Digital Health Specialist

E T Consultant HNP-Digital Health Description The World Bank Group (WBG) is a unique global partnership of five institutions driven by a bold vision to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. As one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, the WBG helps solve the world’s greatest development challenges. In 2026, the WBG launched the Knowledge Bank — a WBG-wide institutional transformation that fundamentally reshapes how the institution generates, shares, and applies knowledge across its public and private sector work. The Knowledge Bank is organized around five cross-institutional Verticals — People, Planet, Prosperity, Infrastructure, and Digital and AI — each bringing together IBRD/IDA and IFC teams under a unified structure to develop enabling policies and scale proven solutions. The People Vice Presidency promotes investment in people, delivering knowledge for impact and public and private solutions to operational teams and clients across health, education and skills, social policy, and gender to build human capital and drive economic growth and job creation, using the Jobs Framework approaches that improve infrastructure, policies, regulations, and private capital. Global Health Directorate The Global Health Directorate leads the WBG's health agenda, partnering with governments and the private sector to strengthen health systems, improve health outcomes, and accelerate progress to expand access to quality, affordable health care. It provides intellectual leadership, technical expertise, and operational support to country teams working across the full spectrum of health system challenges, supporting regional teams to deliver on the Bank's corporate health commitments — reaching 1.5 billion people with quality, affordable health services and building resilience in 66 countries — while supporting the creation of more and better jobs. The Directorate is led by a Global Director supported by two Practice Managers who oversee the Policy & Regulations (P&R) and Solutions and Impact (S&I) Units, as well as a Front Office responsible for strategy, partnerships, risk management, external and internal engagement, and talent and budget management. The Health Policy and Regulation team within the Global Health Directorate is responsible for the normative, policy, and regulatory frameworks that underpin the WBG's global health agenda. It houses four dedicated programs: Mission 1.5 Billion Health Beneficiaries (health service delivery, health financing, and healthy longevity); Policy and Regulation of Mixed Health Systems (PPPs, health sector value chains, and the Health for Jobs agenda); Mission 66 Resilient Health Systems (health emergency preparedness, response and resilience, climate change, and public health and disease prevention); and Nutrition. Together, these programs generate the evidence, norms, and policy tools that guide both WBG country operations and broader global health policy dialogue. A Central Program Implementation Unit (PIU) reports jointly to both Managers and serves as the operational bridge between the two global units, managing portfolio and pipeline, Health Compacts, CPF upstream engagement, and regional outreach. Two cross-cutting layers — Methods, Impact Measurement and Innovation and Digital and AI — provide foundational technical support to all programs within the Directorate. Digital and Artificial Intelligence for Health The Digital and AI cross-cutting layer within the Global Health Directorate enables digital transformation as a core operational capability across the World Bank’s health portfolio, anchored in the Health 1.5B Platform, Mission 66 on resilient health systems, and related nutrition, solutions, and impact initiatives. It leads global strategy, technical assistance, and capacity building to support countries in implementing interoperable digital health and AI systems that enable integrated, person-centered, digitally enabled primary health care. The team also supports policy and regulatory frameworks and helps scale digital health and AI investments to deliver equitable, expanded access to quality health services for an additional 1.5 billion people by 2030. Opportunity The Digital and AI cross-cutting team is seeking to hire an Extended Term Consultant (ETC) based in Washington, D.C., reporting to the Unit Manager under the supervision of the Digital and AI cross-cutting team, to support its engagement on digital health transformation to support the delivery of quality and affordable health services to 1.5 billion individuals by 2030. The Digital Health Specialist will work on the development of the analytical and technical work related to the adoption, adaptation, coordination, and implementation of digital technologies into Bank-financed health projects. As a digital health specialist, they will contribute to shaping the World Bank Group’s strategic agenda in alignment with client country needs and informed by broader digital health and digital transformation trends as the portfolio and context evolves. The ETC will work closely with the broader World Bank Group Global Health Directorate to support technical delivery and advisory for Digitally Enabled Primary Health Care (PHC) platforms. The ETC is expected to have background knowledge of health systems, digital transformation in health, and facilitation skills. Travel to client countries and/or to participate in external events will be required. DUTIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES Digital Health Transformation Strategic Leadership • Support technical assistance to client countries to design and implement digital health strategies, blueprints, and roadmaps aligned with national health priorities, universal health coverage objectives, and system capacity. • Advise on policy, legal, and institutional reforms to enable digital health transformation and responsible AI for health. • Contribute to the development and dissemination of practical guidance (standards, templates, “how-to” toolkits) for planning and scaling digital health solutions and digital public services related to digitally enabled primary health care. • Identify emerging global trends and proven practices (e.g., AI-enabled decision support, digital public health, virtual care where appropriate) and support pilots with clear pathways to scale. • Advise and support client country teams, Ministries of Health, and other relevant Ministries on how to prioritize, design, operationalize, and/or adapt digital health and AI initiatives • and other relevant Ministries on how to prioritize, design, operationalize, measure and/or adapt digital health and AI initiatives and other technology-based approaches in an integrated, comprehensive, systems-approach. Digital Health Architecture, Interoperability, and Standards • Advise client counterparts on defining and implementing enterprise architecture and reference architectures for digital health, minimizing fragmentation and ensuring systems work together over time. • Support implementation of interoperability layers and health information exchange approaches. • Guide adoption of data and messaging standards for health and public health data exchange and promote reusable shared services (identity, registries, terminology services, messaging/notifications). • Support the strengthening of routine health information systems and ensure alignment between routine systems, program registries, and service delivery applications. Evidence-based leadership in Artificial Intelligence for Health • Support countries to establish the regulatory, institutional, and technical frameworks needed to govern AI in health, including oversight mechanisms, accountability structures, and redress mechanisms for AI-related harms. • Guide AI capacity building and workforce change management, strengthening the ability of health ministry staff, clinicians, and health system managers to understand, evaluate, and use AI tools effectively. • Advise clients on AI integration into health system analytics, using AI to identify system bottlenecks, forecast commodity needs, and support clinical decision-making at the point of care. • Support the evaluation and validation of AI in health through the development and dissemination of methodologies for assessing the performance, safety, and equity of AI systems in health, including in low-resource and multilingual settings. Operational Support, Capacity Building, and Knowledge • Co-create and support World Bank country teams and clients on developing appropriate terms of reference and evaluation processes in the procurement and implementation of digital health and novel models of care to enable better and more equitable health service delivery. • Support the delivery of capacity-building workshops and coaching for client counterparts on architecture, interoperability, governance, AI for health, and implementation practices. • Support the digital health components of capacity building efforts for task teams and clients through the HNP Learning Program, the Digital Health Community of Practice, and other initiatives. • Contribute to knowledge products, case studies, reusable templates, and communities of practice to scale successful models. • Facilitate timely and high-quality delivery of activity outputs (e.g. knowledge products or others as appropriate) that capture input from World Bank and client practitioners. • Support fit-for-purpose analytics for planning and performance: dashboards, equity and coverage monitoring, predictive analytics (where appropriate), and decision-support tools, while ensuring transparency, feasibility, and responsible use. Coordination and Integration with Broader World Bank Teams • Coordinate with the broader World Bank teams and communities to ensure a OneWBG approach to digital health transformation and other areas of work within the Global Health Directorate. • Undertake the timely drafting of narrative reports for periodical reporting and tracking of activities and deliverables for internal management needs. • Support key technical partnerships both within and outside the World Bank to ensure the WB is well-represented in multilateral digital health dialogues, shared strategy development, and global initiatives as well as a thought leader in key areas of comparative advantage. • Support the onboarding of new team members as appropriate. • Coordinate with World Bank TTL(s) to support project design and implementation, draft proposals, and report on progress as appropriate. Selection Criteria The ideal candidate for this position will be a highly motivated individual with a background in digital development/transformation, health service delivery, and/or health systems. Successful candidates will have strong interpersonal skills, ability to work effectively as part of a team, program management experience, analytical ability, and communication and presentation skills. Additional requirements for this position include: •Master’s degree in public health, health informatics, information systems, computer science, data engineering/architecture, or related field combining HNP domain experience with digital transformation expertise. •Minimum five years of relevant experience in digital health, health information systems, public-sector digital transformation, or data/developer roles supporting health programs. •Experience in global digital health, from an operational or project perspective; including expertise in at least two of the following: • digital health enterprise architecture and interoperability. •health data platforms and governance. • digital information for public health, surveillance, and routine reporting. •program systems (immunization, nutrition, community health, referrals). •digital health analytics/AI-enabled decision, workflow, or diagnostics support. •digital supply chain transformation and information management. •Track record of successful implementation of digital health solutions at scale including in LMICs. •Excellent technical writing and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present ideas clearly and concisely, engage in a strategic dialogue with key stakeholders (internal and external). Excellent written and spoken English essential; fluency in a second language is a plus. •Ability to work in cross-cultural, multidisciplinary teams and adapt to resource-constrained environments. •Enthusiasm, energy, and composure under pressure. WBG Culture Attributes: 1. Sense of urgency: Anticipate and quickly respond to the needs of internal and external stakeholders.2. Thoughtful risk-taking: Challenge the status quo and push boundaries to achieve greater impact.3. Empowerment and accountability: Empower yourself and others to act and hold each other accountable for results. World Bank Group Core Competencies As per WBG policy, an Extended Term (ET) appointment is subject to a lifetime maximum of three (3) years. Former and current ET staff who have completed or are in the process of completing their third-year ET appointment are not eligible for future ET appointments. We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability. Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC including our values and inspiring stories.