Epidemiologist and Statistics Coordinator (Child Obesity) 

Epidemiologist and Statistics Coordinator (Child Obesity)

Vacancy Notice: PHC_01_GR/24_11

Job title: Epidemiologist and Statistics Coordinator (Child Obesity)
Location:  Athens, Deployment to the Ministry of Health
Type of contract:  ICMC 
Starting date: 22 April 2024
Closing date for applications: 5 April 2024
Contract duration: 12 months

About ICMC

The International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) is an international non-governmental organization, whose mission is to protect and serve children as well as uprooted people, including refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced people, victims of human trafficking, and migrants – regardless of faith, race, ethnicity, or nationality.

ICMC started a partnership with UNICEF in Greece in order to deploy a highly qualified affiliated workforce to assist UNICEF Greece Country Office.

Scope of work

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programme, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action.

UNICEF became operational in Greece in early 2016 as an outposted team from the Regional Office of Europe and Central Asia (ECARO) to respond to the significant influx of refugee and migrant children and their families at that time. Following several years of engagement with national stakeholders, UNICEF and the Government of Greece made a decision in January 2020 to formalize the agency’s presence in the country as a full-fledged Country Office. The office falls under the auspices of the UNICEF Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia located in Geneva, which supports the work of 22 Country Offices within its geographical scope, reporting in turn to global headquarters in New York. Within the framework of a mandate for all children in Greece, UNICEF and Greece are now working to address the needs of all vulnerable, marginalized and left-behind children in the country.

The National Public Health Strategy is founded on the key policy vision of the overall strategy of the Ministry of Health for eradicating risk factors (socioeconomic, behavioural and environmental) to health, which reflects the importance the Ministry of Health places in promoting the policies on Disease Prevention, Health Protection and Health Promotion for the population. In this context, the General Secretariat of Public Health of the Ministry of Health assumes a leading role in combating childhood obesity in Greece, having set the goal to “Reduce by way of priority, childhood obesity from 25% (2017) to at least 10% (EU average) by 2030”, as designated through the:

1. National Action Plan for Public Health 2021-2025

2. National Public Health Prevention Programme “Spyros Doxiadis”

In light of the above, UNICEF signed a programmatic agreement with the Ministry of Health in order to implement the ‘National Action to combat Child Obesity’ financed under the Recovery and Resilience Fund, in close coordination with the General Secretariat of Public Health.

The purpose of this assignment is to provide technical support to the Ministry of Health, in its efforts to implement programmatic interventions in the following pillars:

(i) advancement of an enabling environment including strengthening regulations, policies, and strategies to promote healthy diets, practices, and services for the prevention of childhood obesity,

(ii) programmes that strengthen the primary prevention of child overweight and obesity, including actions to improve nutrition in infancy and early childhood, prevention intervention programs at the school and community/municipal level, as well as developing awareness raising campaigns for social and behavioural change,

(iii) interventions to enhance secondary and tertiary prevention and response programmes,

(iv) establishment of a European Regional Centre on Child Obesity as a platform to enable exchange of lessons learned, good practices, and proven effective approaches to address childhood obesity among and within EU member states,

(v) development of strategies and programmes focusing on achieving social and behavioural change so that children and their caregivers across Greece make more informed lifestyle choices.

The expert will work closely with the UNICEF Programmes Team in Greece and the respective team members involved and in close coordination with the Ministry of Health and relevant stakeholders and partners.

Under the guidance and supervision of the UNICEF Child Protection Officer and guidance by the Technical Coordinator on the Obesity Prorgamme deployed to the Ministry of Health, the Epidemiology and Statistics Coordinator will support the implementation of the childhood overweight and obesity programme in the context of the Greece Country Programme 2022-2026 already agreed with the Government, and in partnership with all relevant stakeholders and partners.

The Epidemiology and Statistics Coordinator will be participating in preparing and providing information on epidemiological and statistical matters of the scientific-related actions implemented by the local and national stakeholders, as well as provide support on the development of guidelines, the methodology, values and indicators along with the counterparts and partners of the national program. Tasks will be carried out according to country-specific plans, approaches and methodologies, under the umbrella of UNICEF’s Strategic Plan, institutional standards of performance, and accountability framework.

The Epidemiology and Statistics Coordinator deployed to the Ministry of Health will be responsible for providing technical support on matters related to the scientific delivery of the planned interventions regarding sound methodologies for monitoring prevalence of child obesity and additional nutrition and health indicators in the country and provide technical support to all partners regarding the implementation of the national and program targets.

Responsibilities

The incumbent will be assigned contributory accountabilities for all or part of the following duties:   

• Support on planning on epidemiological and statistical matters in the context of the National Action to combat Child Obesity.
• Coordinate state and other stakeholders’ efforts so that comprehensive national data on childhood obesity are available.
• Work closely and collaboratively with the Senior Nutrition and Health Promotion Consultant on epidemiological and statistic strategies and methodologies to ensure the monitoring of the National Action results.
• Support on drafting policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme documents.
• Support on drafting monitoring and evaluation reports and programme reviews for the Ministry of Health to assess progress, to identify gaps, strengths and/or weaknesses and to determine required action and interventions to achieve results.
• Actively support the collection and analysis of epidemiological data in relation to child obesity and provide technical support to all relevant stakeholders under the programme.
• Provide technical inputs on the design of the methodology sampling and analysis of the study regarding the dietary patterns of parents and children.
• Provide technical inputs for the design and development of the algorithm, the indicators and the KPIs of the tools and applications for healthcare professionals and parents under the National Action.

Requirements

1. Education

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: statistics, biostatistics, nutritional epidemiology or another relevant field.
•  A PhD in nutrition and health biostatistics and/or epidemiology is a plus

2. Experience

• A minimum of three (3) years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: (bio)statistics, epidemiology, public health, nutrition research, data mentoring
• Experience in health/nutrition programs in an academic/research/public health sector organization is an asset.
• Previous experience in data collection and analysis is an asset

3. Language requirements: Fluency in Greek and good knowledge of English is required.

Skills

• Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team environment with strong communication, facilitation and negotiation skills
• Strong analytical and report writing skills.
• Capacity to work independently and take initiative
• Demonstrated commitment to delivering timely and high-quality results

How to apply

Interested candidates should submit a detailed CV of maximum four pages in English, a motivation letter and two professional references with full and up to date contact details via email, to: Mr. Akis Papakonstantinou, ICMC HR Officer.

The closing date for receipt of applications is 05/04/2024.

The Vacancy Notice number ESC_01_GR/24_09 and the applicant’s full name must be quoted in the email subject line.

Applications will be evaluated upon reception and interviews with shortlisted candidates may be conducted before the closing date. Referees may be contacted prior to the interviewing stage.

Data protection

By submitting an application, you agree that ICMC collects and manages the information that you provide. You also agree that your data may be shared with UNICEF. Your personal information will be used for recruitment purposes only. Your application will be treated with strict confidentiality.

Owing to the volume of applications, ICMC regrets that only applicants short-listed for an interview will be notified.

ICMC is committed to equal employment opportunities for all applicants. ICMC does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, color, national origin, religion, physical or mental ability, marital status and age. Applications will be treated with strict confidentiality.

ICMC is committed to a Zero-Tolerance Policy toward sexual exploitation, abuses and all forms of unlawful harassment, including but not limited to sexual harassment. Screening of applications includes the vetting for records of prior misconduct and reference checking. By submitting your application, you declare your consent for your former employer to disclose any details concerning criminal convictions or misconduct.  ICMC can take other necessary measures to ensure that people involved in substantiated cases of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment are not recruited.