Consultant - Nutrition Programme Costing and Resource Requirements Analysis

About the role

UNICEF is seeking a consultant for a 7-month, office-based assignment in Kabul, Afghanistan, to carry out a nutrition programme costing analysis and resource requirements study. The work produces evidence on programme costs, resource needs, financing gaps, investment priorities and cost-effectiveness to support strategic planning, budgeting, advocacy and resource mobilization. Internationally recruited candidates only.

Key responsibilities

• Conduct a nutrition programme costing analysis to estimate recurrent, capital and total costs at national and sub-national levels, including costs per beneficiary reached, child treated for SAM and HR-MAM, pregnant and lactating women served, FHH and CNDCC supported, and health facilities delivering nutrition services.
• Assess cost variation across provinces and delivery models, identify cost drivers and efficiency bottlenecks, and benchmark costs against comparable programmes where feasible.
• Develop 3-5 year resource requirement projections, including emergency surge scenarios, and carry out a financing gap assessment.
• Produce a Nutrition Investment Case covering the burden of malnutrition, costs and benefits of priority interventions, cost-effectiveness and return on investment, and recommendations for sustainable financing and resource mobilization.

Required profile

• Master's degree or higher in Nutrition, Public Health, Health Economics, Health Financing, Development Economics, Epidemiology, Statistics or a related field; PhD preferred.
• At least 8-10 years of progressively responsible experience in nutrition, public health, health systems strengthening, health financing, programme costing or economic analysis.
• Demonstrated experience in programme costing, resource requirements analysis, budget analysis, financial modelling and investment case development in health and nutrition.
• Track record of leading complex assessments with multiple stakeholders, government institutions, UN agencies, development partners and NGOs, including in fragile, humanitarian or conflict-affected settings, preferably Afghanistan.
• Strong English writing and communication skills.

Required skills

• Nutrition programming knowledge: maternal nutrition, infant and young child feeding, micronutrient interventions, IMAM and nutrition information systems.
• Costing methodologies: activity-based costing, ingredient-based costing, unit-cost estimation and expenditure analysis.
• Economic evaluation: cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit and value-for-money analyses.
• Desirable: experience with international organizations (UNICEF, WHO, WFP, World Bank, USAID, GFF, Gavi, Global Fund), familiarity with Afghanistan's health and nutrition systems, and knowledge of public financial management and programme-based budgeting.