Consultant - International Biomedical Engineer, UNICEF DPRK (Remote working and if borders open work from DPRK)
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Job no: 580221
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Pyongyang
Level: Consultancy
Location: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Categories: Health
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child, care
Cold chain equipment is an essential component of the Expanded Programme for Immunization (EPI) to control preventable and highly virulent diseases across the globe. Vaccine efficacy and its potency therefore is paramount to achieve its purpose. Ensuring the efficacy and potency of temperature-sensitive vaccines is an important aspect of the EPI Programme. This is achieved through an effective and systematic cold chain system management system including the preventive and management of cold chain equipment (CCEs).
With the support of GAVI –the main donor for the immunization program, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) procured, will continue to procure, and distribute various cold chain equipment to the different strategic levels from central, provinces, county and service sites at different locations of the country to make the vaccines accessible to a greater majority of the target population and ensuring its efficacy and potency when they receive them. These are mostly infants, children under five (5) of years and pregnant women.
Depending on the circumstances of the country and the vaccine temperature requirement, various types of cold chain equipment are made available, like the usual electricity-powered, solar energy–powered, and other available technology to meet the standard temperature requirements of vaccines.
Well-functioning CCEs are critical in the supply chain of vaccines. Without the proper management and maintenance of these CCEs, the EPI program will be challenged as the shelf life of these vaccines is shortened and the effectiveness might be questionable.
There are two important aspects of CCEs management; procurement of appropriate CCE for the country/location and situation and its maintenance; the availability of appropriately trained technicians who will maintain them, and the essential tools and spares for maintenance.
In many countries, due to the lack of knowledge of the importance of preventive maintenance and repair of broken CCEs and proper practice, it continues to be a major challenge because of the replacement mentality- where donors will step in and donate new equipment and discard the old ones. This has resulted in a huge wastage of vital resources– money to replace broken CCE, not to mention the cycle of training the technicians and disposing of the replaced CCE.
It is in this light that UNICEF plans to engage an International Biomedical Engineer to support MoPH in the establishment of a management system for CCEs and waste management equipment (including inventory, preventive maintenance and repair and maintenance of damaged medical equipment) and build the capacity of EPI managers and technicians to manage CCE and waste management equipment.
How can you make a difference?
Purpose and Objectives:
The purpose of this consultancy is to further strengthen and improve the overall capacity for maintenance and management of CCEs by supporting the development of SOPs and training manuals for the different CCEs, capacity building of technicians, installation, commissioning, operationalization, and its long-term sustainability. This is expected to contribute towards improving the quality of care within health facilities ultimately reducing the mortality and morbidity of mothers, newborns, and children due to preventable diseases and epidemics.
Specific objectives include;
• Provision of technical support to MoPH for continued strengthening of the maintenance system for CCEs and waste management equipment.
• Support in-country human capacity development in the maintenance and repair of CCE and waste management equipment;
• Support installation of procured CCE and improve their functionality and lifespan including strengthening in-country capacity for maintenance of the same.
Scope of Work:
Under the supervision of the Chief of Health close collaboration with national staff and MoPH officials the consultant is expected to perform the following tasks:
1. Develop required tools, guidelines, manuals, and SOPs to further strengthen preventive and maintenance systems (PMS) and Corrective maintenance (CM) implementation.
2. Strengthening operation, management, and functional capacity of maintenance units responsible for CCE through
• Continued capacity building of maintenance unit managers and staff at Central, Provincial, county and health facilities through training workshops, on-the-job training, mentoring, coaching and supportive supervision
3. Institutionalization of Preventive Maintenance Service (PMS) and Corrective Maintenance (CM) programme
• Support implementation of routine PMS and CM activities across target health facilities with a focus on strengthening the performance capacity of local EPI Technicians
• In collaboration with MoPH and EPI maintenance teams carry out regular CCE preventive maintenance, inspections for safety and utilization and serviceability
4. Support the implementation of PMS of health facility CCE and waste management equipment (WME) in selected health facilities.
• Support implementation of assessments and needs determination as required.
• Oversee implementation of waste management equipment installation, operationalization and maintenance
• Implement capacity-building activities on operation and maintenance of health facility maintenance units/technicians
For details on the deliverables, please refer to this link 
Deliverables.pdf
Start date: Mid-March 2025
End date: 31 December 2025
Number of Days (working): 143 days
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- Advanced University degree (Masters) Biomedical/Electrical/Mechanical/Hospital Engineering, or other relevant fields
- At least 5-year experience in the maintenance management of hospital and medical equipment, especially the maintenance of CCE, MNCH and waste management equipment.
- Experience in planning, procurement, installation, commissioning, maintenance, training, monitoring, risk assessment and boarding of medical equipment
- Previous experience working for UNICEF and in developing countries or regions will be an asset.
Skills required:
- Good communication skills, both written and verbal
- Ability to develop suitable capacity-building training programme for local medical equipment technicians, maintenance crew and equipment users based on training needs analysis and assessment.
- Excellent facilitation/training skills to carry out tailor-made capacity-building training exercises for local medical equipment technicians, maintenance crew and equipment users
- Good coordination skills with key health stakeholders
- Good interpersonal skills to establish rapport with the local hospital technicians and staff, the key MoPH stakeholders, UNICEF and other health partners
- Ability to articulate and link up the maintenance needs of medical equipment and of the priorities and programs of the key health stakeholders and partners
- Monitoring and supportive supervision skills for maintenance programs and equipment performance, hospital maintenance units and its technicians
- Skills to plan for the procurement and acquisition of medical equipment including its specification development (Needs Analysis)
- Excellent English writing skills and proven experience in report writing
- Experience in a multicultural environment
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).
To view our competency framework, please visit here.
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.
According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.
UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.
Remarks:
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract 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 and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors 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.
Advertised: Korea Standard Time
Deadline: Korea Standard Time