Director, Academy

Overview

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME:
The strategic objective of the WHO Academy integrating Health Workforce, Nursing programme is to ensure everyone has access to competent, motivated health and care workers enabled by investments in decent jobs and working conditions, high-quality, innovative and sustainable learning systems, and supported by an empowered WHO workforce. Accelerating progress toward equitable, resilient and gender-responsive health systems contributes to a healthier and fairer future for all.

• 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, strengthen accreditation standards, promote health worker certification models, and align learning pathways with national health goals.
• 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 in coherence with organizational strategy and ensure its operationalization through robust performance management practices.
• Provide senior-level technical advice and expertise to Senior Management to position the Department and Organization as a leader in health workforce, including nursing and midwifery, and lifelong learning.
• Champion the global visibility and contribution of nursing and midwifery professions by leading normative work, professional advancement, regulation, and leadership capacity building.
• Direct and lead the establishment and development of evidence-based policies and strategies for roll out and delivery across Regional and Country Offices.
• Oversee monitoring, evaluation, and global reporting to ensure alignment with key performance indicators and Sustainable Development Goals.
• Coordinate global workforce intelligence and reporting mechanisms, including the State of the World's Health Workforce and Nursing reports.
• Oversee building and maintaining strong partnerships and fostering consensus with Member States, UN agencies, donors, academic institutions, and global initiatives such as the Global Health Workforce Network.
• Promote policy dialogue and stakeholder engagement across sectors to position the health workforce as a central component of resilient health systems.
• Represent the Organization in global fora to advocate investment in workforce competencies and learning systems.
• Serve as a scientific and technical reference among UN Agencies and key stakeholders in the health workforce and nursing.
• Promote integration of Regional and Country Office perspectives and operational capacities into the Department's programmes.
• Manage a diverse multidisciplinary team, fostering a results-oriented, inclusive culture, and ensure efficient use of resources.
• Lead and coordinate resource mobilization efforts that strengthen WHO's presence and impact at regional and country levels.
• Provide senior-level advice to WHO leadership supporting coherent implementation of health workforce and education priorities across the Organization.
• Perform all other related duties as assigned.

• Develop and implement innovative training programmes based at the WHO Academy with career-long learning for health professionals, focusing on leadership, clinical skills, and public health.
• Collaborate with academic institutions and professional bodies to ensure the curriculum meets global standards and addresses emerging health challenges.
• Lead initiatives to integrate digital health solutions and e-learning platforms into the training programmes.
• Enhance the enablement of digital technology and AI in training programmes and the development of the Health Care Workforce to improve healthcare quality.
• Monitor and evaluate the impact of training programmes on health workforce performance and patient outcomes.
• Contribute to the raising of Voluntary Contributions for work directly related to WHO's Core Mandates, the agreed strategic direction and focused areas of work.
• Coordinate with high-level representatives from the hosting country and supporting countries for WHO Academy and Health Workforce to ensure active engagement and continuous support.

• Master's level or above in medicine, nursing, public health, health education, or a related field (Essential).
• PhD in one of the above-mentioned fields (Desirable).
• Additional qualifications and experience in education and health workforce development (Desirable).

• Minimum of 15 years of professional experience in managing groups of health workers, including medical…