Programme Overview

Evidence for Health (E4H) is a Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)-funded programme aimed at strengthening Pakistan's healthcare system, thereby decreasing the burden of illness and saving lives. E4H (2023-2027) provides technical assistance (TA) to the Federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) governments, and will subsequently operate in Punjab. The KP and Federal component is being implemented by Palladium along with Oxford Policy Management (OPM).

Through its flexible, embedded, and demand-driven model, E4H KP & Federal will support the government to achieve a resilient health system that is prepared for health emergencies, responsive to the latest evidence, and delivers equitable, quality, and efficient healthcare services. Specifically, E4H will deliver TA across three outputs:

Output 1: Strengthened integrated health security, with a focus on preparing and responding to health emergencies, including pandemics.

Output 2: Strengthened evidence-based decision-making to drive health sector performance and accountability.

Output 3: Improved implementation of Universal Health Coverage, with a focus on ending preventable deaths.

E4H works in partnership with the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination (M/o NHSR&C) at the Federal level, and the Department of Health (DOH) in KP.

Position Summary

The Peshawar-based KP Lead for E4H will oversee the programme’s work in the province, working in close consultation with the programme’s Federal component to identify strategic TA, generate demand for emerging or innovative areas of support (e.g., climate-health nexus), and ensure that TA is deployed and fully implemented on time and within budget. To achieve this, the KP Lead holds primary responsibility for liaising closely with the DOH—specifically the Health Sector Reform Unit (HSRU), the Health Secretary, and the Director General Health Services—other government departments and agency focal points, as well as development partners. With support from a Provincial Coordinator and M&E Officer, s/he will be responsible for: developing high quality TA Terms of Reference (TORs) and annual workplans; overseeing the delivery of approved TAs by E4H consultants; facilitating government TA buy-in, uptake, and sustainability writ-large; negotiating institutional change approaches; ensuring timely and high-quality completion of all deliverables; maximising value for money on KP TAs; and overseeing the achievement of payment KPIs and logframe outputs and outcomes.

The KP Lead will report jointly to the E4H Programme Director as well as to the Technical Director. The Technical Director serves as the lead programme representative in Pakistan and oversees E4H’s Federal component. This is intended to foster strong cross learning, strategic linkages, and programme cohesion. The KP Lead will have a dotted reporting line to the Technical Backstopper.

Responsibility

Strategic leadership

• Establish and maintain excellent relationships with key government partners in the DOH and others in the province (e.g., KP Healthcare Commission, Healthcare Foundation, Provincial Health Services Academy, Project Management Unit, Social Health Protection Initiative etc.).
• As lead representative for the programme in KP, liaise regularly with government partners to identify strategic TAs for possible E4H support across its outputs, including in the emerging domain of climate change and health. This requires close coordination with the Federal component.
• Efficiently coordinate and facilitate the FCDO team's meetings with pivotal stakeholders, including arranging discussions with high-level officials like the Minister of Health and the Secretary of Health.
• Liaise with development partners operating in KP—notably the World Bank and the UK Health Security Agency—to identify synergies for TA and avoid duplication of efforts. Build awareness of programme objectives and intended outputs.
• Convene E4H’s Steering Committee quarterly and as needed; lead presentations on TA proposals for consideration, TA implementation updates, and other business.

Technical leadership and quality assurance

• Oversee the TOR development process for all proposed TAs; ensure high quality TOR completion, including that TOR content is strategic and well-time with Federal activities.
• Oversee the successful delivery of TAs by consultants, including through routine check-ins and delegation of management/supervision tasks across the KP team. This includes acting as the accountable party for the timely achievement of TA output and outcome level measures of success and meeting spend expectations against forecast.
• Present technical progress against TAs routinely to the FCDO team, highlighting essential advancements in the technical aspects of the project, milestones achieved, key challenges addressed, and future objectives and opportunities.
• Lead the ongoing assessment of political and contextual issues likely to affect implementation of KP activities, including issues or risks likely to affect achievement of outputs and outcomes. Document risks and escalate acute concerns to the Technical Director and Programme Director.

Buy-in, institutional change, and sustainability

• Negotiate government partner buy-in for TA, including facilitating government engagement during delivery and uptake of TA.
• Cultivate dialogue around institutional capacity strengthening and skill transfer with government partners, agreeing to approaches that will be used by the programme to promote sustainability.

Programme and financial management

• Oversee the rational and accurate costing of all TAs (e.g., human resource and reimbursable requirements) and develop annual costed workplans with support from E4H’s programme management team.
• Ensure the pursuit of value for money across KP activities; value for money should be represented in both TAs proposed, as well as how TA is delivered.
• Support consultant recruitment, including through active engagement during panel interviews.
• Facilitate lesson learning from the programme for government, the E4H team, FCDO and other donors, for wider application in Pakistan.

Key Skills and Competencies

Essential/required

• Postgraduate degree in relevant field, such as Public Health, from a recognised institution  
• 15+ years’ demonstrated expertise in KP’s public health system/sector, including up-to-date understanding of the political economy, state of health security, evidence use, and universal health coverage. Deep subject matter expertise in at minimum one of these output domains is required
• Evidence of robust networks across key stakeholders in the DOH and KP health-adjacent departments/agencies. Proven ability to interact and meaningfully engage with senior government officials
• Existing and strong relationships with KP development partners, particularly the National Health Support Programme and UKHSA
• Experience negotiating government buy-in for technical assistance
• Proven experience successfully delivering TA programmes, including meeting expectations against forecast/budget, logframe/results, and key performance indicators
• Proven experience successfully managing teams to achieve results, including overseeing and quality assuring the work of TA consultants
• Strong written English capability and proven capacity to complete deliverables to high quality standards
• Strong communication skills including the ability to succinctly communicate technical information for diverse audiences

Preferred

• Demonstrated understanding of institutional change/reform approaches and methodologies
• Experience delivering complex TA for FCDO specifically is highly desired