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:
November 6, 2026
Closing Date:
November 17, 2026, 11:59 PM Eastern Time
Primary Location:
Off Site
Organization:
DHE Social and Environmental Determinants for Health Equity
Schedule:
Part time
PURPOSE OF CONSULTANCY
1. Background
The “Utopías” (Unidades de Transformación y Organización para la Inclusión y la Armonía Social) are a flagship social and urban innovation strategy implemented by the Government of Mexico City, particularly in the Iztapalapa district. These multifunctional spaces integrate culture, sports, environment, health, and community services in order to promote social cohesion, violence prevention, gender equity, and well-being at the community level.
The Utopías model has gained national and international recognition as a comprehensive, inclusive approach that seeks to transform public spaces into centers of opportunity, learning, and health promotion. The program is now scaling from the 14 original sites in Iztapalapa to 100 sites across Mexico City, a period of growth that brings an increasingly diverse set of stakeholders and raises new demands on evaluation.
To guide this next phase, PAHO commissioned an Evaluation Concept Note (“From 14 to 100: An Evaluation Framework for Scaling the Conditions That Generate Health in Mexico City’s Utopías,” prepared by Sanjeev Sridharan), which proposes a realist, theory-based, mixed-methods evaluation organized around three complementary purposes: effectiveness (impact on health and wellbeing), improvement, and spread (scale-up); and identifies seven interlocking mechanisms through which Utopías generates health. This methodological proposal is attached and forms the basis for the present consultancy.
PAHO seeks a Senior Evaluator Consultant to provide methodological leadership and guide implementation of this evaluation framework over an 8-month period (November 2026 to June 2027). A locally based Field Coordinator in Mexico City, contracted separately by PAHO, will coordinate on-the-ground fieldwork carried out by a team designated by the Secretary of Public Health of Mexico City, and will act as the operational liaison between that team, the Principal Evaluator, and PAHO.
In parallel, PAHO supports the Municipality of Renca (Santiago, Chile) through the Special Initiative on Social Determinants for Health Equity. PAHO seeks to evaluate the program “Crecer en Renca,” a universal, life-course accompaniment program for children and adolescents that follows a series of developmental milestones from gestation through the end of secondary education and the transition to higher education.
In addition, PAHO seeks to strengthen capacities in the Region to evaluate programs, policies, and interventions from a social determinants of health and equity perspective. To this end, the consultancy includes designing a realist evaluation course and its 20-hour introductory module, aimed at decision makers, managers, implementers, and researchers in the countries and cities of the Special Initiative on Social Determinants for Health Equity (see Section 6).
This consultancy therefore covers three components: (1) Principal Evaluator conduct the realist evaluation of Utopías; (2) design of a realist evaluation for Crecer en Renca; and (3) design of a realist evaluation course and its introductory module.
2. General Objective
The Senior Principal Evaluator will provide technical advice for the realist evaluation of two PAHO-supported programs, (i) the “Utopías” program in Mexico City and (ii) the “Crecer en Renca” program in Renca, Chile, and (iii) to strengthen regional capacity in realist evaluation that integrates the social determinants of health and equity, through the design of a realist evaluation course.
3. Specific Objectives
The role of this consultancy is to provide technical and methodological oversight only, without supervisory authority over personnel.
Utopías (Mexico City):
1. Develop the evaluation protocol, building on the Concept Note, including the corresponding methodological details, an assessment of data availability and access, validation of the Theory of Change, refinement of the evaluation questions, and finalization of the minimum dataset across the six measurement domains (population reach and dignified access; social cohesion and territorial stigma; safety and violence-related outcomes; care burden and economic relief; mental health and wellbeing; and dignity of experience).
2. Provide ongoing methodological guidance, quality assurance, and technical oversight to the Field Coordinator, as well as technical follow-up on fieldwork activities conducted by the team designated by the Secretary of Public Health of Mexico City.
3. Analyze the seven mechanisms through which Utopías generates health (dignity as psychological safety, ordinary activity as a portal to consciousness-raising, word of mouth as outreach, team rootedness, intersectoral Gabinete coordination, spatial proximity, and intergenerational transmission) and guide the realist Context-Mechanism-Outcome (CMO) synthesis across sites.
4. Lead the design, validation, and interpretation of instruments for community readiness assessment, fidelity/adaptation tracking, and rolling monitoring of dignity of experience, ensuring these feed coherently into the improvement and spread purposes of the evaluation.
5. Provide technical guidance for the synthesis, interpretation, and communication of findings to PAHO, the Mexico City Government, and other stakeholders, producing a transferable theory of how Utopías generates health that can inform both continued scale-up in Mexico City and replication elsewhere in the Region.
Crecer en Renca (Renca, Chile):
6. Develop a realist, theory-based evaluation methodology for Crecer en Renca.
7. Validate a Theory of Change for Crecer in Renca with the Municipality of Renca and relevant partners, identifying the core mechanisms through which the program is expected to improve children’s and adolescents’ developmental and health trajectories.
The specific objectives of the course component are set out in section 6.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:
4. Scope of Work / Activities
Component 1: Utopías (Mexico City)
The Senior Principal Evaluator will provide technical expertise for the evaluation. The team designated by the Secretary of Public Health of Mexico City will carry out field-level data collection, with the Field Coordinator coordinating field activities; the Senior Principal Evaluator will lead the design and provide technical guidance, follow-up, and quality assurance for that work. Specific responsibilities include:
- Evaluation protocol: prepare the evaluation protocol, including the evaluation design and questions, Theory of Change and initial CMO hypotheses, site selection and sampling/comparison-community strategy, an assessment of the availability, quality, and access conditions of administrative and secondary data (e.g., Gabinete de Utopías records, attendance and service-use data, crime and gender-based violence data, spatial and population data), data collection methods and instruments, qualitative and quantitative analysis plan, ethical considerations, data management, timeline, and roles.
- Evaluation design leadership: refine the evaluation questions, minimum dataset, and sampling/comparison-community strategy; lead Theory of Change validation workshops in coordination with the Field Coordinator, PAHO, and Mexico City Government stakeholders.
- Technical guidance and follow-up: provide ongoing remote technical guidance to the Field Coordinator on site visits, interviews, observation, and survey administration.
- Mechanism and CMO analysis: Identify and analyze the seven core mechanisms and their interaction across sites, and the cross-site realist CMO synthesis.
- Instruments: design and validate data collection instruments, incorporating the contextual adaptation and piloting inputs provided by the Field Coordinator, including the community readiness checklist, fidelity/adaptation checklist, dignity-of-experience exit survey, and observation protocols.
- Capacity building of the local team: define and deliver the theoretical and methodological content (realist evaluation, Theory of Change, mechanisms, instruments) of the capacity-building sessions with the local team, co-organized with the Field Coordinator and PAHO.
- Quality assurance: review field data and preliminary findings for methodological soundness and alignment with the realist evaluation framework.
- Analysis, reporting, and synthesis: lead the quantitative and qualitative analysis and the drafting of rapid learning briefs, the Theory of Change validation summary, the cross-site CMO analysis, and the final products described in Section 5.
- Stakeholder engagement: participate in the coordination meetings set out in Section 9 and in learning sessions with PAHO, the Mexico City Government, and Utopías teams, virtually and through in-person travel to Mexico City for key milestones.
Component 2: Crecer en Renca (Renca, Chile)
For this component, the Senior Principal Evaluator will design the evaluation. Specific responsibilities include:
- Methodology design: develop a realist evaluation approach to the Crecer en Renca program, defining evaluation questions, mechanisms, and a minimum dataset appropriate to the program’s stage and available data.
- Theory of Change validation: lead a validation process with the Municipality of Renca and relevant partners.
Component 3: Realist Evaluation Course
6.1 Rationale
Realist evaluation, which asks what works, for whom, under what circumstances, and why, places context at the center of evaluation and is therefore key to integrating the social determinants of health and equity into program and policy evaluation. This component designs PAHO’s realist evaluation training offer for the Region.
6.2 Specific objectives
- Formulate a realist evaluation course proposal of 120 hours in total (organized in four cycles of 30 hours or three cycles of 40 hours), placing health equity and the social determinants of health at the center, aimed at decision makers, managers, implementers, and researchers of the Region.
- Develop a 20-hour introductory module on realist evaluation, designed as a motivating entry point for decision makers, managers, and academics from countries and cities, suitable for online delivery to approximately 80 participants.
6.3 Methodology
Online working meetings with the PAHO Health Promotion and Social Determinants Unit and, as needed, with participating countries; review and delivery of literature; and development of the course proposal including materials, group work, and guides for its delivery. The full course is expected to be delivered in two cohorts of 40 participants each, subject to funding availability; delivery is not part of this consultancy.
5. Deliverables: Utopías and Crecer en Renca
Deliverables are numbered in the chronological order of their due dates. Deliverables 3 and 4 (Realist Evaluation Course component) are described in Section 6.4.
Deliverable 1: Utopías’ Evaluation Protocol and Work Plan (component 1)
- Evaluation protocol, including the corresponding methodological details: evaluation design and questions; Theory of Change and initial CMO hypotheses; site selection, sampling, and comparison-community strategy; data sources, availability, and access conditions; data collection methods; qualitative and quantitative analysis plan; ethical considerations and data management; timeline and roles.
- Finalized evaluation questions and minimum dataset, validated with PAHO, the Mexico City Government, and Utopías teams.
- Validated data collection instruments and protocols: community readiness assessment, fidelity/adaptation checklist, observation checklist, dignity-of-experience exit survey, interview and Most Significant Change guides.
- Work plan for the 8-month period, aligned with the Field Coordinator’s operational plan.
$3,500 - 8 January 2027
Deliverable 2: Preliminary Realist Evaluation Methodology for Crecer en Renca (Component 2)
- Draft realist evaluation methodology note for Crecer en Renca, including evaluation questions, mechanisms, and minimum dataset required.
- Preliminary (draft) Theory of Change for Crecer en Renca.
$3,144 - 26 February 2027
Deliverable 3: Introductory Module on Realist Evaluation (20 hours) (Component 3)
- Module design: learning objectives, target audience, session structure and agenda (synchronous and asynchronous hours), and methodology for online delivery to approximately 80 participants.
- Module materials: PowerPoint presentations per session, facilitator guide, readings, and practical exercises.
- Participant assessment and module evaluation tools.
Deliverable 4: Realist Evaluation Course Proposal (120 hours) (Component 3)
- Proposed program of studies for the realist evaluation course, placing health equity and the social determinants of health at the center.
- Proposed content and structure of the course (four cycles of 30 hours or three cycles of 40 hours), including learning objectives and expected competencies.
- Proposed content of each module (topics to be covered).
- List of practical exercises and group work for participants.
- Bibliographic list on which the course content will be based.
- Student materials and reading resources.
- A set of PowerPoint presentations showing the main contents of each module.
$6,500 - 26 March 2027
Deliverable 5: Utopías’ Interim Learning Package (Component 1)
- Rapid Learning Briefs synthesizing findings from site visits, prepared by the Senior Principal Evaluator.
- Preliminary Theory of Change validation update.
- Preliminary mechanism-level analysis across visited sites.
- Draft Community Readiness Checklist, applied to proposed expansion sites.
$6,000 - 16 April 2027
Deliverable 6: Crecer en Renca’s Final Realist Evaluation Methodology and Presentation (Component 2)
- Final, validated realist evaluation methodology note for Crecer en Renca.
- Validated Theory of Change for Crecer en Renca.
- PowerPoint presentation summarizing the proposed methodology for stakeholders.
$4,500 - 14 May 2027
Deliverable 7: Utopías’ Final Evaluation Products (Component 1)
The final products must make the evaluation process and its results clear to all audiences (PAHO, Mexico City authorities, Utopías teams, and the academic community). Products addressed to Mexico City stakeholders will be delivered in Spanish. They comprise:
- Final evaluation report (complete technical report), including at minimum: executive summary (maximum 5 pages); background and Theory of Change; methodology (design, sites, sampling, instruments, data sources and their limitations); description of the data collected; quantitative analysis (results of the minimum dataset, surveys, and administrative data, and comparisons with comparison communities where available); qualitative analysis (interviews, observation, Most Significant Change); and cross-site CMO analysis and findings by mechanism. Results, conclusions, and recommendations must be presented for each of the three evaluation axes: (a) effectiveness: results on the impact of Utopías on health and wellbeing, across the six measurement domains; (b) scale-up (spread): conditions, community readiness, and institutional requirements for the expansion to 100 sites, with recommendations for scaling; and (c) improvement: findings on implementation, fidelity and adaptation, and learning, with recommendations for program improvement. The report closes with overall conclusions and limitations. Annexes: instruments, Theory of Change validation summary, Most Significant Change narrative compendium, Learning Session Summary, and the clean, documented datasets.
- Article proposal: draft manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed journal (to be agreed with PAHO), presenting the realist evaluation of Utopías and its main findings on health and wellbeing impact, scale-up, and improvement, with authorship agreed with PAHO and the Mexico City Government.
- Presentation of results for city authorities: PowerPoint presentation (10–15 slides) synthesizing key findings and recommendations on the three evaluation axes (health and wellbeing impact, scale-up, and improvement) for Mexico City Government authorities, to be presented by the Senior Principal Evaluator.
- Presentation of the full evaluation process: PowerPoint presentation (20–25 slides) documenting the whole process, from the Concept Note and evaluation protocol through fieldwork, capacity building of the local team, analysis, and results, for use by PAHO and partners.
$6,500 - 15 July 2027
7. Duration and Timeline
This is a part-time consultancy (60% FTE).
It is expected to run for 8 months, from 23 November 2026 to 20 July 2027.
8. Qualifications
The consultant should have:
- Master's in social sciences, public health, or a related field.
- Nine (9) years or more of proven experience in program evaluation, with demonstrated expertise in realist and/or theory-based evaluation (e.g., Pawson and Tilley) of complex, multi-site social or health interventions.
- Prior experience serving as Principal Evaluator or senior technical advisor, providing methodological guidance and quality assurance to field-based evaluators or research teams.
- Expertise in social determinants of health, health equity, and community-based health promotion.
- Strong mixed-methods analytical skills and a record of peer-reviewed publications.
- Experience designing and teaching courses or training programs on realist and/or theory-based evaluation for decision-makers, practitioners, and researchers, preferably in Latin America and the Caribbean.
9. Coordination Arrangements
The Senior Principal Evaluator will provide technical leadership for the evaluation under the overall guidance of the Health Promotion and Social Determinants Unit Chief, with technical oversight from the evaluation reference group and day-to-day follow-up by the PAHO technical counterpart.
The Field Coordinator, based in Mexico City, will coordinate field-level implementation, including site visits, interviews, observation, and primary data collection by the team designated by the Secretary of Public Health of Mexico City, under the technical guidance of the Senior Principal Evaluator. The following coordination arrangements will apply:
- Weekly meetings (virtual) between the Senior Principal Evaluator, the Field Coordinator, and the PAHO technical counterpart, to follow up on the work plan, fieldwork, and agreements.
- Biweekly meetings (every two weeks, virtual) with the full evaluation team (Senior Principal Evaluator, Field Coordinator, team designated by the Secretary of Public Health of Mexico City, and PAHO), to review progress, emerging findings, and adjustments.
- Capacity-building sessions with the local team, at least monthly during fieldwork, co-organized with the Field Coordinator and PAHO, with theoretical and methodological content delivered by the Senior Principal Evaluator.
- Joint meetings with PAHO and Mexico City Government stakeholders at key milestones, and in-person participation as required.
For the Crecer en Renca component, the Senior Principal Evaluator will coordinate directly with the Municipality of Renca. For the course component, the Senior Principal Evaluator will coordinate with the Health Promotion and Social Determinants Unit, which will convene participants from the countries and cities of the Special Initiative on Social Determinants for Health Equity.
TOTAL
$30,144
Payment and Coordination
Band level: Band B.
Duration: 8 months (23 November 2026 to 20 July 2027)
Supervision: Advisor, Social Determinants of Health (DHE-HP).
Total payment: $30,144
Effort: 60%
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
- Successful candidates will be placed on the roster and subsequently may be selected for consultancy assignments falling in this area of work or for similar requirements/tasks/deliverables. Inclusion in the Roster does not guarantee selection for a consultant contract. There is no commitment on either side.
- Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
- All applicants are required to complete an on-line profile to be considered for this consultancy. For assessment of your application, please ensure that your profile in the PAHO Career page is updated; all experience records are entered with elaboration on tasks performed at the time. Kindly note that CV/PHFs inserted via LinkedIn are no accessible.
- A written test may be used as a form of screening.
- If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. PAHO/WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. PAHO will also use the databases of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation http://www.chea.org/search/default.asp and College Navigator, found on the website of the National Centre for Educational Statistics, https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator to support the validation process. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
- Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to PAHO/WHO Regulations, and e-Manual.
- For information on PAHO please visit: http://www.paho.org
- PAHO/WHO is committed to providing a respectful and supportive workplace for all personnel .
- PAHO is an ethical organization that maintains high standards of integrity and accountability. People joining PAHO are required to maintain these standards both in their professional work and personal activities.
- PAHO also promotes a work environment that is free from harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and other types of abusive behavior. PAHO conducts background checks and will not hire anyone who has a substantiated history of abusive conduct.
- PAHO personnel interact frequently with people in the communities we serve. To protect these people, PAHO has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. People who commit serious wrongdoings will be terminated and may also face criminal prosecution.
- PAHO/WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
- Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.
- Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority. The execution of the work under a consultant contract does not create an employer/employee relationship between PAHO and the Consultant.
- PAHO/WHO shall have no responsibility whatsoever for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by PAHO/WHO.
