ET Consultant - Medical Countermeasures Specialist

Job #:
req37485

Organization:
World Bank

Sector:
Health/Nutrition/Population

Grade:
EC2

Term Duration:
1 year 0 months

Recruitment Type:
Local Recruitment

Location:
Washington, DC,United States

Required Language(s):
English

Preferred Language(s):
French

Closing Date:
7/28/2026 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

The Health Policy and Regulation team within the Global Health Directorate is responsible for the normative, policy, and regulatory frameworks that underpin the WBG's global health agenda. It houses four dedicated programs: Mission 1.5 Billion Health Beneficiaries (health service delivery, health financing, and healthy longevity); Policy and Regulation of Mixed Health Systems (PPPs, health sector value chains, and the Health for Jobs agenda); Mission 66 Resilient Health Systems (health emergency preparedness, response and resilience, climate change, and public health and disease prevention); and Nutrition. Together, these programs generate the evidence, norms, and policy tools that guide both WBG country operations and broader global health policy dialogue.

A Central Program Implementation Unit (PIU) reports jointly to both Managers and serves as the operational bridge between the two global units, managing portfolio and pipeline, Health Compacts, CPF upstream engagement, and regional outreach. Two cross-cutting layers - Methods, Impact Measurement and Innovation and Digital and AI - provide foundational technical support to all programs within the Directorate.

Opportunity

Within the Health Policy and Regulation team, the Resilient Health Systems team advances the World Bank's work on HEPPR, health system resilience, and emergency-ready primary health care (ERPHC) through knowledge generation, capacity building, and support to regional and country teams. In parallel, the Private Sector Policy and Regulation team focuses on improving access to health products and strengthening the efficiency of key health value chains. A critical pillar of both teams' work is strengthening pharmaceutical systems, including regulatory systems, procurement and market shaping, resilient supply chains, local manufacturing of medical products, and access to medical countermeasures (MCMs). This agenda has grown in strategic importance in the context of pandemic preparedness and response, as well as broader health security and equity objectives, including the Africa Initiative for Medical Access and Manufacturing (AIM 2030).

The Health Policy and Regulation team is seeking an Extended Term Consultant (ETC) to provide technical and analytical support across pharmaceutical policy areas-including regulation, procurement, supply chains, and local manufacturing-with a focus on World Bank operations, country diagnostics, and global knowledge work.

The objective of this assignment is to provide technical, analytical, and operational support to strengthen pharmaceutical systems, advance the local manufacturing agenda, and improve access to medical products. This includes support to World Bank country operations, country-level diagnostics, global knowledge generation, access to medical countermeasures, and coordination on the Africa Initiative for Medical Access and Manufacturing (AIM2030).

DUTIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

Analytical Work and Knowledge Generation
• Contribute to the development of country pharmaceutical diagnostics, including assessments of regulatory systems, supply chains, and market dynamics.
• Support analytical work linking pharmaceutical systems to jobs and skills development, particularly in the context of local manufacturing.
• Support the development and finalization of at least two to three analytical or knowledge products (e.g., policy briefs, working papers, and technical notes) on pharmaceutical value chains and related systems topics.
• Contribute to the development of technical assessments and policy inputs on workforce development and skills requirements for pharmaceutical manufacturing, informing approaches to skills gap analysis and capacity-building interventions.
• Contribute to the organization of Community of Practice (CoP) and related knowledge and learning events.

Technical and Operational Support to Country Programs
• Provide technical inputs to World Bank country teams on pharmaceutical systems strengthening, including pharmaceutical and related industrial policy, regulatory systems strengthening and harmonization (including alignment with WHO standards, the Global Benchmarking Tool [GBT], and regional harmonization initiatives), procurement strategies and frameworks, supply chain and logistics systems, pharmaceutical skills and capacity development, and financing.
• Contribute to regional discussions on regulatory convergence, local manufacturing, and access to health products for routine and emergency contexts.
• Provide technical support for the design, appraisal, and preparation of World Bank-financed projects, including Project Appraisal Documents (PADs) and technical annexes related to pharmaceutical systems components.
• Contribute to the development of results measurement frameworks, including data collection, monitoring, and evaluation for pharmaceutical systems components of World Bank projects.

Medical Countermeasures
• Provide inputs to pandemic preparedness and response operations, particularly on access to MCMs, emergency procurement mechanisms, resilient supply chains, and stockpiles.
• Provide support to Bank teams to advance planning and financing for access to MCMs, including pooled procurement, as part of the broader health resilience and sovereignty agenda.
• Provide technical support to the Pandemic Preparedness and Response Team on access to medical countermeasures, aligned with the at-risk financing and emergency-ready primary health care agenda.
• Contribute to the design and implementation of simulation exercises (SIMEX) to improve access to MCMs during health emergencies.

Coordination with IFC on AIM2030 and Local Manufacturing Agenda
• Support the coordination of AIM 2030 operationalization, including facilitating meetings, technical consultations, and stakeholder workshops.
• Support World Bank-IFC collaboration on pharmaceutical sector development, contributing to analytical work on local manufacturing ecosystems, including the identification of investment gaps and capacity constraints across the value chain.
• Support the operationalization and implementation of AIM 2030 activities, including:
• Regional initiatives (e.g., regulatory harmonization, pooled procurement, stockpiling, and MCM planning).
• Country-level interventions (e.g., regulatory strengthening, supply chain development, and workforce skills).
• Facilitate multi-stakeholder engagement, including public-private dialogue and technical working groups, to align regulatory, industrial, and workforce development priorities with private sector investment and market needs.
• Support preparation of presentations, briefing notes, and internal and external communications for Front Office, as needed.

Stakeholder Engagement and Global Dialogue
• Participate in global and regional fora related to access to medicines and medical countermeasures (e.g., emergency approvals, stockpiling, and deployment).
• Engage with governments, development partners, and private sector stakeholders.
• Contribute to policy dialogue on pharmaceutical regulatory strengthening, procurement systems, and supply chain management.

Selection Criteria

The ideal candidate for this position will be a highly motivated professional with a background in pharmaceutical policy, regulatory systems, procurement, or supply chains, and experience working on pandemic preparedness and medical countermeasures. Successful candidates will have strong interpersonal skills, the ability to work effectively as part of a team, program management experience, analytical ability, and strong communication and presentation skills.

Education
• Master's degree in Public Health, Pharmacy, Health Economics, Public Policy, or a related field.
• Additional degree related to health products development is a plus.

Experience & Skills
• Minimum 5 years relevant experience in pharmaceutical policy, regulatory systems, procurement, or supply chains.
• Experience working on health systems strengthening and/or global health programs.
• Experience working on pandemic preparedness and response and access to medical countermeasures.
• Strong analytical skills with experience in policy analysis and diagnostics.
• Familiarity with local manufacturing and medical products value chains is highly desirable.
• Experience supporting World Bank or similar development partner operations is an asset.
• Ability to engage in technical discussions at national and global levels.
• Relevant experience working with other international development partners, national regulators, and the private sector.
Languages
• Excellent written and spoken English required
• Additional languages (French in particular) are an asset

WBG Culture Attributes:

1. Sense of urgency: Anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders.
2. Thoughtful risk-taking: Challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact.
3. Empowerment and accountability: Empower yourself and others to act and hold each other accountable for results.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

As per WBG policy, an Extended Term (ET) appointment is subject to a lifetime maximum of three (3) years. Former and current ET staff who have completed or are in the process of completing their third-year ET appointment are not eligible for future ET appointments.