Senior Epidemiologist & Surveillance Coordinator

Institutional Background & Organizational Context

The World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office for Nepal operates in close strategic alignment with the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), specifically anchoring joint epidemiological vigilance alongside the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD), Teku. Under the direct authority of the WHO Representative to Nepal and the technical oversight of the SEARO Regional Emergency Director, the Senior Epidemiologist coordinates high-consequence disease intelligence across the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.

The incumbent coordinates rapid field mobilizations responding to seasonal dengue surges across Bagmati and Terai plains, cross-border cholera alerts along the southern transit corridor, Japanese encephalitis surveillance, and the post-disaster biological hazards framework following alpine seismic and flash flood events. Coverage: 7 provinces, 82 sentinel hospitals, EWARS national pipeline, P-4 Inspira UN grade.

Duties & Key Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) Team Lead, the Senior Epidemiologist and Surveillance Coordinator exercises technical authority over the following core functions:

1. National surveillance & sentinel hospital oversight — lead the enhancement, quality validation, and daily data synchronization of the Early Warning, Alert and Response System (EWARS) across 82 national sentinel hospitals, acute watery diarrhea diagnostic hubs, and acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) monitoring nodes.
2. Rapid Response Team (RRT) deployment & outbreak containment — deploy on 24-hour notice to command joint WHO-EDCD Rapid Response Teams during localized outbreaks (e.g. dengue, cholera, Nipah virus suspicion, measles clusters); coordinate contact tracing matrices, field bio-sampling logistics, and spatial index case analysis.
3. DHIS-2, Epi Info & spatial risk modeling — maintain automated statistical scripts in R and Python for real-time transmission rate (Rt) calculations, seroprevalence mapping in QGIS/ArcGIS, and integrated disease trend visualization for provincial health directorates.
4. Policy directives & executive briefings — draft authoritative weekly epidemiological bulletins, technical advisories, and emergency situation reports (SitReps) for the Director General of Health Services (MoHP), the WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, and the UN Resident Coordinator.
5. Capacity building & simulation exercises — design and execute accredited competency modules for 120+ provincial and municipal public health officers, standardizing field epidemiology training (FETP) curricula and multi-hazard tabletop simulation exercises.

Required Competencies & Qualifications

• Formal education (essential): advanced university degree (master’s level or PhD) in epidemiology, public health (MPH), infectious disease surveillance, or biostatistics from an internationally recognized institution. A medical degree (MBBS or equivalent) with postgraduate epidemiological training is strongly recognized.
• Experience (essential): minimum 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience in public health epidemiology, outbreak containment, and surveillance system design, including at least 3 years in low- and middle-income countries; prior UN or MoHP service highly advantageous.
• Technical tooling: R statistical suite, Epi Info 7, DHIS-2 Tracker, QGIS/ArcGIS spatial analysis, EWARS server management, Stata/SPSS, genomic surveillance tracking.
• Languages: English (fluent, expert writing and medical oral defense); Nepali (fluent).

UN Non-Discrimination & Anti-Fraud Advisory

The World Health Organization does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing, training, visa, or other fees). Qualified female candidates and professionals from underrepresented provincial districts and marginalized backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.