Director, WHO Academy

World Health Organization - WHO | Staff | HQ/ACD WHO Academy
Closing: 16 Jan 2026 6 days remaining
Location: Lyon, France

Overview

Lead the WHO Academy in providing strategic, technical, and operational leadership across health workforce development, including nursing and midwifery, and lifelong learning. Scale competency-based education and digital learning innovations.


Tasks Summary
  • Lead the Department in providing strategic, technical, and operational leadership across health workforce development, including nursing and midwifery, and lifelong learning
  • Formulate and steer evidence-based global policies and strategies to strengthen national health workforce planning, education, regulation, and retention systems
  • Provide overall leadership, management accountability, and direction to ensure delivery of the Department's objectives
  • Scale competency-based education and digital learning innovations through the WHO Academy platform
  • Ensure the effective functioning of learning systems and advance the Department's contribution to WHO's corporate digital transformation
  • Lead the articulation of a clear departmental vision
  • Provide senior level technical advice and expertise to Senior Management
  • Champion the global visibility and contribution of nursing and midwifery professions
  • Direct and lead the establishment and development of evidence-based policies and strategies
  • Oversee monitoring, evaluation, and global reporting
  • Coordinate global workforce intelligence and reporting mechanisms
  • Oversee building and maintaining strong partnerships and fostering consensus
  • Promote policy dialogue and stakeholder engagement
  • Represent the Organization in global fora
  • Serve as a scientific and technical reference among UN Agencies and key stakeholders
  • Promote integration of Regional and Country Office perspectives and operational capacities
  • Manage a diverse multidisciplinary team
  • Lead and coordinate resource mobilization efforts
  • Provide senior-level advice to WHO leadership
  • Develop and implement innovative training programmes based at the WHO Academy
  • Collaborate with academic institutions and professional bodies
  • Lead initiatives to integrate digital health solutions and e-learning platforms
  • Enhance the enablement of digital technology and AI in training programmes
  • Monitor and evaluate the impact of training programmes
  • Contribute to the raising of Voluntary Contributions
  • Coordinate with high-level representatives from the hosting country and supporting countries

Experience Requirements
  • Experience in leading departments, managing diverse workforces and financial resources
  • Experience in health workforce development, including nursing and midwifery, and lifelong learning
  • Experience in scaling competency-based education and digital learning innovations
  • Experience in developing and implementing evidence-based policies and strategies
  • Experience in monitoring, evaluation, and global reporting
  • Experience in coordinating global workforce intelligence and reporting mechanisms
  • Experience in building and maintaining strong partnerships and fostering consensus
  • Experience in promoting policy dialogue and stakeholder engagement
  • Experience in representing organizations in global fora
  • Experience in managing multidisciplinary teams
  • Experience in resource mobilization efforts
  • Experience in developing and implementing innovative training programmes
  • Experience in integrating digital health solutions and e-learning platforms
  • Experience in enhancing the enablement of digital technology and AI in training programmes
  • Experience in monitoring and evaluating the impact of training programmes

Qualification Requirements
  • Advanced university degree (Masters level or above) in medicine, nursing, public health, health education, or a related field
  • PhD in one of the above-mentioned fields (desirable)
Other Details

Contract Duration: 2 years

Apply on Organization Website


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