MID/SENIOR LEVEL NATIONAL STTA – AMR Technical and Sustainability Coordinator / Portfolio Lead

Expanded IHR and AMR Institutionalisation, Surveillance and Portfolio Coordination Support – Workstream 2: Strengthening NIH AMR Secretariat-level Functions (Governance, Surveillance, Laboratory Quality and Evidence-to-Action), National Institute of Health, Islamabad

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

E4H supports antimicrobial resistance (AMR) work at Federal level and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. Following FCDO’s steer, E4H’s Federal IHR and AMR support has been consolidated into one package running to March 2027 with three complementary but distinct workstreams: (1) the ongoing Technical Support to the IHR Secretariat at the National Institute of Health (NIH); (2) a specialist NIH AMR workstream delivered through the AMR Secretariat; and (3) an E4H-level AMR portfolio coordination function across Federal, KP and Punjab.

Workstream 3 is a programme-level function. The AMR Technical and Sustainability Coordinator / Portfolio Lead will view the Federal AMR workstream alongside the provincial AMR investments as one portfolio, while respecting the distinct technical scopes, government counterparts and approval arrangements of each geography. The role is separate from both the IHR and Federal AMR delivery teams and does not replace geography-specific TA leads or government counterparts.

Problem Statement

E4H’s Federal, KP and Punjab AMR investments each have distinct technical scopes, counterparts and approval arrangements. Without a dedicated programme-level function, there is a risk of fragmented planning and quality assurance, unclear partner boundaries with UKHSA/IHRSP, WHO and others, inconsistent AMR inputs to programme/QPR and FCDO reporting, limited cross-geography learning, and unclear institutional ownership and continuity of priority AMR functions beyond March 2027.

Goal and Objective(s)

The overall goal of Workstream 3 is to provide programme-level technical coordination and assurance across E4H’s Federal, KP and Punjab AMR investments, including cross-geography coherence, quality assurance, technical consolidation of AMR inputs for programme/QPR reporting, risk/resource oversight, sustainability and learning.

We will achieve this by pursuing four objectives:

Objective 1: Portfolio strategy and coherence – manage Federal, KP and Punjab AMR work as one coherent portfolio with clear sequencing, dependencies, milestones, partner boundaries and learning priorities.

Objective 2: Technical quality and delivery oversight – provide senior technical QA and monitor delivery, TOR compliance, results, risks and use of consultant LOE across AMR workstreams.

Objective 3: Government, FCDO and partner engagement – serve as E4H’s senior AMR technical focal point and lead technical consolidation of AMR inputs for programme/QPR reporting and FCDO updates.

Objective 4: Sustainability, risk and learning – maintain consolidated oversight of sustainability, institutional ownership and transition, and capture and apply cross-geography learning.

Scope of Work and Methodology

The Coordinator will provide strategic, technical and management oversight across E4H’s AMR work in Federal, KP and Punjab. The role will not duplicate day-to-day technical delivery by the Federal or provincial teams, and will consolidate inputs without merging geography-specific accountabilities.

Portfolio strategy and coherence: Convert the approved AMR approach and geography-specific TORs into a consolidated portfolio workplan/results view covering Federal, KP and Punjab, with clear sequencing, dependencies, milestones, partner boundaries and cross-geography learning priorities. Maintain coherence across Federal and provincial AMR work while allowing context-specific adaptation, and recommend reprioritisation where government demand, feasibility, partner activity or emerging evidence changes.

Technical quality and delivery oversight: Provide senior technical QA of major AMR products and delivery oversight across AMR workstreams; monitor TOR compliance, workplans, MoVs, milestones, results, risks and use of consultant LOE. Guide deployment and use of specialist expertise and LOE, resolve cross-team dependencies and technical inconsistencies, and escalate material delivery, quality or scope issues to the E4H Team Lead with clear options.

Government, FCDO and partner engagement: Serve as E4H’s senior AMR technical focal point where portfolio-level engagement is required, and support geography leads on senior-level approvals, bottlenecks and partner coordination. Maintain clarity of roles with UKHSA/IHRSP, WHO and other partners, and lead technical consolidation of AMR portfolio inputs for E4H programme/QPR reporting and FCDO updates.

Sustainability, risk and learning: Maintain consolidated oversight of portfolio risks, sustainability, institutional ownership, capacity transfer, financing/partner pathways and post-TA responsibilities. Systematically capture and facilitate cross-geography learning across Federal, KP and Punjab, and identify approaches for adaptation or replication without overriding local scope, technical accountability or government ownership.

Key deliverables: 

• Consolidated AMR Portfolio Stocktake and Workplan (within 15 working days of mobilisation): Federal/KP/Punjab priorities, responsibilities, dependencies, milestones, partner boundaries, key risks, resource/LOE view and cross-learning priorities; approved by the E4H Team Lead and shared with FCDO.

• Biweekly AMR Portfolio Update: biweekly presentation to FCDO covering Federal/KP/Punjab progress, results, QA status, risks, decisions, government ownership, partner actions, cross-learning and upcoming milestones, with technical AMR inputs to QPR/programme reporting and an action log.

• Quarterly Progress Report – AMR: on the standard E4H template, covering TA progress, challenges, risks, mitigation, next steps, programme management, financial and VfM, and sustainability and institutionalisation updates; submitted to E4H leadership and FCDO within timelines.

• Final AMR Portfolio Transition and Sustainability Assessment (by March 2027): cross-geography ownership, capacity transfer, continuity of priority functions, financing/partner pathways, lessons and sequenced next actions; approved by the E4H Team Lead and used for FCDO close-out/transition reporting. 

Sustainability: Capacity Building, Institutionalisation, and/or Transition Planning: Each AMR workstream will co-develop tools, analyses, workflows and functions with government counterparts and progressively transfer them to the appropriate government owners. The Coordinator will maintain portfolio-level oversight of this process, tracking institutional ownership, capacity transfer and financing/partner pathways across Federal, KP and Punjab. Workstream 3 will assess sustainability across the wider E4H AMR portfolio and identify cross-geography lessons, government/partner continuity pathways and any functions requiring continuation, adaptation or handover beyond March 2027, concluding with a consolidated end-of-period AMR transition and sustainability assessment with sequenced next steps.

Timeline and Days: The proposed LOE is 95 days from October 2026 to March 2027, subject to final mobilisation, contracting and confirmation from client.

Requirement

Technical Expertise:  

• Advanced degree in a field relevant to AMR, public health, health security, epidemiology, microbiology, infectious diseases, pharmacy, health policy/management or health systems.
• At least 12 years of progressively responsible experience in public health/health systems/health security, including substantial senior-level experience in AMR or closely related communicable-disease programming.
• Proven experience leading multidisciplinary teams or complex multi-workstream/multi-geography technical assistance and engaging senior government officials, regulators and development partners.
• Strong understanding of Pakistan’s Federal and provincial health systems, AMR institutions and sustainability/transition considerations.
• Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

 Competencies: 

• Strategic and portfolio-level thinking, with ability to manage multiple geographies as one coherent portfolio;
• Senior technical quality assurance and results-based monitoring of TOR compliance, milestones and LOE;
• Stakeholder engagement and diplomacy with government, FCDO and development partners;
• Excellent synthesis and reporting skills for consolidated programme/QPR and donor reporting; and
• Ability to identify risks early, propose clear options and drive sustainability and transition planning.