Job Description

Please note that this vacancy is only open to eligible staff members who have been individually notified of their eligibility to apply for positions advertised in the Accelerated Posting Compendium.

June 12, 2026

H (no hardship)

Family

PR3

Professional

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

2026-05-26

Public Health Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Public Health Officer is a member of a multidisciplinary team and ensures that UNHCR's public health programmes meet minimum UNHCR and global health standards to minimise avoidable morbidity and mortality among forcibly displaced and stateless persons and towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Public health programmes include primary health care, secondary health care, sexual and reproductive health (including HIV), nutrition, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS).

The incumbent provides effective and timely technical and strategic guidance to UNHCR senior management and partners including on the design and scope of UNHCR’s responses in public health, catalyses the engagement of other actors, supports resource mobilisation efforts including with the private sector and monitors the response.

S/he identifies problems and proposes solutions proactively and engages in developing, implementing and overseeing health strategies, including in the inter-agency context. S/he advances the concepts found in UNHCR’s Global Public Health Strategy as well as the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) and applies a humanitarian-development nexus lens to UNHCR public health programming and the mainstreaming/inclusion of refugees into national health programmes, advocacy for refugees’ inclusion into national universal health coverage plans including health insurance and other social protection schemes.

The Public Health Officer is usually supervised by a Senior Public Health Officer or in the absence thereof, by operations/programmes staff.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

• Support the overall operational strategy and focus of public health programmes including ensuring strategic approaches are developed in a multi-sectoral and coordinated manner in cooperation with government, UN agencies, and NGOs and other humanitarian and development partners with due consideration to the approaches outlined in the Global Compact on Refugees, health-related pledges linked to the Global Refugee Forum and in support of the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG3.

• Support the development of a coherent strategic approach to public health towards greater inclusion and access of refugees to national health systems including social health protection as applicable.

• Participate in relevant coordination and collaboration structures and lead such structures in the absence of a more senior health staff.

• Support robust and timely emergency responses to new refugee influxes and disease outbreaks with a focus on inclusion and access into national health systems from the onset of an emergency.

• Participate in relevant assessment and identification of needs, recognise and support the contributions of governments and other actors so as to align with and support national health system as much as possible.

• Work with stakeholders, including Ministries of Health, UN agencies, NGOs, development actors and academic institutions in the development of public health response plans including multi-year, multi-partner solutions strategies and funding appeals such as regional refugee response plans or other humanitarian appeals.

• Work closely with programme and other units as applicable in programme planning and monitoring as well as the review and analysis of relevant project proposals and budgetary submissions presented by UNHCR partners within the context of the UNHCR programming cycle and standards.

• Support intersectoral collaboration throughout all stages of programme cycle between public health, and other sectoral areas to promote synergies and maximise impact.

• Support the implementation of relevant UNHCR Health Information System suite of tools and surveys to support in analysis, interpretation, reporting and use of public health data as well as linkage/integration with national data systems including disaggregation by nationality.

• Promote applied research and programme evaluation to enable the identification of gaps in programme implementation and standards, and to further promote evidence-based activities and guidance.

• Undertake and/or support capacity strengthening of UNHCR and its implementing partners to ensure the technical integrity of public health programmes in a coordinated, multi-sectoral way.

• Engage in relevant partnership fora, including in line with UNHCR’s role as a UNAIDS co-sponsor of the Joint Programme on AIDS and co-lead with WFP of the Division of Labour area of HIV in humanitarian settings.

• Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making is risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).

• Perform other related duties as required.

For positions in country operations

• Perform a leading or a supporting role - in the country public health team - if supervised by a senior public health officer.

• Ensure public health emergency preparedness and response planning at country level and prepare UNHCR’s lead role in response to new emergencies.

• Ensure, in close co-ordination with other humanitarian actors, the technical integrity of health care services and that they are based on Ministry of Health, UNHCR and/or internationally recognized and most up-to-date standards and policies.

• Coordinate with partners, supply and programme for efficient procurement of medicines, supplies, equipment according to UNHCR guidelines.

• Ensure community participation in design and implementation of programmes, fostering ownership and empowerment, ensuring inclusion of vulnerable groups, establishing two-way communication and building on local capacities and resources.

• Monitor and support compliance with, and integrity of, all Public Health Administrative Instruction/ standard operating procedures in conjunction with Project Control and Programme staff and in line with delegated authorities, including flagging to senior managers when these are not in line with global guidance or not being followed.

For positions in regional bureaux

• Perform a leading or a supporting role - in the regional public health team - if supervised by a Senior Public Health Officer.

• Ensure the coordination of public health programmes across the regional bureau and with country operations including assimilation and documentation of better practice/lessons learnt for dissemination.

• Ensure solid technical advice and support (including missions) to country operations, in all aspects of public health service delivery, including in emergencies and in line with UNHCR’s policy and guidance.

• Assess, analyse public health data and provide relevant support on the technical quality of public health programming in the operations.

• Review and provide inputs for public health strategies, medicine management and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the operations and coordinate the review and clearance with HQ.

• Ensure effective collaborative approaches across the departments in the bureaux and with HQ.

For positions in headquarters

• Support development of organisation-wide guidance, policies, positioning, and tools, including policy documents, technical guidance, evaluations, lessons learnt, communication and visibility materials, reports, and synthesis.

• Provide sound technical advice and support (including missions) to bureaux and country operations in pursue of greater inclusion and access to national health services as well as health system strengthening.

• Support provision of technical support for the implementation of public health programs to regional bureaux and operations.

• Support public health-related knowledge management, training and learning as well as sharing analytical products and tools with bureaux and country operations to inform policies, programmes and opportunities for inclusion into national public health systems.

• Assimilate and produce better practice/lessons learnt/academic articles for dissemination.

• Support effective collaborative approaches across the team and in between divisions and bureaux.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level

For P3/NOC - 6 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 5 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 4 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education

Medicine Medical Science Medical Doctor

Nursing Public Health Epidemiology or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses

Not specified.

Relevant Job Experience

Essential

Experience in public health emergency responses as well as understanding of health systems and health system building blocks. Experience with evidence-based public health programming including data collection and analysis, in order to inform sound decision making. Demonstrated experience in working with internal and external stakeholders to achieve common public health objectives and in position(s) where the ability to draft clear, concise documentation was essential.

Desirable

Experience in coordinating health actors to achieve common objectives in public health. Experience with UNHCR. Experience with managing health information systems. Experience with the provision of quality-assured medicines and medical supplies. Experience working with development partners across the humanitarian-development nexus. Experience with social health protection and social health insurance schemes.

Functional Skills

PM-Project monitoring and evaluation

PH-Public Health Epidemiology

MD-HIV/AIDS situation management

MD-Reproductive Health

PH-Community Health - Health Data Collection/Analysis/Interpretation

CO-Strategic Communication

UN-UN/UNHCR Mandate and Global Strategic Priorities

FO-Complex field emergency operations

(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements

For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English

For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language

For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English

Competency Requirements

All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below.

Core Competencies

Accountability

Communication

Organizational Awareness

Teamwork & Collaboration

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies

Empowering and Building Trust

Managing Performance

Managing Resources

Cross-Functional Competencies

Analytical Thinking

Planning and Organizing

Stakeholder Management

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination, and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

Essential attributes:
• Public health and nutrition expert with formal training in the fields of public health and nutrition, and a strong track record of field-based experience, particularly in outbreak preparedness and response, sexual and reproductive health, and nutrition and food security programming.
• Proven experience in evidence-based public health and nutrition programming is required, including data collection, analysis, reporting, and the use of relevant statistical tools for nutritional surveys (e.g., ENA for SMART, Epi Info).
• Demonstrated knowledge of and experience with cash-based interventions in health programming, as well as capacity development and the oversight of health and nutrition programmes, including resource mobilization within development and private-sector engagement contexts, is essential.
• The incumbent will act as the Public Health Unit’s technical and operational focal point for Regional Bureaux and country operations across multiple regions (Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe). Accordingly, experience working at both country level and in regional and/or headquarters functions, and across diverse geographical contexts, is required.
• Demonstrated experience in leading inter-agency coordination and working in complex and emergency public health contexts is required.
Strong collaborative mindset, including a flexible approach to teamwork and a willingness to undertake cross-functional responsibilities to ensure effective and timely responses to operational requirements for information, guidance, and services.

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Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

The position is based in Geneva, Switzerland and can accommodate the specific needs for qualified candidates.

Nature of Position:

The Public Health Officer - Nutrition will report to the Head of the Public Health Unit within the Sustainable Responses Service (SRS) at Headquarters. The incumbent plays a pivotal role at the global level in providing strategic and technical leadership across UNHCR’s public health and nutrition portfolio, ensuring coherence with UNHCR’s protection mandate and alignment with the forthcoming Global Public Health Strategy (2026–2030) and the Sustainable Responses framework.

He/she will provide strong technical guidance and contribute to policy development across public health and nutrition programmes, with a particular focus on communicable diseases, community health, cash-based interventions for health, sexual and reproductive health, and nutrition. The incumbent will also facilitate engagement with development and private-sector partners and support resource mobilization efforts.

The incumbent will serve as the Unit’s focal point for engagement with key global health and nutrition partners and coordination mechanisms, including WHO, UNICEF, WFP, the Global Fund, Gavi, the Global Health and Nutrition Clusters, the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), the Global Cholera Task Force, and other technical fora addressing epidemic preparedness and response, sexual and reproductive health, cash-based interventions for health, and nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in humanitarian settings.

He/she is expected to provide technical support to nutrition surveys, and analyse evolving malnutrition trends, manage to nutrition database, provide timely technical advice to regional and country operations, and guide transition planning to nationally led systems.

The incumbent will collaborate closely with Regional Bureaux, and country operations to ensure strategic coherence, effective technical support and strong field to Headquarters linkages. He/she should be able to deploy at short notice to support emergency operations and provide on-site coordination and technical guidance during health or nutrition crises.

External contacts are with UN agencies, governmental authorities, donors, development partners, academia, and non-governmental organisations as required.

Living and Working Conditions

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Bachelor of Arts: Epidemiology, Bachelor of Arts: Medical Doctor, Bachelor of Arts: Medical Science, Bachelor of Arts: Medicine, Bachelor of Arts: Nursing, Bachelor of Arts: Public Health

Certifications

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Managing performance, Managing resource, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Stakeholder management, Teamwork & collaboration

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Accelerated Posting Compendium 2026 - Part B

Additional Information

This position requires Functional Clearance