Senior Regional Public Financial Management (PFM) Specialist for Global Health Security (Consultant)

About the Company

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop, and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe, broadening access to health, water, power, and infrastructure, and building enduring, sustainable institutions and market systems. We operate in over 90 countries with a diverse workforce.

About the Role

Data.FI is implementing a short-term activity to support partner governments in 2–3 countries in the Asia & Pacific region to strengthen the responsiveness of public financial management (PFM) systems during public health emergencies. The Senior Regional PFM Specialist will provide senior technical leadership and quality assurance across country activities as a high-level technical adviser with targeted engagement at key implementation stages.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior technical oversight and quality assurance across country activities, ensuring methodological consistency and technical rigor across outputs.
• Mentor and backstop country-level PFM specialists and review key deliverables, providing technical input on reports and presentations.
• Develop a standardized approach to bottleneck analysis and financing flow mapping for use across countries and support country teams in conducting financing flow mapping and bottleneck analysis (June–July: ~12 days).
• Contribute to literature review and synthesis of existing COVID-19 financing and PFM analyses as needed, and review/strengthen draft bottleneck analysis reports to identify operational constraints and root causes.
• Provide technical assistance during reform design workshops and consultations, supporting facilitation and consensus-building with Ministries of Finance and Health (July: ~15 days, including travel as needed).
• Advise on feasible PFM reform options, including emergency reallocation rules, contingency financing mechanisms, delegated authority arrangements, and subnational financing pathways.
• Support development and refinement of operational workflows and SOPs to ensure they are operationally realistic and aligned with existing systems.
• Support design of simulation exercises and scenarios and participate in simulation exercise refinement (August: ~5 days).
• Support development and review of final reform packages, country roadmaps, investment cases, and a documented replicable crisis-responsive financing model; ensure outputs are technically sound and suitable for donor and government audiences (September: ~10 days).

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in economics, public finance, public policy, health financing, or related field.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in public financial management, health financing, fiscal policy and/or public sector reform.
• Demonstrated experience supporting government-led PFM reforms in low- and middle-income countries and experience in Southeast Asia and/or Pacific Island contexts.
• Strong understanding of budget execution, treasury systems, emergency financing mechanisms, and decentralized financing systems.
• Experience designing operational workflows, SOPs, or simulation exercises and familiarity with COVID-19 financing and emergency response systems.
• Experience facilitating technical discussions with Ministries of Finance and Health; strong analytical, writing, and mentoring skills.
• Previous experience working with Palladium, USAID, DOS, World Bank, ADB, or similar partners is desirable.
• Current residence in an Asia / Pacific time zone.

Additional Information

• Short-term consultant engagement with targeted days of input across June–September as outlined; number of days and timing subject to change based on country scoping.
• Role may include in-person participation and travel for workshops and consultations.