUNIZATION IN PANDEMIC PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS & RESPONSE (PPPR)

Background

Recent global health emergencies have highlighted the importance of integrating immunization within broader preparedness and response frameworks. Countries require strengthened systems to rapidly deploy vaccines, coordinate responses, and link immunization with surveillance and emergency mechanisms. Operationalizing the role of immunization within national preparedness plans is essential to ensure readiness for emerging and re-emerging health threats, including diseases such as mpox where vaccination strategies may be required.

Purpose

Strengthen the role of immunization within broader health emergency preparedness frameworks.

Scope of Work

• Provide immunization technical input into PPPR strategies and national preparedness plans
• Review and build capacity on pandemic preparedness and response, including conducting a simulation exercise
• Support integration of immunization program response into broader emergency preparedness and response systems
• Strengthen linkages between immunization, surveillance, and emergency coordination mechanisms
• Support planning for vaccine deployment in response to emerging health threats
• Ensure alignment with global and regional PPPR frameworks and initiatives
• Surge support to the country office to support the national vaccine deployment plan (NDVP) during pandemic/outbreak preparedness and response
• Review, update and build capacity of immunization supply chain for vaccine deployment including supporting cold chain inventory analysis.
• Documents lesson learnt on the Pandemic/Outbreak Response, including conducting operational Research

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

The specific deliverables, timelines, level of effort and travel requirements will be determined based on country needs and assignment-specific terms of reference.

Travel requirements will depend on country demand and deployment requests. Travel may include missions to UNICEF Country Offices and regional locations as required.

Qualifications

Education:

• University degree (Bachelor's Degree) or Advanced university degree (Masters' degree preferred) in Public Health, Epidemiology, Medicine, Immunization or related field.

Work experience

• Minimum 8 years of progressively responsible experience in immunization programmes, vaccine-preventable disease control, outbreak preparedness and response, disease elimination or health emergencies.
• Demonstrated experience providing technical assistance at country, regional or global level.
• Experience supporting immunization campaigns, outbreak response immunization, preparedness planning, disease elimination programmes or health emergency responses.
• Experience working with governments, UNICEF, WHO, Gavi, CDC, Africa CDC or other international partners.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• Immunization systems strengthening
• Vaccine-preventable disease surveillance
• Disease elimination strategies
• Outbreak preparedness and response
• Campaign planning and monitoring
• Risk assessment and readiness evaluation
• Knowledge management and technical documentation
• Strong analytical and report-writing skills
• Excellent stakeholder coordination and communication skills

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English required.
• Working knowledge of French is an asset.

Desirables:

• Experience supporting measles, rubella, diphtheria, yellow fever, cholera, meningitis, Ebola, mpox, polio or MNTE programmes.
• Experience supporting Gavi funding applications.
• Experience in humanitarian and fragile settings.
• Experience working across multiple regions.

Requirements:

Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and

- Upload copy of academic credentials

- Financial proposal  FINANCIAL PROPOSAL TEMPLATE

- Technical statement (maximum 2 pages)

- Description of expertise in one or more ADC technical areas

- Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.

- At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

- Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check. 

Remarks:  

Individuals engaged under a consultancy will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants. Consultants are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.