E4H Punjab TA: HRMIS Gap Analysis, Digital Transformation Strategy and Procurement-Ready Design for an Integrated Human Resources for Health Information System

Programme

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 Punjab and also to the Federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) governments. The Punjab component is being implemented by Palladium along with Oxford Policy Management (OPM).

Through its flexible, embedded, and demand-driven model, E4H Punjab 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-Punjab works in partnership with the Punjab Department of Health (DOH).

Terms of reference

Background

The Government of Punjab, through the Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Department (SHC&MED), is implementing the Punjab Nursing and Health Workforce Reform Program 2026-2030 with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under a Results-Based Lending modality. The programme forms part of the Government of Punjab broader Health Workforce Reform Agenda and aims to strengthen HRH planning, governance, production, deployment, retention and continuous professional development across the province.

Key programme investments include strengthening nursing education and institutional capacity, establishing Nursing Centres of Excellence (CoEs), operationalising the HRH Management Unit, and strengthening digital systems for nursing workforce management. Achievement and sustainability of these reforms require reliable and routinely updated workforce information and sufficient capacity to support planning, management and performance monitoring.

Nursing workforce information is currently held across multiple systems and institutions, including SHC&MED, the Directorate General Nursing Services, the University of Health Sciences, Punjab Information Technology Board, health facilities and other relevant public and private-sector stakeholders. A comprehensive view of this information ecosystem is therefore required to support province-wide nursing workforce planning and future digital investment.

E4H is already supporting the Nursing PIU to strengthen governance and institutional arrangements for the Nursing Centres of Excellence. Building on this engagement, the PIU has requested complementary E4H support to assess the existing nursing HR information ecosystem and establish the strategic and technical foundations for its digital transformation. The proposed TA will undertake an HRMIS gap assessment and international benchmarking, assess business processes and institutional readiness, and develop a government-owned Digital Transformation Strategy and procurement-ready design package for an electronic nursing HR management information system.

Problem Statement

Punjab does not currently have an integrated, government-owned framework for managing nursing workforce information across the workforce lifecycle. Existing systems and datasets are dispersed across public and private institutions, with inconsistent data practices, manual processes, limited interoperability and unclear governance arrangements, constraining the availability and routine use of reliable workforce information for planning and management.

The current information landscape also does not provide a sufficiently consolidated picture of nursing education, production, deployment and workforce flows across relevant public and private-sector institutions, limiting Government’s ability to assess workforce availability and plan future requirements.

At the same time, Government along with ADB intends to invest in strengthening its nursing HR information systems but does not yet have an agreed future-state design, validated system requirements or procurement-ready technical specifications. Without these foundations, future digital investment risks duplication, poor interoperability, weak adoption and unsustainable implementation.

Goal and Objective(s)

Goal

The overall goal of this TA is to strengthen evidence-based nursing workforce planning and management in Punjab by establishing a government-owned Digital Transformation Strategy and procurement-ready design for an integrated nursing HR management information system.

Specific Objectives

1. Assess the current nursing HR information ecosystem across relevant public and private-sector institutions, including systems, data, business processes, governance, infrastructure, interoperability, cybersecurity and institutional readiness.
2. Benchmark relevant national and international practices and define the future-state requirements for nursing workforce information management, including operating arrangements and system requirements for nursing workforce management.
3. Develop a government-owned Digital Transformation Strategy and target operating model, aligned with existing nursing governance arrangements and relevant digital/learning systems, with a phased implementation roadmap.
4. Define the functional, technical, data-governance, interoperability and security requirements for the proposed system and prepare a procurement-ready package, including specifications, evaluation inputs and costed implementation options.
5. Strengthen Government capacity to govern, procure, oversee and sustain the proposed system through structured knowledge transfer, validation and handover.

Strategic Approach

The TA will adopt a government-led, user-centred and phased digital transformation approach, starting from priority workforce-management decisions and business needs rather than technology solutions. The approach will:

• Build on existing Government systems and investments, rationalising current platforms and avoiding parallel or duplicative applications.
• Align with E4H’s ongoing Nursing CoE governance support, ensuring that system ownership, decision rights, reporting arrangements and workforce information flows reinforce the wider governance architecture being developed with the PIU.
• Develop a province-wide nursing workforce information perspective, incorporating relevant public and private-sector data sources where feasible to support nursing production, deployment and workforce-planning decisions.
• Co-create requirements with policy, programme, administrative, facility, academic, technical and end-user stakeholders, with documented validation and decision logs.
• Use a modular and interoperable architecture that permits phased implementation and avoids unjustified dependency on a single product or vendor.
• Apply data-governance, privacy, cybersecurity, accessibility and gender-responsive design principles, proportionate to Government capacity and implementation requirements.
• Align the proposed design and roadmap with ADB programme requirements, Government financing and institutional readiness, distinguishing essential requirements from future enhancements.
• Focus E4H support on assessment, strategy, system design and procurement readiness; procurement, development and deployment of the production system and hardware will remain with Government/ADB-funded implementation arrangements.
• Embed capacity transfer through joint analysis, working sessions, design reviews, practical tools and structured handover.

International benchmarking will be used selectively to inform options and design choices, drawing on relevant WHO guidance and comparable workforce information systems, while ensuring that recommendations remain appropriate to Punjab’s institutional and operational context..

Scope of Work and Delivery Methodology

Phase 1: Inception and Nursing HR Information Ecosystem Assessment

• Review relevant programme, policy, results/DLI, HRH, nursing, digital-health, ICT, data-protection, procurement and institutional documentation provided by the PIU, ADB and other relevant stakeholders.
• Confirm the scope, methodology, workplan, priority information needs and dependencies, including the institutions, nursing cadres, facilities, education entities, systems and interfaces to be covered.
• Map key stakeholders and prepare a consultation plan covering SHC&MED, PIU, HRH Management Unit, DG Nursing Services, UHS, PITB, health facilities, public and private nursing education institutions, professional/regulatory bodies and other relevant data owners and users.
• Review and inventory existing nursing HR databases, applications, reporting arrangements, paper-based systems and related digital platforms across SHC&MED.
• Map end-to-end existing journey of nursing cadres from education and registration through recruitment, deployment, transfers, promotion, training/CPD, attrition and retirement, identifying where key workforce data is available at each stage.
• Assess the existing ecosystem across data availability and quality, business processes, institutional ownership, governance, interoperability, infrastructure, digital readiness, cybersecurity and privacy.
• Assess the availability and feasibility of routinely capturing relevant public and private-sector nursing education and workforce information, including production, deployment, vacancies, attrition, mobility and other priority workforce flows.
• Prepare an Inception Report and Assessment Framework setting out the agreed methodology, workplan, stakeholder engagement arrangements, assessment tools, risks, dependencies and validation approach.

Phase 2: Business Process Mapping, User Needs and Benchmarking

• Map and validate priority As-Is business processes across the nursing workforce lifecycle, including workforce planning, establishment and position management, recruitment, onboarding, posting and transfer, promotion, attendance and leave, performance management, training/CPD, registration/licensing and separation/retirement.
• Identify process gaps, duplication, manual dependencies, data-quality risks, user pain points and opportunities for simplification before digitisation.
• Define priority To-Be business processes, user needs and information requirements in consultation with relevant users.
• Undertake national and international benchmarking of relevant workforce information systems and practices, drawing on WHO guidance and comparable health systems, and assess their relevance to Punjab.
• Prepare a consolidated Gap Analysis and International Benchmarking Report, including an options appraisal and design principles for the future system.

This phase will define the information requirements needed to support nursing workforce planning but will not duplicate the separate WHO’s WISN, staffing-norms or detailed workforce-forecasting workstream proposed under the wider PIU/ADB programme.

Phase 3: Digital Transformation Strategy and Conceptual Design

• Define the future-state vision, intended outcomes and priority functions for nursing HR information management in Punjab.
• Develop a target operating model setting out institutional and system ownership, HR functional ownership, data stewardship, technical oversight, service management, accountability and change-control arrangements.
• Align the proposed governance arrangements with the HRH Management Unit and E4H-supported Nursing CoE governance work, avoiding parallel structures and ensuring coherence across the wider nursing reform programme.
• Develop the high-level enterprise architecture and HRMIS/LMS conceptual design, showing how the proposed nursing HRMIS will connect or exchange data with existing/planned LMS/CPD platforms and other relevant Government systems.
• Define the approach for maintaining and updating relevant public and private-sector nursing workforce information where institutionally and legally feasible.
• Develop a Digital Transformation Strategy and phased implementation roadmap, setting out priorities, sequencing, institutional responsibilities, dependencies, decision points and indicative resource requirements and cost estimates.

Phase 4: Functional, Data, Technical and Security Design

• Define and prioritise the functional requirements of the proposed nursing HR management system, including personnel records, establishment and positions, recruitment and onboarding, deployment and transfers, promotion and career history, attendance and leave, performance management, training/CPD, registration/credentials, separation/retirement, reporting, dashboards and analytics.
• Define the key non-functional requirements, including usability, accessibility, availability, performance, scalability, maintainability, auditability and business continuity.
• Develop the required data architecture and standards, including core data definitions, reference data, unique identifiers, data-governance requirements and reporting requirements.
• Define interoperability and authorised data-exchange requirements with relevant Government, facility, payroll/finance, education, registration/licensing, LMS/CPD and other agreed systems.
• Develop the approach for data readiness, cleansing and migration, including source mapping, deduplication, validation and reconciliation requirements for future implementation.
• Define appropriate cybersecurity, privacy, access-control, hosting, backup and recovery requirements.
• Develop wireframes or low-fidelity prototypes for priority workflows, dashboards or reports where useful to validate requirements with users.

Phase 5: Procurement Package, Implementation Readiness and Handover

• Prepare complete Functional Requirements Documents (FRDs), System Requirements Specifications (SRS) and a requirements traceability matrix based on the validated system design.
• Prepare procurement-ready, vendor-neutral technical specifications and bidding documents, including the statement of work, implementation scope and phases, bidder requirements, deliverables, service levels, acceptance criteria, warranty/support requirements and indicative payment milestones.
• Develop technical evaluation criteria and scoring frameworks, including minimum qualification requirements and relevant demonstration or proof-of-concept requirements, in line with applicable Government procurement processes.
• Prepare indicative cost estimates and implementation options, clearly identifying assumptions, exclusions, recurrent costs and affordability considerations.
• Define key requirements for future implementation, including governance, testing, data migration, training, change management, quality assurance and transition.
• Validate the final strategy, system design and procurement package with PIU, SHC&MED and relevant technical stakeholders and incorporate agreed revisions.
• Provide technical workshops, advisory support and structured knowledge transfer to PIU, SHC&MED, the HRH Management Unit and designated counterparts to strengthen Government capacity for procurement and implementation oversight.
• Prepare a capacity-building and handover plan and submit all final specifications, models, tools and supporting documentation in editable formats for Government use.

The TA will support assessment, strategy, system design, procurement readiness and Government capacity building. It will not procure hardware or software, develop the production system, or undertake system deployment; these activities will be taken forward through Government/ADB-funded implementation arrangements.

Sustainability and Institutionalisation

Sustainability will be anchored within the existing Government of Punjab and ADB-supported Nursing and Health Workforce Reform Programme, rather than through a parallel or consultant-dependent arrangement. The PIU within SHC&MED will remain the principal Government counterpart for taking forward the proposed system, with relevant SHC&MED, DG Nursing, HRH Management Unit and technical entities assigned clear roles for its future governance and management.

The TA will:

• Define clear institutional ownership and accountability for nursing HR functionality, data stewardship, system management, information security, procurement oversight and ongoing system operations, aligned with existing Government structures and the wider nursing governance reforms.
• Ensure that the proposed HRMIS is integrated with relevant Government systems and institutional arrangements, including the HRH Management Unit, Nursing CoE governance arrangements and relevant LMS/CPD platforms, rather than creating parallel systems or governance mechanisms.
• Develop the system design, specifications and implementation roadmap in a manner that enables Government and the ADB-supported programme to take forward procurement, hardware/software investment and implementation through available and planned programme resources. E4H support will therefore focus on ensuring that these investments are technically sound, appropriately scoped and procurement ready.
• Define the recurrent financing and total-cost-of-ownership requirements for future operation, maintenance, hosting, support, upgrades and system sustainability, and reflect these within the phased implementation roadmap.
• Strengthen the capacity of PIU, SHC&MED and designated technical counterparts through joint working, technical workshops, procurement advisory support and structured knowledge transfer, enabling Government to oversee procurement, implementation, data governance and future vendor performance.
• Ensure that all final strategies, specifications, data definitions, tools and procurement documents are government-owned, editable and formally handed over, with clear responsibility for their future use, maintenance and updating.

Deliverables

1. Inception Report and Assessment Framework: Agreed scope, methodology, workplan, stakeholder engagement plan, assessment framework, priority information needs, risks and dependencies for the assignment.
2. Nursing HRMIS Gap Analysis and International Benchmarking Report: Assessment of the existing nursing HR information ecosystem, end-to-end nursing workforce journey, business processes, data, systems, governance, interoperability and institutional readiness, with relevant national/international benchmarking and priority gaps identified.
3. Digital Transformation Strategy, HRMIS/LMS Conceptual Design and Implementation Roadmap: Government-owned future-state strategy covering the target operating model, governance arrangements, enterprise architecture, HRMIS/LMS conceptual design, priority system requirements, interoperability, data standards, cybersecurity, implementation sequencing and indicative cost requirements.
4. Procurement-ready tender and handover package: Final SRS and FRDs; vendor-neutral technical specifications and bidding documents; evaluation and acceptance criteria; cost estimates; implementation-readiness requirements; and capacity-building, knowledge-transfer and handover package.

Position Title:

HRMIS & Digital Transformation Team Lead (Senior International/National)

Duty Station: Lahore (with travel as required)

Duration / LOE: October 2026 – March 2027 (LOE 80 days – subject to change until the start of the TA)

Reporting To: E4H Programme Team / SHC&MED PIU

Role Purpose

Provide overall technical leadership for the assessment, strategic design, and procurement readiness of an integrated Nursing Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS), ensuring alignment with Punjab’s Nursing and Health Workforce Reform Programme and Government digital transformation priorities.

Key Roles & Responsibilities

• Lead overall technical delivery and quality assurance of the HRMIS TA.
• Oversee ecosystem assessment, stakeholder engagement, and business process analysis.
• Lead development of the Digital Transformation Strategy, target operating model, and enterprise architecture.
• Guide preparation of procurement-ready functional and technical specifications.
• Coordinate technical inputs across all specialist workstreams.
• Lead validation workshops, knowledge transfer, and institutional handover.
• Ensure alignment with Nursing CoE governance, HRH Management Unit, and ADB programme priorities.
• Undertake other TA-related tasks assigned by E4H or SHC&MED.

Requirements

Technical Expertise

• Master's degree or higher in Information Systems, Digital Health, Public Health, HR Management, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Minimum 15 years of overall professional experience.
• Experience leading HRMIS assessments, digital-government initiatives, public-sector information systems, workforce information management, requirements analysis, and digital transformation assignments.
• Experience supporting government reform programmes and strategic planning exercises preferred.

Core Competencies

• Strategic leadership
• HRMIS assessment and planning
• Digital transformation strategy
• Stakeholder engagement
• Governance analysis
• Procurement preparation
• Technical writing and quality assurance