Local Consultancy: Health Economist for Nutrition Public Finance Individual Consultant NEW

Local Consultancy: Health Economist for Nutrition Public Finance

Job no: 592476

Contract type: Consultant

Duty Station: Manila

Level: Consultancy

Location: Philippines

Categories: Nutrition

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture., coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, sustained public investment in nutrition

UNICEF has been an active partner of the Government of the Philippines and civil society in realizing the rights of every Filipino child, in line with priorities to achieve the SDGs. UNICEF efforts have been focused on the most vulnerable regions identified by the Government of the Philippines Development Plan, particularly in the regions of Visayas and Mindanao. To ensure that interventions are sustainable and scaled up, UNICEF will support both the national and local government units (LGUs) as the main instruments of delivering services and building systems. The level of engagement with government institutions will consider capacities, economies of scale and sector issues.

UNICEF Philippines has two offices. One office is based in Manila and a field office in Cotabato City, the second largest city in Mindanao, Southern Philippines, with some 300,000 population. The city is the regional administrative center of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and over 80 percent of the population is Muslim. Mindanao is both conflict-affected and prone to frequent earthquakes and typhoons.

Visit this link for more information on Philippine Country Office: https://www.unicef.org/philippines /

How can you make a difference?  

The consultant will perform the following tasks under the supervision of the Nutrition Specialist, in close coordination with the Social Policy Specialist at the UNICEF Philippines Country Office and relevant program officers in the UNICEF Mindanao Field Office (Health and Nutrition Specialist, Nutrition Officer, and Social Policy Specialist) 

Coordination and Technical Support of the Nutrition PFM Workstream   

Provide technical leadership and coordination support to government agencies (NNC and GB members, PhilHealth, DBM, PIDS), LGUs, development partners (World Bank, ADB, SUN network) and other institutional contractors (HCA) to ensure alignment of the PCO Nutrition PFM workstream with the CNF commitments  

Support UNICEF staff in ensuring that guidance is provided in aligning CNF-funded PFM workstreams are aligned with PMNP and national frameworks 

Provide TA in technical working groups and inter-agency committees on nutrition financing by reviewing and validating methodologies, ensuring rigor, quality, and consistency of analytical outputs, and contributing to the development/updating of frameworks and tools 

Costing and Expenditure Reviews  

Provide Technical oversight for the Regional Plan of Action for Nutrition (RPAN) Costing in BARMM 

Building on the previous UNICEF-supported PPAN-ECN costing work, provide TA in the preparations for and during budget hearings where costing will be used and/or presented . 

Update of PPAN-ECN costing using the new 2024 Census as base population 

Support costing and resource requirements for provincial and local nutrition action plans in priority provinces and PMNP municipalities. 

Liaise with, provide technical oversight to, and review outputs of the institutional contractor that will do the Fiscal Space Analysis and Public Expenditure and Institutional Review   

Nutrition Budget Tagging and Tracking and Program Convergence Budgeting  

Convene and facilitate dialogues to ensure alignment on budget tagging at the national and local level 

 including support to policy consultation and review workshops to establish a Nutrition Budget Tracking Framework for national and sub-national levels (building on the current PIDS-UNICEF NBT framework) 

 Provide coordination support and technical comments to the planned work on Programme Convergence Budgets(PCB) ECD (focused on nutrition-relevant interventions in PCB ECD) 

Advocacy  

Drafting of Annual Nutrition Budget Briefs 

Provide technical inputs to evidence and knowledge products in Nutrition PFM, including but not limited to: 

Fiscal space analyses 

PEIR  

Business cases (e.g., cost of inaction on nutrition) 

Support conduct and coordination of policy dialogues with relevant government for the dissemination of evidence and knowledge products 

Capacity Building and Institutionalization  

Provide technical guidance in the design and development of capacity building  approaches, tools, and materials on nutrition PFM, ensuring alignment with national frameworks and standards. 

Conduct technical review and quality assurance of training modules and materials developed by UNICEF, government counterparts, or institutional contractors. 

Support and, where strategic, co-facilitate selected capacity-building activities and workshops, particularly those requiring technical inputs on PFM tools and analytical approaches. 

Establish mechanisms within NNC for regular collection, analysis, and presentation of nutrition finance data alongside programme performance indicators. 

Support integration of financial monitoring into national reporting systems (FHSIS, MELLPI, HOMIS). 

Tasks:

Inception and Workplan

Technical Oversight the BARMM RPAN costing (institutional contract) and residual support to the PPAN-ECN Costing 

Support costing and resource requirements for provincial and local nutrition action plans in priority provinces and PMNP municipalities. 

Support to ECD Program Convergence Budgeting 

Nutrition Budget Tagging (NBT)  

Capacity building oversight – national agencies 

Drafting of Annual Nutrition Budget Brief 

Cross-cutting oversight and coordination 

Technical oversight to the PEIR and Fiscal Space Analysis  

Closure and Drafting of Final Report 

Deliverables:

Inception report including 

(i) consultancy workplan; 

(ii) technical oversight and quality assurance framework/ plan for CNF-financed PFM activities across modalities (institutional contracts, other consultants, UNICEF direct implementation)

Quarterly Progress Report that include links to below sub-deliverables:

Updated PPAN-ECN costing using the new 2024 Census as base population, with documented assumptions and methodological adjustments

Technical inputs to budget hearings and costing presentations (e.g., key messages, economic justification, support on actual presentation)

Reviewed and validated costing outputs for provincial and local nutrition action plans in priority areas

1-2 Policy dialogues supported for scoping and development of policy, accountability, and results framework on Programme Convergence Budgets (PCB) ECD (focused on nutrition-relevant interventions in PCB ECD)

Support to CoE Nutrition PFM Mission

Quarterly technical coordination reports consolidating progress across CNF-financed PFM activities that include links to below sub-deliverables:

Draft NBT policy note and implementation roadmap validated with NNC, DBM, BLGF; technical guidance to ensure institutional contract deliverables align

Policy consultation and review workshops supported to establish a Nutrition Budget Tracking Framework for national and sub-national levels

Scale up of Child Budget and Expenditures Tagging and Tracking (CBETT) to target municipalities supported

Quarterly technical coordination reports consolidating progress across CNF-financed PFM activities that  include links to below sub-deliverables:

At least 1 national workshop convened; capacity-building materials reviewed for technical quality and consistency across modalities

Technical review notes and technical endorsement of comprehensive costing reports; 

Consolidated policy brief and presentation for advocacy BARMM MOH-BNC

2026 Nutrition Budget Brief

Final technical coordination Report that include links to below sub-deliverables:

Technical Review Notes for the draft FSA and PEIR design and initial output of institutional contractor

Summary of Support and Policy Recommendations for Nutrition PFM in the country

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:   TOR-Health Economist- Nutrition PFM redacted.pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…  

Minimum requirements:

Education:

Advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Health Economics, Public Finance, Economics, or related field. A PhD in a relevant discipline is an asset 

Work Experience:

At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in public financial management, budget analysis, or costing of health/nutrition programmes. 

Demonstrated experience in leading or providing technical oversight of analytical work (e.g., costing, expenditure analysis, fiscal space analysis, or similar). 

Experience working with government systems and institutions, preferably in low- and middle-income country contexts. 

Skills :  

Expertise in PFM and health economics, including costing, budgeting, expenditure reviews, fiscal space analysis, budget tagging methodologies

Advanced analytical and quantitative skills, including proficiency in spreadsheets and relevant modelling tools for economic and financial analysis

Demonstrated ability to review, validate, and ensure quality of analytical outputs, including methodologies, assumptions, and policy relevance.

Proven experience in translating technical analysis into policy-relevant insights and recommendations, including preparation of high-quality technical reports, policy briefs, and presentations.

Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with demonstrated ability to work effectively with government agencies, development partners, and technical working groups on financing reforms.

Ability to manage and coordinate multiple workstreams while ensuring technical coherence and alignment across contracts, consultants, and UNICEF-led activities. 

Strong communication and facilitation skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English required; fluency in Filipino and other Philippine languages an asset. 

How to Apply

Qualified candidates are requested to complete an online candidate profile in http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/ by 24 April 2026 . Only applications sent through the e-recruitment portal will be considered.

By applying through our Talent Management System (TMS) you agree to our privacy statement which is in line with the Philippines’ Data Privacy Act. You are strongly advised to read carefully through the privacy statement before submitting your application.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children.  The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone , irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the results

Advertised: 17 Apr 2026 Singapore Standard Time
Deadline: 24 Apr 2026 Singapore Standard Time

Tagged as: Assessment, Capacity Building, Consultant, Leadership, Nutrition, SME

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