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Sudan Health Assistance and Response to Emergencies (SHARE) Phase II — World Bank Proposal
Title: Technical Lead – World Bank SHARE II Proposal Development
Total number of consultants: One (1)
Country programme: Sudan
Programme: Sudan Health Assistance and Response to Emergencies (SHARE) Phase II
Proposed dates: 5th October-30th November 2026
Duration: Up to 32 working days (including pre-solicitation Preparedness and full proposal development stages). This could change depending on solicitation
Donor: World Bank
CONTEXT
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries helping people to survive, recover and reclaim control of their future, and strengthen their communities.
IRC is responding to a World Bank Health SHARE II opportunity with an indicative US$150 million budget comprising: (i) approximately US$100M to sustain and maintain the existing SHARE platform and essential health system functions; and (ii) approximately US$50M for geographic expansion into prioritised high-need localities, with particular focus on the Darfurs and Kordofans. The project is expected to retain three components: (1) Improving Access to Basic Health and Nutrition Services; (2) Preserving and Strengthening the Health System; and (3) Monitoring, Evaluation and Project Management.
SCOPE OF WORK
The Technical Lead is responsible for developing the overall technical approach and design of the proposed SHARE II project/proposal, with support from the Health, Nutrition, MEAL and Business Development teams, and technical supervision from the Health Technical Advisor. The Technical Lead will be the focal point for the technical design within the proposal team, and will engage and coordinate with the Bid Lead, consortium partners and relevant Technical Advisors.
The Technical Lead will lead the technical design of a competitive and compelling World Bank proposal for SHARE II — a US$150 million, nationwide health systems development operation encompassing primary health care and hospital service delivery, health system strengthening (surveillance, workforce, laboratories, supply chain, health information systems), and sustainability/transition planning. The Technical Lead is responsible for the following, in close coordination with the Bid Lead and under the Regional Technical Lead's supervision:
Technical Design
- Serve as Technical Lead for the proposal, responsible for overall technical design, coherence, and quality assurance, working closely and collaboratively with the other members of the proposal team and with consortium partners.
- Plan and facilitate consortium design discussions with the project proposal team, ensuring outputs are fully aligned with the World Bank's stated priorities and evaluation criteria.
- Lead the development/refinement of the Theory of Change and results framework/logframe for SHARE II, ensuring a harmonised approach across all partners and consistency across targeted states/localities
- Lead discussions on the phased approach ("Sustain & Maintain" vs. "Geographic Expansion") and definition of competitive targets and milestones.
- Integrate feedback from stakeholders and proposal team to ensure the proposal is of high quality
- Ensure the technical design is fully responsive to World Bank OP 7.30 requirements, the SHARE II PDO, World Bank procurement, financial management and Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) requirements (including SEA/SH prevention and response), and the distinction between TPI and TPM functions.
- Lead technical design of the integrated PHC/hospital service package, community health and referral architecture, disease surveillance and outbreak preparedness, health workforce strengthening, and continuity of supply chain/commodity provision
- Facilitate partner-led contextualisation of the sustainability and responsible-exit strategy, including continuity of DHIS2/EWARS/HeRAMS reporting, and a credible pathway to MoH/national ownership.
- Ensure continuity of SRH/GBV services is clearly addressed across the consortium, accounting for partner-specific organisational and donor funding restrictions.
- Draft key technical sections of the narrative in close coordination with the Bid Lead and Bid Writer, and provide inputs on key technical annexes (workplan, logframe, delivery/geographic coverage map, risk register, MEAL framework, value-for-money strategy, safeguarding framework, and others as needed).
- Ensure consistency between the logframe, technical narrative, and budget, confirming that all proposed activities and interventions are budgeted for and aligned with budget allocations.
- Keep abreast of, and support, any design discussions ahead of submission and during any engagement with the donor.
Budget
- Take part in regular budget meetings and share updates on technical design.
- Review cost estimates by coordinating with relevant technical and country teams, aligned with the budget envelope.
- Ensure costing for activities and technical staff aligns with cost-optimisation and value-for-money principles.
- Lead on decision-making related to revision of activities, and coordinate closely with consortium and local partners on all budget revisions to ensure coherence.
- Provide feedback and recommendations on partner budgets as needed, and ensure overall competitiveness of the proposal.
Reviews
- Coordinate inputs from technical teams, at country and regional levels, into the proposal technical narrative and budget, ensuring alignment with donor strategies and requirements.
- Review and address comments provided during internal proposal quality assurance stages, addressing any gaps identified in technical sections, with the Bid Lead and Bid Writer.
- Review budget and technical narrative for consistency, ensuring all proposed activities and approaches are fully budgeted.
- Communicate decisions on activity cuts to the Bid Lead and Pricer in a timely manner.
Coordination
- Attend and provide technical updates in regular proposal development calls.
- Engage proactively in ad-hoc meetings internally and with partners when required.
- Hold regular check-in meetings with the Regional Health Technical Advisor for technical steer, and coordinate day-to-day with the Bid Lead.
DURATION / PAYMENT
The IRC shall make payment upon receipt of monthly invoices with actual days worked, accompanied by a timesheet. The IRC shall pay the contractor for actual days worked, to a maximum of 32 days with initial of 12 days at an agreed daily rate. Days can be flexibly used across the course of the assignment, as long as the overall days worked and deliverables are achieved. Timing for each task is an estimate only, and the deliverables and timing indicated below may be subject to change during the course of the assignment based on the evolving situation.
REQUIREMENTS
The successful consultant should meet the following requirements:
- Extensive professional experience in health systems strengthening and primary health care/hospital service delivery programming in fragile, conflict-affected, or access-constrained settings, ideally including Sudan or comparable contexts.
- Demonstrated experience with World Bank-financed operations, including familiarity with World Bank Procurement Regulations
- Familiarity with World Bank operational policies relevant to fragile and conflict-affected settings
- Strong technical knowledge across the core SHARE II technical areas: integrated PHC/hospital service delivery, nutrition, communicable and non-communicable disease management, reproductive/maternal/newborn health, GBV/SRH, mental health, disease surveillance and outbreak preparedness, and health information systems (DHIS2, EWARS, HMIS).
- Demonstrated knowledge of the implementation of SHARE I activities; areas of implementation; successes achieved; challenges faced and lessons learned that could be used to strengthen the SHARE II bid.
- Demonstrated understanding of health system sustainability and responsible transition/exit planning for time-bound, externally financed operations, including handover of service continuity and data/reporting systems.
- Proven experience in proposal/business development, including theory of change and logframe/results-framework design, cost estimation aligned with value-for-money principles, and translating technical design into competitive donor narratives.
- Track record of effective multi-stakeholder consortium coordination, able to mobilise and align diverse actors (INGOs, national/local NGOs) towards a shared technical design, including navigating partner-specific organisational or donor-funding restrictions.
- Familiarity with Sudan's health sector coordination architecture and humanitarian/development actors (including the Health Sector/Cluster, WHO, UNICEF, and relevant Ministry of Health structures).
- Advanced written communication skills in English, with the ability to synthesise complex technical information into clear, concise, and compelling outputs for a donor audience.
- Ability to work autonomously, manage competing priorities and remote operating conditions, meet deadlines under compressed timelines, and deliver high-quality outputs with limited supervision.
INDICATIVE WORKPLAN
- Proposal readiness and design deepening 12 days
- Full proposal development and technical leadership (approximately 20 days)
Proposal readiness and design deepening Tasks
Deliverables
Days
Proposal readiness and design deepening Tasks:
Review all World Bank consultation materials and relevant documents
Deliverables
• Proposal Readiness Actions
• Priority design actions log
Days: 2
Proposal readiness and design deepening Tasks:
Lead problem analysis and development of the Theory of Change and draft Results Framework/Logframe, including core service delivery elements: integrated PHC/hospital package, community health workforce and referral architecture, disease surveillance and outbreak preparedness, supply chain/procurement modality and continuity of SRH/GBV services across partners with differing funding restrictions. aligned to the PDO, the three components (service delivery, health systems strengthening, MEAL/PM), and the Sustain & Maintain / Geographic Expansion scenario.) Support the development of project governance and facility-level staffing plans with the Sudan country team and wider proposal team. Prepare and facilitate a Design Deepening Workshop/technical design sessions including development of agenda, technical discussion materials and workshop outputs.
Deliverables
• Problem analysis document
• Draft Theory of Change
• Draft results framework/logframe
Days: 8
Proposal readiness and design deepening Tasks:
Draft the sustainability and responsible transition/exit strategy, including handover from the outgoing SHARE I implementers (WHO/UNICEF), continuity of DHIS2/EWARS/HeRAMS reporting, and pathway toward MoH/national system ownership.
Deliverables
• Draft sustainability & transition strategy
Days: 2
Full proposal development phase
i. Serve as Technical Lead throughout full proposal development, providing technical guidance to the Bid Lead, Proposal Writer, Technical Advisors, and consortium partners
Deliverables
• Technical leadership and quality assurance throughout
Days: Throughout
ii. Coordinate and consolidate technical inputs from sector focal points (Primary Health Care/health systems, nutrition, WASH linked to health facility, GBV/PSEAH, MEAL, supply chain) and country/regional teams, ensuring coherence across components and partners.
Deliverables
• Consolidated technical inputs
Days: Throughout
iii. Refine the problem analysis, ToC, Logframe/results framework based on full proposal requirements
Deliverables
Revised Problem analysis, ToC, Logframe
Days: 4
iv. Draft/review key technical narrative sections in coordination with the Bid Lead and Writer, ensuring alignment with donor requirements, in an integrated rather than vertical service delivery model with adaptive delivery and sustainability embedded
Deliverables
• Technical narrative sections
Days: 3
v. Finalise Theory of Change, Results Framework/Logframe and MEAL approach, ensuring consistency between narrative, indicators, targets and budget.
Deliverables
• Final logframe
• Final results framework
Days: 2
vi. Support development of proposal readiness annexes which could include the following: localisation/local partner strategy, GESI and safeguarding (SEA/SH) inputs, MEAL framework, risk register, and Environmental and Social Management Framework.
Deliverables
• Proposal readiness annex pack
Days: 2
vii. Provide technical costing inputs and participate in budget development discussions, ensuring alignment between technical design, partner budgets
Deliverables
• Technical costing inputs
• Budget review comments
Days: 2
viii. Coordinate technical review of partner inputs and budgets to ensure no duplication and full costing of all proposed activities.
Deliverables
• Consolidated technical & budget review
Days: 2
ix. Lead technical response to internal review stages (quality assurance) and support revisions to narrative, annexes, logframe and budget ahead of submission.
Deliverables
• Review responses and revised drafts
Days : 3
x. Support final proposal checks, submission readiness, and any subsequent clarification or negotiation rounds.
Deliverables
• Final technical package
• Responses to any follow-up questions
Days: 2
Total: 32
Professional Standards: All International Rescue Committee workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. Our Standards are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Conflicts of Interest, Fiscal Integrity, and Reporting Wrongdoing and Protection from Retaliation. IRC is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe, and to take all necessary actions and corrective measures when harm occurs. IRC builds teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients.
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