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 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.

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

Position Summary

The Peshawar-based KP Lead for E4H will oversee the programme’s work in the province and deliver the component to high-quality standards in alignment with client expectations. Specifically, working in close consultation with the programme’s Federal component, the KP lead will leverage their networks, governance expertise, and political economy acumen 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 with adequate public sector buy-in and sustainability.

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 department and agency focal points, as well as development partners. With support from a Provincial Coordinator and M&E Officer who have technical bench-depth across E4H outputs, s/he will oversee the development of high quality TA Terms of Reference (TORs) and annual workplans, provide oversight of approved TAs by E4H consultants, ensure timely and high-quality completion of all deliverables, facilitate uptake of TA by government partners and their ongoing buy-in, and oversee 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, who 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.

Responsibilities

• 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 and health. This requires close coordination with the Federal component.
• Negotiate government partner buy-in and expectations for institutional change and capacity building for TA. Cultivate dialogue around institutional capacity strengthening and skill transfer; lead the KP team to design TA activities so that they promote sustainability.
• 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.
• 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. Expertly navigate emerging political economy issues, including during period of election or political unrest. Document risks and escalate acute concerns to the Technical Director and Programme Director.
• Convene E4H’s Steering Committee quarterly and as needed; lead presentations on TA proposals for consideration, TA implementation updates, and other business.
• Oversee the TOR development process for proposed TAs with support from the KP Provincial Coordinator; ensure high quality TOR completion, including that TOR content is strategic and well-time with Federal activities.
• 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.
• Oversee consultant recruitment, including through active engagement during panel interviews.
• 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 progress against TAs routinely to the FCDO team with support from the Provincial Coordinator, highlighting essential advancements in the technical aspects of the project, milestones achieved, key challenges addressed, and future objectives and opportunities.
• Facilitate lesson learning from the programme for government, the E4H team, FCDO and other donors, for wider application in Pakistan.
• 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.

Key Skills and Competencies

• 10-15+ years’ demonstrated expertise in KP’s public service/government, with evidence of experience within the public health sector and governance reforms broadly.
• Evidence of up-to-date understanding of KP’s political economy, and how to navigate ongoing complexity.
• Evidence of robust networks across key stakeholders in the DOH and KP health and 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.
• Proven experience successfully managing teams to achieve intended results.
• Demonstrated understanding of institutional change/reform approaches and methodologies.
• 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.