Roster PAHO Consultant - , Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) for Epidemic and Outbreak Preparedness and Response

Organizational Context

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Job Purpose

To provide technical and strategic support to strengthen infection prevention and control (IPC) preparedness and response capacities for epidemics, outbreaks, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR)-related events in health care and community-facing response settings, including outbreaks of multidrug-resistant pathogens, neonatal outbreaks, and emerging resistance mechanisms.

Responsibilities

Provide technical guidance on IPC preparedness and response for epidemic- and outbreak-prone diseases. Support investigation, risk assessment, and containment of outbreaks involving multidrug-resistant pathogens in health care settings. Develop, review, and disseminate IPC and AMR-related guidelines and tools. Contribute to preparedness assessments and readiness planning for national IPC and AMR programs. Design and deliver capacity-building activities, training, and mentoring on IPC measures. Facilitate coordination between IPC teams, laboratories, AMR surveillance systems, and other stakeholders. Provide remote or in-country technical support for outbreak investigations and response operations. Support monitoring, documentation, and reporting of IPC and AMR preparedness and response activities. Support the PAHO virtual course on hospital outbreak investigation and response. Provide technical expertise to PAHO Incident Management System (IMS) response teams during outbreaks.

Work Experience

Nine years of progressively responsible experience in infection prevention and control, preferably including AMR, outbreak preparedness, health emergency response, health care-associated infection prevention, or communicable disease control in national or international public health settings. Demonstrated experience supporting IPC programs, outbreak readiness assessments, and implementation of IPC measures in hospitals and other health care facilities. Experience supporting prevention, investigation, or containment of health care-associated outbreaks caused by multidrug-resistant organisms. Experience developing technical guidance, training materials, standard operating procedures, or operational tools for IPC, AMR, and outbreak response. Experience working with high-risk hospital services (e.g., neonatal, intensive care, oncology, surgical, long-term care) is an asset. Experience in preparedness and response activities for epidemic-prone diseases (e.g., Ebola, influenza, COVID-19, RSV) is an asset.

Skills

Strong technical knowledge of IPC principles and practices for outbreak preparedness and response, including epidemic-prone pathogens and AMR threats. Practical knowledge of standard, contact, droplet, airborne, and enhanced precautions, including PPE, isolation, cohorting, triage, patient flow, environmental controls, and terminal cleaning. Knowledge of AMR, health care-associated infections, multidrug-resistant organisms, emerging resistance mechanisms, laboratory alert pathways, and the interface between IPC, AMR surveillance, and antimicrobial stewardship. Ability to assess IPC and AMR readiness, identify gaps, interpret surveillance and laboratory information, and formulate recommendations. Strong facilitation, training, mentoring, and simulation design skills. Excellent technical writing skills. Ability to work effectively in multicultural, multidisciplinary, and emergency response environments. Capacity to coordinate with ministries of health, health facilities, PAHO country offices, technical partners, and other relevant bodies. Analytical ability to synthesize information into actionable recommendations. Autonomy, sound judgment, adaptability, and results-oriented approach.

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