Consultant – IT Systems and Data Extraction Tool Developer

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1. Background The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) supports Member States in strengthening health systems to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) and other health-related Sustainable Development Goals. Within AFRO, the Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) Department provides strategic and technical leadership to improve the performance, equity, and resilience of health systems across the Region. The Health Financing and Governance (HFG) unit, under the HSS Department, leads work in areas including health financing policy, public financial management for health, health governance, accountability, economic analysis and system-wide health financing reforms.
The WHO Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), is implementing a three-year initiative entitled “Financing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Africa: Spending Data, Financial Accountability, and Regional Learning.” The initiative aims to strengthen the availability, quality, and use of SRHR expenditure data to support policy dialogue, accountability, and sustainable financing for SRHR in the African Region.
Under Objective 2 of the project, WHO AFRO seeks to strengthen cross-sectoral tracking of expenditures on health and SRHR by leveraging Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS) and public financial management (PFM) systems. The project will develop and pilot a mechanism to identify, extract, and map health- and SRHR-related expenditures across sectors into the System of Health Accounts (SHA 2011) framework. WHO will develop and pilot a prototype extraction tool capable of extracting expenditure data from Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS) and mapping these data to SHA 2011 classifications for SRHR expenditure analysis.
The purpose of this consultancy is to design, develop, and support the piloting of a prototype digital tool capable of extracting and mapping expenditure data from Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS) to the SHA 2011 classifications for health and SRHR expenditure tracking purposes.
The consultancy will require close collaboration with the Public Financial Management (PFM)/IFMIS and Health Expenditure Tracking Expert responsible for the conceptual and methodological aspects of the work, as well as with national technical teams in pilot countries, including ministries of finance, ministries of health, IFMIS units, and national health accounts teams.

Objectives

The specific objectives of the consultancy are to:
• Design the technical architecture and interoperability framework for a prototype IFMIS expenditure extraction and mapping tool.
• Develop a functional digital solution capable of extracting, tagging, and mapping expenditure data to SHA 2011 classifications and SRHR expenditure categories.
• Work closely with the PFM/IFMIS and Health Expenditure Tracking Expert to translate conceptual and methodological requirements into operational digital functionalities.
• Collaborate with country technical teams in pilot countries to ensure the tool is adapted to country-specific IFMIS structures, chart-of-account systems, and operational contexts.
• Support testing, refinement, and troubleshooting of the tool during pilot implementation in selected countries.
• Contribute to technical documentation, user guidance, and recommendations to facilitate future scale-up and institutionalization of the tool within country systems.

Scope of Work

Under the overall guidance of the team lead, and the technical supervision of the technical officer in charge of resource tracking, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:
4.1. Design system architecture and technical specifications
• Review the functional requirements and conceptual framework developed under Objective
• Design the technical architecture for the extraction and mapping tool.
• Define interoperability requirements with country IFMIS systems and other relevant databases.
• Propose appropriate technical approaches for secure extraction, tagging, and classification of expenditure data.
4.2. Develop prototype extraction and mapping tool
• Develop a prototype tool capable of extracting expenditure data from IFMIS datasets and financial reporting systems.
• Integrate expenditure tagging and mapping functionalities aligned with SHA 2011 classifications and SRHR expenditure categories.
• Develop automated mapping and classification functionalities for expenditure analysis.
• Ensure the tool is adaptable to country-specific chart-of-account structures and public financial management systems.
4.3. Collaborate with technical experts and country teams
• Work closely with the PFM/IFMIS consultant to ensure alignment between methodological design and technical implementation.
• Participate in technical discussions with WHO AFRO, WHO Headquarters, and country stakeholders.
• Engage with ministries of finance, IFMIS units, ministries of health, and national health accounts teams in pilot countries to understand country-specific system requirements.
• Incorporate feedback from country teams and technical experts into tool development and refinement.
4.4. Support testing and pilot implementation
• Support installation, testing, and demonstration of the prototype tool in selected pilot countries.
• Troubleshoot technical issues encountered during piloting.
• Refine and improve the tool based on pilot testing results and operational feedback.
• Support preparation of pilot implementation reports and technical presentations.
4.5. Documentation and user support
• Prepare technical documentation and system specifications.
• Develop user manuals and training materials.
• Support user orientation and demonstration sessions.
• Document lessons learned and recommendations for future scale-up.

2. Deliverables

The consultant will be expected to deliver the following outputs:
• Inception report and detailed development roadmap.
• Technical architecture and interoperability specifications document.
• Prototype extraction and mapping tool.
• Functional tagging and automated classification module integrated into the tool.
• User documentation and technical manuals.
• Training and demonstration materials.
• Pilot testing and refinement report.
• Final technical report including recommendations for future scale-up and institutionalization.

3. Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications:

Essential:
Advanced university degree (master’s level or above) in computer science, software engineering, information systems, data science, information technology, or another related field.

Desirable:
• Specialized certification or training in software development, systems integration, database administration, cloud computing, interoperability frameworks, or public information systems.
• Additional knowledge or training related to health information systems, public financial management systems, or data analytics is an asset.

Experience
Essential:
• Minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible professional experience in software development, systems integration, database management, or data engineering.
• Demonstrated experience designing and developing analytical, extraction, or interoperability tools.
• Experience working with large, structured datasets, relational databases, and automated data extraction processes.
• Proven experience translating technical requirements into operational digital solutions.

Desirable:
• Experience working with Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS) or government financial databases.
• Experience developing digital tools for expenditure analysis, budgeting, accounting, or public sector reporting.
• Familiarity with National Health Accounts (NHA), SHA 2011, or health financing information systems.
• Experience supporting multi-country or international technical projects, preferably in low- and middle-income countries.
• Experience working with UN agencies, WHO, governments, or development partners is an asset.

4. Skills/Knowledge:

• Strong programming and software development skills.
• Strong understanding of database structures, APIs, systems interoperability, and automated data extraction processes.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams, including technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to adapt technical solutions to country-specific operational contexts.
• Strong communication and documentation skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver quality outputs within agreed timelines.

5. Languages and level required (Basic/Intermediate/Advanced):

• Excellent command of English is required, with demonstrated ability to write reports. Working knowledge of French is required for effective collaboration and understanding of technical materials in pilot countries. Bilingual French and English are preferred.

6. Technical Supervision

The consultant will report to the team lead, Health Financing and Governance unit, HSS Department. Day-to-day technical supervision will be undertaken by the technical officer in charge of resources tracking.

7. Location

Off-site – Home based

8. Travel

The consultant is not expected to travel

9. Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded):

Band B (USD 8,500 per month) for four months.

10. Additional Information:

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for 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.
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• Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.
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• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority. The execution of the work under a consultant contract does not create an employer/employee relationship between WHO and the Consultant.
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For roster VNs:
• The purpose of this vacancy is to develop a list of qualified candidates for inclusion in this advertised roster. All applicants will be notified in writing of the outcome of their application (whether successful or unsuccessful) upon conclusion of the selection process. Successful candidates will be placed on the roster and subsequently may be selected for consultancy assignments falling in this area of work or for similar requirements/tasks/deliverables. Inclusion in the Roster does not guarantee selection to a consultant contract. There is no commitment on either side.