Medical Facilities Infrastructure Engineering International Consultant with UNICEF in Uzbekistan

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, health!

Background
To improve the quality of care for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) services, the Ministry of Health, in partnership with UNICEF, UNFPA, and WHO, is implementing a nationwide initiative across 230 perinatal centres. This effort focuses on addressing critical gaps in maternal and perinatal care by enhancing the availability of medical equipment and strengthening the skills of healthcare professionals.

A key component of this initiative is a comprehensive Maternal and Perinatal Care program, supported by UNICEF, UNFPA, and WHO. To ensure the success of this program, 75 percent of its funding has been allocated to procuring essential medical equipment for perinatal centres. However, before these facilities can receive the new equipment, necessary infrastructure improvements must be made to ensure readiness.

To assess the current state of the facilities, a thorough evaluation was conducted across all 230 perinatal centres. This assessment examined the availability and functionality of existing maternal and perinatal equipment, as well as the adequacy of infrastructure to support new installations. An engineering report provided specific recommendations for necessary upgrades to make these centres fully prepared.

To oversee and support the implementation of these recommendations, UNICEF is seeking an international engineering consultant. The consultant will play a crucial role in monitoring and ensuring the quality of preparatory works, verifying compliance with UNICEF guidelines, and confirming that the facilities are properly equipped to accommodate the new medical equipment.

Scope of Work:

The Ministry of Health will carry out infrastructure improvements in 230 perinatal centres based on actionable recommendations provided by UNICEF. This work is essential to ensure that the facilities are properly equipped to accommodate life-saving medical equipment. The international consultant will play a key role in providing technical advisory support, helping to interpret UNICEF’s engineering reports and recommendations for local engineers, design institutes, construction companies, and other technical staff engaged in the project.

Under the overall guidance of the Programme Officer: Procurement Services, and with the Chief of Health and Development the international consultant will:

Service Description – Tasks – Deliverables

Facility Readiness Monitoring

1. Managing and overseeing the daily activities of two UN national engineers – Oversee personnel management, provide training on monitoring tools, plan site visits, track progress, hold weekly meetings, and resolve issues – Statement of time and effort.

2. Overseeing and monitoring facility readiness to ensure compliance with engineering recommendations while providing UNICEF with guidance on potential risks affecting timelines and work quality – Supervise sites with support from local engineers, monitor progress, quality, and compliance with national and international health and safety standards. Liaise with local authorities if required. Identify and address inconsistencies in the work – Trip report with photos / recommendations; Quarterly Ishonch progress reports; Online Ishonch tracking system.

3. Supervise quality control and manage the delivery, installation, and acceptance of life-saving equipment as planned – Ensure quality assurance and control by overseeing the loading, unloading, and delivery of equipment to designated healthcare facilities in collaboration with the Logistics Consultant and the local UNICEF team. Supervise the preparation of facilities for equipment installation, testing, and acceptance by health facilities. Promptly identify and report any discrepancies or irregularities in the equipment distribution process -Acceptance reports signed by the beneficiary perinatal centre management.

4. Compile and document best practices in Ishonch infrastructure engineering within perinatal centres – Develop a Best Practice Guide by preparing a Lessons Learned / Best Practices Report and providing recommendations for national standards in perinatal facility infrastructure. This guide will cover key areas, including: Electrical and power systems (primary, secondary, and tertiary power, ATS systems, diesel generators, voltage stabilization, electrical distribution boards, grounding, UPS systems, circuit breakers, and residual current devices); Medical gas and air systems (oxygen generators, oxygen ramps, and medical air systems); Facility utilities and infrastructure (sockets and bed head systems, equipotential systems, toilets and showers, hot and cold water systems, sanitation and sewerage, grey water systems); Accessibility and safety (access ramps, lift systems, fire detection and alarm systems, video surveillance) – Best practice guide.

5. Create a national perinatal infrastructure database to systematically track and monitor the condition of perinatal healthcare facilities -Medical Infrastructure database National database application for perinatal infrastructure condition. The idea is to move beyond Kobo / Excel to have a more robust system the MoH can use for long term monitoring of medical infrastructure. The system would be highly flexible (able to define flexible indicators for any type of infrastructure) and open source (i.e. public access) for use in other countries or other similar infrastructure monitoring e.g. school infrastructure monitoring. System would a high degree of filtering of parameters (e.g. those that meet infrastructure conditions and those that do not). System would have basic levels of access control (viewer, user, administrator, super admin). Suggested tool Laravel – Minimum viable proof of concept prototype application on open-source platform e.g. GitHub

Provide Technical Support to Procurement (on need basis)

1. Technical Support to Procurement (on need basis) – As needed, provide comprehensive technical assistance for all aspects of contract procurement, including the acquisition of essential equipment such as generators. This support will involve analyzing needs versus existing gaps and developing distribution plans to ensure efficient and effective resource allocation – Statement of time and effort; Technical specifications of items to be procured (e.g. generators)

Provide Technical Support to Data Analysis

1. Support on data analysis best practices – Conduct training sessions for UNICEF Health and Education staff on key data methodologies. The training will cover survey design, sampling techniques, data types, and common operational datasets, along with the use of standard indicator banks. Participants will also receive guidance on Mobile Data Collection (MDC) methods, data cleaning processes, and advanced data analysis techniques, including pivot tables, Power Pivot, and large data models for effective data management and decision-making –
Training report; Training materials; Statement of time and effort.

Support the Ministry of Education with National Climate Resilient WASH in Schools Initiative Launch

1. Support to MoE on WASH – Baseline assessment and monitoring tool; Programming of Kobo MDC (Mobile Data Collection Tool) for use by schools in self-assessment of new Climate Resilient WASH in Schools Guidelines – Kobo Tool based on Climate Resilient WASH Guidelines.

2. User manual. Develop user manual for schools on how to use the Kobo tool to carry out the self-assessment – User manual for Climate Resilient WASH Kobo tool.

3. Training of Regional Education Departments. Deliver Zoom training for 14 Regional Education Departments – Training PPTs; Training report

4. Data analysis and baseline report. Undertake the initial data analysis and write baseline assessment report with recommendations for MoE – Excel file with Data Analysis on 80+ Climate Resilient WASH Indicators. Report with Recommendations

Support to UNICEF Programme Development, design, and implementation

1. Support to UNICEF – Develop key documents/reports to inform programme priorities. Coordinate with government counterparts and partners to support effective programme implementation and provide technical guidance as needed. Review documents and technical papers, providing inputs to strengthen programme design and implementation. Support resource mobilization efforts by contributing to proposals, donor reports, and strategic engagements -1 page summary of work done and deliverables produced.

Performance indicators for evaluation of results:

The performance of work will be evaluated based on the following indicators:

• Completion of tasks specified in ToR.
• Compliance with the established deadlines for submission of deliverables.
• Analyze and manage provided and accessible data and materials with minimal supervision.
• Quality of deliverables.
• Demonstration of high standards of work.

Contractual modalities:

• Location: The consultant will be mainly home-based, with 4 country visits to Uzbekistan
• Payment: UNICEF will issue a contract in USD. The payment will be made in USD by bank transfer following the acceptance of the deliverable by the supervisor.
• Reporting: The consultants will be supervised by and will report to Programme Officer: Procurement Services

Travel International (if applicable): It is planned that the consultant will have 4 trips to Uzbekistan for a minimum of 15 working days (21 total days) each.
Travel Local (please include travel plan): It is planned that the consultant will have local trips to the 14 regions of Uzbekistan with 1/2 days per Region each per visit.
Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) should not exceed UN established rates. For more details on UN DSA rates please follow the link: https://icsc.un.org/.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in civil engineering or a related field. 
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in international engineering projects.
• Experience in perinatal facility renovation / medical infrastructure engineering.
• Experience analyzing national level datasets and producing national level reports.
• Experience training in data collection and analysis methodologies including mobile data collection (Kobo).
• Experience of working with UN agencies.
• Experience writing national level engineering sector guidelines.
• Previous experience working in Uzbekistan is considered an asset.
• Ability to work independently.
• Excellent writing skills. At least one national report with large database analysis must be presented.
• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
• Knowledge of Russian is an asset.

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 jobs-near-me.org 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.