Consultant for NCD Marketplace Assessment (retainer)

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.

Background information - Job-specific

UNOPS provides health infrastructure, procurement and fund management services to our partners (Governments, UN organizations, International Financial Institutions, Funds) in some of the world’s most challenging environments. From constructing hospitals, to procuring pharmaceuticals or medical equipment, UNOPS is working to deliver sustainable health outcomes for millions of people.

In recent years, the demand for health related services from our partners has increased significantly and this has translated into an equivalent increase in the procurement volume of health related goods and services, which in 2020 exceeded $ 450 million in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical and laboratory equipment and consumables.

Among the medicines that UNOPS has certain experience in procuring and supplying, are those related to Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic diseases, tend to be of long duration and are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors. The main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (such as hypertension and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes. NCDs are associated with high levels of morbidity, mortality and disability, responsible for over 40 millions deaths per year constituting 70% of  global deaths. Almost half of the deaths are considered premature occurring in people under the age of 70, with 86% of these premature deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. 

Diverse UN agencies and other international organizations are already involved in the NCD space through various programmes and initiatives, with WHO providing leadership on NCD prevention and control. In this context UNOPS would like to explore and identify the potential opportunities that exist for UNOPS to add value in the NCD marketplace.

Specifically UNOPS would like to: 

• Assess the current NCD medicines and medical devices marketplace including but not limited to size,  players, demand, partnerships, access  technologies and platforms from a development perspective.

• Investigate  NCD medicines access challenges/barrier entries for LMIC countries, existing solutions and status of  uptake/ acceptability, and potential alternative solutions.  

• Investigate  innovator pharma industry,  funding/financing  agencies and other key global health actors perspectives and outlook on the NCD marketplace including appetite for a global supply mechanism, and opportunities for partnership. 

• Conduct a strategic options analysis  for UNOPS in the NCD marketplace for medicines and medical devices in line with its mandate including identifying the potential benefits and barriers and  how they can be maximised  or overcome.

This retainer assignment can be performed home-based, over a 6 months period, not exceeding 30 June 2022. It is estimated that 45 days are necessary to complete the assignment. 

Working together with the Procurement Group Pharmaceuticals Advisor, who is managing the Noncommunicable diseases marketplace assessment project, the selected candidate will be responsible to (time commitment estimated for each task):

1. Produce an inception report which:

• Describes the consultant’s  understanding of the assignment and identifies a reasonable scope for each project objective in order to best answer the question on value- adding opportunities for  UNOPS in the NCD marketplace.   

•  Proposes a detailed approach for the assignment including resource requirements, risks and assumptions, and defines deliverables. 

• Identifies the stakeholders critical to the assignment. 

• Includes a detailed implementation plan with key milestones.

Time frame: Within 4 weeks of starting the assignment. Estimated time commitment- 25 days.

2. Provide oversight and guidance for implementation of the agreed implementation plan

• Review agreed tools, outputs and deliverables. 

• Support implementation of any high-level action.

Timeframe: Within12 weeks of starting this phase of the assignment. Estimated time commitment- 6 days.

3. Undertake the analysis
a. Prepare a strategic options analysis for internal discussion which:

• Summarizes the key findings from the stakeholder engagements. 

• Presents the strategic options available to UNOPS including relevant explanations and justifications in a suitable format. These may include but not be limited to the following options: becoming a central procurement platform for a range of NCD medicines; becoming a “platform provider” to facilitate the NCD marketplace; becoming a procurement agent/ facilitator of certain NCD medicines with or without partnering with selected Pharma companies access programmes; becoming a procurement agent for selected NCD medical devices or technologies. 

• Defines the potential benefits and barriers for each option and how they can be maximised  or overcome.

Timeframe: Within 20 weeks of starting the assignment. Estimated time commitment- 10 days. 

4. Prepare and submit a final project report

• Submit a draft report 

• Incorporate all input, comments  and revisions from UNOPS 

• Submit a final report 

Timeframe: Within 20 weeks of starting the assignment. Estimated time commitment- 4 days. 

Education 

• Advanced Degree (Master’s Degree) preferably in Medicine, Pharmacy, Public Health  or related field.

• A First University degree (Bachelor’s degree) in combination with a minimum of twelve (12) years’ qualifying experience, may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience 

• A minimum of 10 years experience in health system strengthening, NCD programming, health/pharmaceutical sector development or related areas is required.

• Of those, at least five years experience in senior or executive management working on health or medicines policy in the UN, international organisation  or a development agency.

•  Knowledge and insight into the working of the pharmaceutical industry is an asset.

• Good understanding of health sector management and medicines supply systems in low and middle income countries is an asset.

• Good understanding of government strategies, policies and regulations regarding pharmaceuticals both from a development partner perspective and from a beneficiary perspective is an asset. 

• Knowledge of UN policies and procedures would be an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in written and oral English is a requirement

• Knowledge of Spanish and/or French is an advantage