Timor-Leste has made remarkable progress in improving health service delivery over the last two decades. Nonetheless, some health outcomes and service indicators continue to lag behind regional and income peers, and significant challenges remain. Large disparities in health service availability, delivery, quality, accessibility, utilization, and outcomes are also observed along the urban–rural and socioeconomic spectrum. In addition, the share of all deaths due to communicable diseases and maternal, prenatal, and nutritional conditions is significantly higher than the average for the regional and income group peers. Timor-Leste faces a severe malnutrition challenge, with stunting affecting 47% of children under five, alongside persistent wasting, anemia, and poor child feeding practices, underscoring major risks to health, human capital, and long-term development.
Objectives and Scope of Work
The World Bank Timor-Leste Health Nutrition and Population (HNP) team is seeking to hire a Senior-level health specialist as a short-term consultant (STC) to provide hands-on support for the operational and analytical work as part of the World Bank HNP team.
The STC will support the following two distinctive areas of work: (1) the World Bank's Nutrition and Food Security Subnational Governance Initiative by helping pilot and institutionalize a municipality-level nutrition performance tracking and action-planning model in Ermera, in close coordination with national and local stakeholders. The role focuses on strengthening subnational capacity for planning, budgeting, monitoring, and coordination through use of core nutrition indicators, while supporting monitoring, learning, and collaboration to ensure evidence-based and sustainable nutrition investments, and (2) the preparation process of the Strengthening Emergency and Pandemic Preparedness in Timor-Leste' (STEPP-TL) Project led by the World Bank.
Key Responsibilities
A. Nutrition Governance
- Support the development and delivery of NFS-SGI training materials and capacity-building workshops for national and subnational stakeholders
- Provide hands-on support for quarterly joint monitoring of Ermera's NFS KPIs, including assisting with data collection, quality assurance, KPI review and presentation, and facilitated discussion
- Provide technical assistance to municipal authorities on data analysis and presentation, organization of quarterly NFS coordination meetings (planned in July and October 2026), data review and facilitated discussion on KPIs, development of immediate and medium-term action points, and report writing
- Support logistical arrangements for workshops, meetings, and training sessions, including preparation of presentations, banners, and management of government per diems and taking notes to be shared with the core team
- Support planning for dissemination of NFS-SGI pilot outcomes, provide technical inputs for documentation of lessons learned, and facilitate stakeholder engagement
- Support additional tasks as needed by the Task Team
B. STEPP-TL Project Preparation
1) Government and Stakeholder Engagement
- Help facilitate coordination and dialogue with the Government of Timor-Leste, specifically, MoH, MoF, MALFF, as well as the concerned autonomous agencies, focusing on challenging topics such as setting up internally agreeable project implementation arrangements
- Assist MoH, MoF, and MALFF and their focal points in advancing the preparation of required operational documents by liaising with the World Bank specialists
- Organize and participate in technical meetings, consultations, and preparation missions
2) Technical Inputs to Project Design
- Contribute to the development of design of project components, results framework, and indicators, drawing on country context and lessons from similar projects
- Support the process of establishing OneHealth and Project Steering Committees including the revision of TORs and legalization of its status within the Government structures
- Support MoH, MoF, and MALFF and their focal points in drafting the Project Operations Manual (POM)
- Provide inputs to technical specifications/terms of reference (TOR) for goods, works, or consultancy services to be finalized by GoTL and financed under the project, as needed
3) Technical and Coordination Support to the Ongoing Surveys/Analytical Work
- Provide necessary support and inputs to the vendors who are commissioned to conduct the laboratory service survey such as organizing dissemination processes
Expected Deliverables
The consultant shall prepare a timesheet that lists deliverables, tasks, and inputs they engage in every four hours. The timesheet noted above will be submitted before payment. Working hours per day shall be set at eight hours.
A. Nutrition Governance Work
- KPI tracking reports: Prepare and submit summary of KPI tracking results through periodic monitoring visits (one summary report to be submitted before each quarterly municipal coordination meeting)
- Quarterly coordination meeting outcome reports: Prepare and submit summary of quarterly NFS coordination meetings in Ermera (one summary report to be submitted after each quarterly municipal coordination meeting)
- Technical materials: Provide technical inputs to learning materials, KPI review and action plan documents, including ensuring quality and accuracy of translated materials, ensuring alignment with national priorities and best practices
- Dissemination strategy and results: Draft a written dissemination plan outlining the process, target audiences, communication channels, timelines, and roles and responsibilities, and submit a summary note on outcomes of the dissemination events
B. STEPP-TL Project Preparation Related Work
- High-quality inputs into the operations documents such as Project Appraisal Document (PAD), TORs, etc., for the STEPP-TL Project
- Participation to all key meetings involving GoTL during project preparation and follow-on communication to the World Bank team
- Draft Project Operations Manual (POM) to be prepared in collaboration with GoTL and the World Bank specialists
- Support any ad-hoc tasks requested by the World Bank team necessary for preparation of the STEPP-TL Project
Qualifications
- Advanced degree (Master's or equivalent) in public health, health policy, health systems, or a related field
- A minimum of 15 years of professional, relevant experience working with the Government of Timor-Leste and international development organizations, primarily on health issues in Timor-Leste
- Demonstrated project management and coordination experience engaging with the Ministry of Health and other government counterparts
- Strong analytical and report-writing skills
- Ability to analyze the country context and operating environment using deep local knowledge and translate findings into actionable project design recommendations
- Proficiency in Tetum and English (written and spoken)
Behavioral Competencies
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; ability to work effectively in a multicultural team
- Results-oriented, with ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks under tight deadlines
- Integrity and discretion in handling sensitive information
Duration
The STC is assigned 100 days in FY27 between July 1 and December 31, 2026.
Reporting
The STC will receive guidance from and report to Lander Bosch (Economist, HEAH1) and Naoko Ohno (Senior Health Specialist, HEAH1) for the STEPP-TL Project related tasks and Kyoko Okamura (Senior Nutrition Specialist, WKHH1).
How to Apply
Interested candidates may share their updated resumes with Naoko Ohno at [email protected], using the subject line: Short Term Consultant – Local Senior Health Specialist.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
