Consultant, Support the Implementation of the Gates Foundation Optimizing ITN Access in Africa and Catalytic Implementation Fund Projects

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 191-member National Societies. The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.”  The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.

The IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (the Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality. At Geneva level, the Health and Care Department’s (HCD) New Strategic Direction 2023 focuses on Health Systems Strengthening and WASH Systems Strengthening through four pillars: Global Health Security, Global Health Protection (UHC), Global WASH Services and Transformative Partnership.

The Global Health Protection (UHC) pillar houses and chairs the Alliance for Malaria Prevention (AMP), a partnership including government, private sector, faith-based and humanitarian organizations, focused on three main activities: (1) coordination of partners involved in insecticide-treated net (ITN) campaign and continuous distribution activities; (2) development of operational guidance for planning and implementing ITN distribution based on an iterative process; and (3) providing technical assistance to national malaria programmes and partners based on requests. AMP’s activities support the achievement of the WHO Global Technical Strategy (GTS) targets for high coverage and use of ITNs. AMP is a workstream within the RBM Partnership to End Malaria. Harnessing the global leadership and management systems of IFRC, AMP is uniquely positioned to support and advance country-level efforts to optimize ITN distribution and ensure that the right nets reach the right people at the right time through both campaign and continuous distribution channels.

In 2023, IFRC/AMP was awarded a three-year grant by The Gates Foundation (TGF) focused on optimizing ITN access in the face of limited resources for the fight against malaria. Under this grant, OPITACA, AMP is implementing activities across five workstreams designed to address identified gaps. The primary objectives are to enhance data use for informed decision-making and to leverage digital tools to optimize ITN campaigns. These workstreams ultimately aim to reduce the malaria burden through effective malaria prevention with ITNs.

IFRC/AMP is also implementing the Catalytic Implementation Fund (CIF) to support and expand efforts toward integrated campaign digitalization through a responsive funding mechanism that will enable strategic planning, budgeting, and implementation support for effective deployment of DIGIT HCM in three to four countries. This funding provides an opportunity for national malaria programmes interested in adopting, adapting, or expanding campaign digitalization to apply for support and receive a tailored package based on country capacity and experience with digital platforms and systems.

The purpose of this consultancy is to support the IFRC/AMP malaria team in implementation of activities related to the OPITACA project and the catalytic funding for adopting health campaign management platforms project. The consultant will provide high-quality project coordination, knowledge management, administrative, and reporting support to help ensure that both projects remain on schedule, on budget, and compliant with Gates Foundation and IFRC requirements.

Overall objective

The overall objective of the consultancy is to provide coordination and operational support across the OPITACA and Catalytic funding project, with particular focus on project administration, technical assistance coordination, meeting and event management, expenditure tracking, and reporting.

1. Catalytic funding for adopting health campaign management platforms

The consultant will:

• Support introduction of the catalytic funding for adopting health campaign management platforms to countries and facilitate onboarding of selected countries into the funding mechanism.
• Support selected countries to define the scope of support, develop budgets, identify and engage relevant digital partners, and coordinate overall implementation support.
• Support preparation of monthly progress reports and organization of monthly coordination calls, as well as ad hoc meetings for progress updates.
• Support organization of partner discussions on country support packages, ensuring alignment with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), WHO AFRO, and other digital health stakeholders.
• Maintain an expenditure tracker linking each cost to the approved country ceiling and budget line, and monitor burn rate by country.
• Support quarterly review of the project timeline, deliverables, reporting schedule, and budget against expenditure to identify issues and support corrective actions, as needed.
• Support organization of peer-learning visits and country exchange activities related to implementation of activities under the catalytic funding for adopting health campaign management platforms.

2. OPITACA Project

a) AMP Annual Partners Meeting and Campaign Digitalization Meeting

The consultant will:

• Lead administrative and logistical preparations for the 2027 AMP Annual Partners Meeting and the Campaign Digitalization Meeting.
• Assist in updating and monitoring meeting budgets.
• Create and manage a detailed meeting planning tracker covering tasks, owners, deadlines, and budget lines.
• Support procurement processes, including venue booking, interpretation services, printing, and other related services.
• Assist with purchase of meeting supplies and materials.
• Support coordination with hotels regarding room bookings, airport shuttles, and participant logistics.
• Support travel requests and arrangements for sponsored participants.
• Provide translation support for documents as required.
• Assist in preparation of invitation letters and tracking of RSVPs.
• Support development and management of an event website or registration platform, such as Cvent, including registration monitoring and response to participant queries.
• Support preparation and finalization of meeting materials, including participant kits, name badges, flyers, signage, and handouts.
• Prepare housekeeping slides and consolidate slide decks for each day of the meeting.
• Work with Core Group members and/or technical assistance providers to capture Zoom Q&A and summarize meetings on a daily basis.
• Support distribution of participant materials and badges.
• Support updates to the digital platform or event website, including the agenda, speaker biographies, and related information.
• Coordinate with the interpretation company to ensure slides are shared and displayed correctly.
• Support venue and interpretation technical teams to ensure smooth operation of hybrid and virtual meeting elements, where applicable.
• Support development of daily participant emails and meeting surveys/feedback forms.
• Provide general on-site support as needed to ensure smooth delivery of sessions.
• Prepare post meeting evaluation survey summary and support development of post-meeting reports.

b) Technical Assistance Support and AMP Coordination

The consultant will:

• Support administrative and logistical organization of AMP-organized trainings and events, including SBC trainings and DIGIT HCM trainings.

• Support coordination, deployment, and tracking of AMP technical assistance providers across funding mechanisms.
• Update the AMP TA tracker to record support provided, including light-touch support, backstopping, and full TA.
• Ensure TA providers update their individual trackers on a monthly basis to monitor days used and remaining.
• Support preparation of contracted service agreements between IFRC and relevant parties, including drafting TORs, preparing budgets, and developing or finalizing agreement templates.
• Support organization of AMP TA monthly calls.
• Support AMP weekly calls by sending invitations, uploading sitreps to the AMP website, taking minutes, and disseminating minutes via the Mailchimp mailing list.

c) Reporting and Financial Coordination

The consultant will:

• Contribute to preparation and finalization of quarterly, narrative, and financial reports under the OPITACA grant.
• Consolidate reports submitted as deliverables under contracted service agreements to support invoice processing.
• Liaise with the assigned finance focal point to update the OPITACA Year 3 expenditure tracker.
• Support preparation of technical and financial updates for internal and donor reporting purposes, as required.

Examples of deliverables that will be requested:

The consultant will be expected to deliver the following:

• Compiled documentation and required inputs for selected countries under the catalytic funding project, including campaign timelines, budgets, MOUs, eGov diagnostic checklists, and related materials.
• Monthly progress reports in PowerPoint format highlighting progress in CIF implementation.
• Action-oriented minutes from monthly Gates Foundation and internal calls, circulated within three working days.
• Periodic financial tracking updates and technical reports on catalytic funding, as requested for donor and internal purposes.
• Administrative and coordination support for successful implementation of the AMP Annual Partners Meeting and Campaign Digitalization Meeting.
• Post-meeting reports, including key outcomes, lessons learned, participant feedback, and implementation challenges.
• Updated TA tracker and related coordination documentation.
• Updated OPITACA Year 3 expenditure tracker and supporting financial coordination inputs.

Time allocation

85 working days from 01 May 2026 to 15 October 2026.

Notes

• The consultancy will include travels.
• The consultant will be contracted by the IFRC and the standard contractual terms will apply.

Required

• An advanced university degree in public health, global health, international development, project management, social sciences, business administration, or a related field.
• A first university degree in one of the above fields may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree, provided it is combined with additional relevant professional experience.

Required

• Relevant professional experience in project coordination, grants management, programme support, or technical assistance in global health, public health, humanitarian, or international development setting.
• Experience supporting donor-funded projects implementation, preferably with exposure to Gates Foundation or similar donor requirements.
• Experience in meeting and event coordination, including logistics and participant management.
• Experience in grant/project budget monitoring and expenditure tracking.
• Strong reporting experience particularly with Gates Foundation or similar donor requirements.
• Strong documentation, and knowledge management skills.
• Prior experience supporting malaria, ITN campaign implementation, digital health, or health campaign digitalization projects is highly desirable.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously.

Required

• Fluent / excellent written and spoken English and French are required - mandatory.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, particularly Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is mandatory; familiarity with digital collaboration and registration platforms is an advantage.

Application Instructions

• Please submit your application in English only.
• Please indicate your daily rate in your cover letter.