SENIOR NATIONAL STTA - PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT – TEAM LEAD

E4H KPTA: STRENGTHENING PUBLIC SECTOR INSTITUTIONS FOR MULTISECTORAL SURGE CAPACITY RESPONSE

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 provides technical assistance (TA) to the Federal, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and Punjab governments, and is being implemented by Palladium along with Oxford Policy Management (OPM).

Through its flexible, embedded, and demand-driven model, E4H supports 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 delivers 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.

Background

Pakistan faces recurring public health emergencies that require a skilled multisectoral workforce capable of rapid mobilisation and coordinated response. The 2023 Joint External Evaluation highlighted a critical gap in this area, scoring Pakistan 1 out of 5 for workforce surge capacity during a public health event.

In response, a national multisectoral surge capacity training package has been developed to strengthen workforce readiness through core and role-specific competencies, practical training approaches and simulation-based learning.

However, translating this national package into sustainable provincial workforce capacity requires contextualisation to provincial health systems and emergency response arrangements, alongside stronger institutional capacity to deliver and sustain the training.

Public sector education and training institutions, including medical universities, health services academies and other relevant institutions, provide established platforms for embedding surge capacity competencies within postgraduate and continuing professional education. Targeted technical assistance is therefore required to strengthen faculty capacity and institutionalise the contextualised training within these existing platforms.

Problem Statement

Provincial public sector education and training institutions currently lack the institutional capacity and mechanisms to contextualise, deliver and sustainably embed multisectoral surge capacity training within existing postgraduate and continuing professional development programmes. As a result, surge capacity training remains largely dependent on stand-alone initiatives, limiting its scale, continuity and alignment with provincial emergency preparedness and response requirements.

Despite the growing emphasis on health security and emergency preparedness, surge capacity training is not yet systematically embedded within provincial academic and continuing professional development pathways. Training opportunities may remain dependent on stand-alone or externally supported activities, limiting continuity, scale and institutional ownership.

Goal and Objective(s)

The overall goal of this technical assistance is to establish sustainable institutional capacity within provincial public sector education and training institutions to deliver multisectoral surge capacity training aligned with KP’s emergency preparedness and response needs. We will achieve this by pursuing three objectives:

Objectives

• Objective 1: Contextualise the national multisectoral surge capacity training package to Khyber pakhtunkhwa’s (KP’s) health system, workforce and emergency preparedness and response context.
• Objective 2: Strengthen institutional and faculty capacity to design, deliver and sustain competency-based, multisectoral surge capacity training.
• Objective 3: Institutionalise surge capacity training within relevant postgraduate or continuing professional development pathways, with appropriate mechanisms for quality assurance and continuous improvement.

Scope of Work and Methodology

The technical assistance will support provincial public sector education and training institutions to contextualise the national multisectoral surge capacity training package, strengthen faculty and government capacity to deliver it, and embed surge capacity competencies within relevant postgraduate and continuing professional development (CPD) pathways. The approach will build on the existing national package rather than develop new content in parallel, combining provincial contextualisation, joint academic–government capacity strengthening and institutionalisation. The TA will be delivered through four interlinked phases:

Phase 1: Inception, institutional assessment and stakeholder engagement
The technical assistance will begin with a rapid review of the national surge capacity package and existing institutional arrangements for postgraduate education, CPD and curriculum approval. Consultations with academic institutions, the Department of Health (DOH), Provincial Health Services Academy (PHSA) and relevant multisectoral stakeholders will identify priority workforce competencies, institutional requirements and appropriate entry points for integration. This phase will also establish arrangements for government and development partner engagement, including coordination with relevant Pandemic Fund, WHO and UKHSA-supported initiatives.

Phase 2: Provincial contextualisation and validation
Working jointly with faculty and government stakeholders, the technical assistance will contextualise the national package to KP’s health system, emergency risks, workforce roles and preparedness and response arrangements, while retaining its core competency framework and technical integrity. This will include adapting case studies, scenarios, practical and simulation-based exercises and learning materials to reflect provincial realities and relevant One Health and multisectoral dimensions wherever applicable. The contextualised package will be reviewed and validated with relevant academic, government and technical stakeholders.

Phase 3: Faculty and institutional capacity strengthening
The technical assistance will use a training-of-trainers and learning-by-doing approach to strengthen a core group of faculty and relevant government counterparts in competency-based teaching, facilitation, simulation and tabletop exercises, assessment and practical application of surge capacity competencies. Faculty will progressively co-facilitate sessions and receive structured coaching and feedback, building the capacity to independently deliver and periodically update the training. Joint participation of academic and government stakeholders will also strengthen the connection between classroom learning and provincial emergency preparedness, coordination and deployment functions.

Phase 4: Institutionalisation within postgraduate and CPD systems
The technical assistance will support participating institutions to map surge capacity competencies against relevant postgraduate public health curricula and CPD pathways and determine appropriate options for integration, delivery and assessment. This will include supporting relevant academic and institutional review and approval processes and establishing practical arrangements for continued delivery, quality assurance and periodic updating. The emphasis will be on using existing education and training systems to create a sustainable provincial mechanism rather than a parallel or externally dependent training programme.

Sustainability: Capacity Building, Institutionalisation, and/or Transition Planning

• Capacity building: As described in Phase 3 of the methodology, the technical assistance will establish a core pool of faculty and relevant government counterparts able to deliver competency-based, practical and simulation-oriented surge capacity training. A training-of-trainers and learning-by-doing approach, including co-facilitation, coaching and structured feedback, will strengthen their ability to deliver, assess and periodically update the training independently.
• Institutionalisation: As described in Phase 4, surge capacity competencies will be mapped to relevant postgraduate and CPD pathways and incorporated through existing curriculum, academic and institutional approval processes. Delivery, assessment and quality assurance arrangements will be embedded within established education and training systems, with government and institutional stakeholders involved in validation and oversight.
• Transition and sustainability: Responsibility for routine delivery, faculty development, curriculum review and updating will transition to participating public sector education and training institutions and relevant provincial stakeholders following completion of the TA. The contextualised package, trained faculty and agreed quality assurance arrangements will provide the basis for continued delivery without reliance on E4H-supported implementation.
• Scale-up: The institutional model will provide a pathway for adapting the training for additional CPD programmes and relevant health workforce cadres, in line with provincial and national surge capacity priorities and available institutional resources.

 Timeline and Days

The proposed LOE is 40 days from October 2026 to December 2026, subject to final confirmation from client.

Requirement

Technical Expertise

• Ph.D. in Public Health after MBBS/BDS/medical degree is mandatory.
• Minimum 15 years of relevant experience in public health, including emergency preparedness and response, surveillance, health systems, risk assessment, and evidence-informed decision-making.
• Must have worked for at least 2 years during the last 5 years in a public-sector postgraduate (PG) institution, preferably in KP.
• Demonstrated experience in multisectoral coordination, public health workforce development, training, and use of data for decision-making.
• Strong analytical, planning, communication, coordination, and professional judgement skills.

Competencies

• Strong critical thinking and professional judgement, with the ability to analyse and interpret public health information, solve problems and support evidence-informed decisions; effective multidisciplinary teamwork, coordination and relationship-building skills; clear communication and ability to explain complex concepts; strong planning, organisation, adaptability and attention to detail.