Consultant – Green Climate Fund Proposal Development Support (Unitaid)

Position details

• Vacancy number: 2604416
• Contractual arrangement: External consultant
• Contract duration: 11 months (subject to availability of funds)
• Organization: UT/UTD UNITAID International drug purchase facility
• Schedule: Full-time
• Closing date: Oct 27, 2026, 5:59:00 AM

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that the deadline for receipt of applications indicated above reflects your personal device's system settings.

Purpose of consultancy

The consultant will provide dedicated proposal-development, project management and stakeholder coordination support to Unitaid for the development and submission of its Green Climate Fund (GCF) Funding Proposal.

Building on the existing GCF concept note, the consultant will coordinate the development of the full Funding Proposal, ensuring that the required technical, operational, financial, country and stakeholder inputs are effectively planned, coordinated, consolidated and integrated into a coherent and high-quality submission aligned with GCF requirements and standards. The consultant will be responsible for establishing and maintaining the overall proposal development workplan, tracking key milestones, actions, dependencies, risks and outstanding issues, and facilitating timely contributions from relevant Unitaid teams, countries, implementing partners, WHO and other stakeholders. The consultant will also support the review, quality assurance and finalization of the Funding Proposal and associated materials through to submission to the GCF. The consultant will work closely with Unitaid Climate & Health Technical Managers, the Resource Mobilization team and the wider Climate & Health team, coordinating inputs across multiple technical and institutional workstreams and supporting effective stakeholder engagement throughout the proposal development process. The assignment requires strong project management, coordination, stakeholder management, delivery discipline and the ability to work across multiple technical and institutional workstreams without formal line-management responsibility. The consultant will be accountable for the agreed consultancy outputs and for coordinating the processes, inputs and timelines required to support the development and submission of the GCF Funding Proposal.

The consultant will not have line-management, staff-supervision or formal team-management responsibilities.

Background

Unitaid is focused on driving equitable access to innovative health products and solutions and, through its Climate & Health strategic work, is addressing the intersection between climate change and global health. Climate change is increasingly affecting health systems, health-product supply chains and access to essential health products, while the health sector itself contributes significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions. Unitaid’s Climate & Health work seeks to identify and scale innovative approaches that can strengthen the resilience of health systems and health-product markets while addressing their environmental footprint. As part of this work, Unitaid has developed a concept note for potential financing from the Green Climate Fund. The next phase is to develop this concept into a complete and investment-ready GCF Funding Proposal, supported by the necessary technical, operational, financial and country inputs. The Funding Proposal is expected to be submitted to the GCF by August 2027, subject to the applicable GCF and Unitaid timelines. The GCF funding decision is anticipated in March 2028, subject to the GCF review process and timeline.

Deliverables

The consultancy is funded from November 2026 to April 2027, with any remaining period subject to Unitaid’s funding decision. The primary focus will be on the development, quality assurance and submission of the GCF Funding Proposal, with limited support following submission during the initial GCF review period, as required and within the scope of the agreed consultancy period and deliverables.

The consultant will:

• Establish and maintain an overall workplan for development and submission of the GCF Funding Proposal;

• Coordinate technical, country, financial, operational and stakeholder inputs required for the proposal, including through country engagement, consultations and field visits, as appropriate;

• Support the consolidation and synthesis of technical, country, financial, operational and stakeholder inputs into a coherent, investment-ready Funding Proposal, ensuring consistency across the proposal and alignment with applicable GCF requirements, policies, templates, investment criteria and submission standards;

• Support the review and quality assurance of the Funding Proposal and associated materials, including through systematic tracking of GCF requirements, identification of gaps or inconsistencies, and coordination of inputs required to address outstanding issues prior to submission;

• Track key milestones, actions, dependencies, risks and outstanding issues;

• Facilitate coordination across Unitaid teams, countries, implementing partners, WHO and other relevant stakeholders throughout the consultancy period.

• Coordinate finalization and submission of the Funding Proposal to the GCF.

Key Deliverable/milestone: Final GCF Funding Proposal package completed, quality-assured, approved and submitted to the GCF by August/September 2027, subject to the final GCF and Unitaid timelines.

Following submission, the consultant may provide support to Unitaid during the initial GCF review period, including coordination of responses to GCF questions, comments and requests for additional information, to the extent covered by the agreed consultancy period and deliverables and up to the contract end date.

Monthly work reports

The consultant will provide a concise monthly work report covering:

• Activities undertaken during the reporting period;

• Progress against the agreed workplan and key milestones;

• Key outputs and achievements;

• Stakeholder coordination and engagement undertaken;

• Outstanding issues, risks and dependencies;

• Actions and priorities for the following month; and

   

• Matters requiring Unitaid attention, decision or escalation.

The monthly work reports will serve as the primary reporting mechanism for the consultancy.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational qualifications

Essential:

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in international development, public health, climate change, environmental studies, economics, public policy, international relations, business administration, programme management or a related field.

Desirable:

Additional qualification, training or certification in climate finance, development finance, project/programme management, global health, climate change or a related field.

Experience

Essential experience

• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience in consulting, programme or project management, investment, international development, global health, climate finance, proposal development, or related fields, including experience developing, structuring or managing large-scale investment projects, programmes or funding proposals.

• Proposal development: Demonstrated experience developing high-quality funding proposals, investment cases or donor applications.

• Programme coordination: Demonstrated experience coordinating complex projects or programmes involving multiple technical experts, institutions, countries and stakeholders, including workplans, priorities, dependencies and deadlines.

• Stakeholder engagement: Demonstrated experience working with governments, multilaterals, implementing partners, donors and/or senior stakeholders.

• Unitaid knowledge: Familiarity with Unitaid’s Climate & Health Strategy and key related publications and outputs from the past three years, or demonstrated ability to quickly develop this knowledge.

Desirable experience

• Development sector: Experience working in the development sector, particularly in health, climate, or both.

• GCF/climate finance: Experience with GCF Funding Proposals, GCF accreditation or review processes, climate finance, or other multilateral climate/development funding mechanisms is highly desirable.

• Multi-country programmes: Experience working on multi-country programmes or donor-funded initiatives.

 

Skills and knowledge

• Programme management: Strong programme, project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams, priorities, dependencies and deadlines.

• Coordination and facilitation: Strong stakeholder engagement, facilitation and influencing skills, including the ability to coordinate diverse contributions, facilitate decision-making and secure timely inputs without formal line-management authority.

• Technical synthesis: Strong ability to synthesize diverse inputs into clear, coherent and compelling proposals and briefing materials.

• Communication and presentation: Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills, including with the ability to communicate complex issues clearly and concisely to senior stakeholders.

• Organization and delivery: Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to work independently and maintain delivery momentum under tight deadlines.

• Climate and health: Good understanding of the relationship between climate change and health, including climate resilience, health systems, access and innovation.

• GCF and climate finance: Familiarity with GCF proposal requirements and climate finance processes would be an advantage.

 

Languages

Essential:

Expert knowledge of English.

Desirable:

Intermediate knowledge of French.

Location:

Off site

The consultant will work remotely, with availability for travel as required.

Travel

The consultant will be required to travel, as requested by Unitaid, to participate in relevant workshops, consultations, working sessions and meetings with Unitaid, countries, implementing partners, GCF, WHO and other stakeholders. Any required travel will be agreed in advance with Unitaid and managed in accordance with applicable Unitaid/WHO procedures.

Remuneration and budget

a. Remuneration

Monthly pay band C: USD 10,000, subject to confirmation.

Travel costs are excluded.

b. Expected duration of contract

The consultancy is expected to run for 11 months from November 2026 to September 2027, subject to confirmation of the start date and the GCF review timeline. Funding is confirmed through 30 April 2027, with the remaining period subject to Unitaid’s funding decision.

Additional Information

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• 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. 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/.
• Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
• For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.
• WHO is committed to workforce diversity.
• 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.
• WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.
• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.
• 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 WHO and the Consultant.
• 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 in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.

• Consultants working in Switzerland must register with the applicable Swiss cantonal tax authorities and social security authorities, within the prescribed timeframes (Guidelines issued by the Swiss Mission are available at: 

  https://www.eda.admin.ch/missions/mission-onu-geneve/en/home/manual-regime-privileges-and-immunities/introduction/Manuel-personnes-sans-privileges-et-immunites-carte-H/Non fonctionnaires et stagiaires.html)