PAHO Consultant - Roster - Band B - Strengthening National Regulatory Systems for Medicines and Other Health Technologies in the Region of the Americas

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OBJECTIVE OF THE OFFICE/DEPARTMENT This is a requisition for employment at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) Contractual Agreement: Non-Staff - International PAHO Consultant Job Posting: April 8, 2026 Closing Date: June 14, 2026, 11:59 PM Eastern Time Primary Location: Off Site Organization: IMT Innovation, Access to Medicines and Health Technologies Schedule: Full time PURPOSE OF CONSULTANCY The Quality and Regulation Unit (IMT/QR) seeks to establish a roster of qualified professionals to support its technical cooperation activities in the strengthening of national regulatory systems for medicines and other health technologies. DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES: Terms of Reference Consultant Roster - Strengthening National Regulatory Systems for Medicines and Other Health Technologies in the Region of the Americas (Spanish version below) Primary Location: Off Site (remote) Organization: IMT - Innovation, Access to Medicines and Health Technologies Schedule: Full time OBJECTIVE OF THE DEPARTMENT The Department of Innovation, Access to Medicines and Health Technologies (IMT) is responsible for promoting, coordinating, and implementing technical cooperation to improve equitable access to health technologies, including medicines, vaccines, medical devices (including diagnostics and assistive products), and human-derived products, among others. IMT supports countries and territories in identifying and overcoming barriers to access across the health technology lifecycle, working in an inter-programmatic manner and in collaboration with key partners. Within IMT, the Quality and Regulation Unit (IMT/QR) provides technical cooperation to strengthen the regulatory capacity of health technology systems by promoting international standards, accompanying countries in capacity assessment processes, supporting the development of institutional development plans, and strengthening human resources competencies. IMT/QR promotes regulatory harmonization and convergence in the Region through the Technical Secretariat of the PANDRH Network and the leadership of regional networks and technical groups, articulating regional priorities with international initiatives and standards, and contributing to greater regulatory efficiency. It also provides technical support to the Regional Revolving Funds through the definition and updating of technical criteria, and the evaluation and oversight of the quality of health technologies and eligible suppliers, contributing to quality assurance, supply continuity, risk management, and trust in regional procurement mechanisms. BACKGROUND The Region of the Americas faces complex challenges in ensuring equitable access to quality, safe, effective, and affordable health technologies. Strengthening national regulatory systems is critical to addressing these challenges and ensuring that regulatory frameworks support public health needs. This roster will contribute to the ongoing technical cooperation with Member States to enhance regulatory capacity, harmonization, and convergence across the Region, in line with PAHO's Biennial Work Plan (BWP) Outcome 2.3: Access to health technologies, innovation, and production. In 2022, the 30th Pan American Sanitary Conference adopted the Policy to Strengthen National Regulatory Systems for Medicines and Other Health Technologies (CSP30.R12). This policy emphasizes the importance of robust regulatory systems to ensure the efficacy, safety, and quality of health technologies while promoting regulatory convergence and reliance. Consultants hired through this roster will support the implementation of CSP30.R12 by assisting Member States in strengthening regulatory frameworks, enhancing regulatory functions, and fostering collaboration through regional and subregional mechanisms. A central component of this work is the use of the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT). The GBT provides a structured approach to assess the maturity of national regulatory systems and guide their continuous improvement through the development of Institutional Development Plans (IDPs). The GBT evaluates regulatory systems based on 268 sub-indicators, organized under nine core regulatory functions: 1. National Regulatory System (RS): Overall structure, governance, and sustainability of the national system. 2. Registration and Marketing Authorization (MA): Evaluation and approval of medicines and other health technologies before market entry. 3. Vigilance (PV): Monitoring the safety and performance of products post-marketing. 4. Market Surveillance and Control (MS): Oversight of product quality and enforcement actions. 5. Licensing Establishments (LE): Regulation of facilities involved in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of health technologies. 6. Regulatory Inspections (RI): Evaluation of good practices compliance, including Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). 7. Laboratory Testing (LT): Use of quality control laboratories to ve