Senior Consultant - Health Economics and Financing

Contract

This is a No grade contract. More about No grade contracts.

Objectives of the Consultancy:

WHO is seeking a Senior Consultant with expertise in the fields of economics and financing to provide the overall technical guidance for the establishment of a functioning Health Economics Cell (HEC) in the Ministry of Health (MoH), Sri Lanka.

The Ministry of Health recognizes the importance of a unit that provides support in evidence-generation and strategic planning for health resources. In this regard, a policy decision was taken to establish a Health Economics Cell (HEC), under the Management, Development and Planning Unit (MDPU) and coordinated by the Directorate of Organization Development (OD).

The HEC is expected to carry out the identification of key health economic policy objectives for the health sector, conduct selected priority economic evaluations, support training and research among others, The HEC will function as the focal point for all health economics related activities of the Ministry of Health and is expected to further promote optimum utilization of resources, improve accountability and allocative efficiency in the health sector.

At this stage, the MDPU has limited human resources and technical capacity to carry out the expected functions of the HEC. The MoH has requested the WHO Country Office to support the initial phase of setting-up the HEC by providing technical support and capacity development interventions in the interim. This will help ensure that the HEC will be able to conduct prioritized activities while the internal capacities are strengthened for the HEC to become independent in the future.

Accordingly, the successful candidate will support in the organizational development of the HEC, build the technical capacity and demonstrate the importance of HEC activities in strategic planning and policy development in health.

Job Description:

Under the general supervision of the Public Health Administrator and in close consultation with the WCO country team, the SSA will work to:

• Provide overall advocacy and technical guidance to the MoH on matters related to health economics and financing

• Facilitate the development of the strategic direction of HEC, particularly in identification of long term and medium term economic policy directives/ objectives for the MoH

• Advice on the development of the governance and the organization structure for the HEC and support its operationalization considering international best practices

• Advocacy and technical guidance on the development of a health financing strategy for Sri Lanka

• Advocacy and technical guidance on conduct of selected economic evaluations including the development of the National Health Accounts

• Design and implement a training for senior level health officials of MoH on applying health economic principles for policy and program planning.

• Advise on research priorities in health economics and promote the conduct of such research activities.

The SSA is expected to work in close coordination with the Deputy Director General (Planning) and Director (Organization Development) of the MoH.

Deliverables

• HEC Strategic Plan, including governance and the organization structure approved by MoH

• Conduct of Capacity building programmes (at least 2) for the senior officials of the Ministry of Health on applying health economic principles for policy and program planning

Education:

Essential: An advanced university degree in economics/finance or related fields from a recognized university

Desirable: PhD or equivalent qualification in economics/finance or related fields. Specialization or training in health economics/ health financing.

Experience:

Essential: At least 15 years of work experience in the area of economic policy development, public finance management and economic analysis in national and international context.

Desirable:

• Experience working with the health sector on health financing and economics.

• Demonstrated experience at the international level

Language Skills:

• Excellent written and spoken English, fluency in Sinhala or Tamil.

Competencies:

• Producing results

• Teamwork

• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences

• Communicating in a credible and effective way

• Ensuring effective use of resources

Annual Salary & others Benefits:

Annual Salary

• Annual salary will be based on Professional Staff local salary pay band

Others Benefits

WHO Offers locally competitive packages such as:

• Health Insurance; Accident and illness insurance through Cigna Insurance;

• Annual Leave (30 days per year)

• Sick leave (7 days per year);

• WHO Holidays

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This Vacancy Notice may be used to fill similar positions at the same level.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

• A written test and interviews will be used as a form of screening

• WHO is committed to workforce diversity.

• WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• This post is subject to local recruitment and will be filled by persons recruited in the local commuting area of the duty station.
• In the event that your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
• For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.
• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.