E T Consultant

At the World Bank, a member of the World Bank Group (WBG), you’ll join a diverse, global community working across cultures, disciplines, and borders to address the world’s most pressing development challenges. With 1.2 billion young people reaching working age in the decade ahead, the challenge of job creation has never been greater. Through partnerships across 145 countries and more than 182 offices worldwide, we work with governments, private sector, development partners and other stakeholders to invest in people, strengthen markets, and deliver scalable, data-driven solutions that generate more and better jobs and improve lives. For more information, visit International Bank for Reconstruction and Development . Context and Organizational Unit: 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. The WBG is a dynamic, diverse organization with 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide. It works with public and private sector partners, invests in groundbreaking projects, and uses data, research, and technology to bring tangible and transformative change around the globe. For more information, visit www.worldbankgroup.com. The WBG Knowledge Bank: 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. It is overseen by a Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) at Managing Director level. The Knowledge Bank represents a decisive shift away from siloed, institution-specific knowledge production toward an integrated "One WBG" approach in which global expertise is consistently applied to country-level challenges and private sector opportunities, supported by AI-enabled platforms including Knowledge 360 and Data 360, and by the WBG Academy, which builds capacity among policymakers and practitioners to apply WBG knowledge in their country contexts. People Vice Presidency (People Vertical): The People Vice Presidency promotes investment in our most precious resource — people. It delivers knowledge for impact and provides public and private solutions to operational teams and clients across the WBG to produce scalable impact in support of the WBG’s mission. Better lives and better futures are only possible when all people have equal access to quality health care, education, and social protection, and when all people have the opportunity to build and draw on their human capital throughout life to learn, work, create businesses, and have dignity. The People Vice Presidency works with countries and global partners to:

• provide quality, affordable health services to 1.5 billion people by 2030 through a combination of financing, knowledge and partnerships.
• cut learning poverty in half by 2030 and empower futures through education and job-relevant skills.
• close gender gaps, end gender-based violence, and support women’s health and economic inclusion and empowerment.
• connect policymakers, facilitate cross-learning, and foster investments and policy action on human capital through the Human Capital Project—our global network of nearly 100 countries.
• reach half a billion people with social assistance programs by 2030. The People Vertical’s objectives in driving outcomes include replicating and scaling effective solutions, enhancing thought leadership and innovation, and delivering timely knowledge to client teams. It draws on the immense knowledge base of staff, clients, development partners, and civil society to tailor development solutions that meet the unique circumstances and goals of a country. For more information: https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/unit/human-development. 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. The Directorate provides intellectual leadership, technical expertise, and operational support to country teams working across the full spectrum of health systems challenges — from primary care delivery and health financing to health emergency preparedness and response and healthy longevity. Collaborating across technical, geographic and institutional boundaries, the Global Health Directorate supports 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 Global Health Directorate is led by a Global Director supported by two Practice Managers that oversee the Directorate’s two units — Policy Regulations (P R) and Solutions and Impact (S I) — and a Front Office responsible for strategy, partnerships, risk management, external and internal engagement, and talent and budget management. A Central Health Secretariat reports jointly to both Managers and serves as the operational bridge between the two 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. Health Policy and Regulation Team: 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. 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 Senior 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 Lead AI in 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 Health Department teams to lead technical delivery and advisory for AI in Health as a foundational component of advancing Digitally Enabled Primary Health Care (PHC) platforms. The ETC is expected to be a global leader in AI for Health topics, a self-starter with excellent background knowledge of health systems, digital transformation in health, strong facilitation skills, and experience in program management. Travel to client countries and/or representing the World Bank at external events will be required.

Duties and Accountabilities

Digital Health Transformation Strategic Leadership.

• Lead 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.
• Lead policy, legal, and institutional reforms to enable digital health transformation, responsible AI for health, including data governance, data sharing frameworks, privacy, cybersecurity, procurement approaches, and vendor management models.
• Develop and disseminate 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.
• Lead the design and support the implementation of digital health aspects of projects, advise and support client country teams, Ministries of Health, 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. Evidence-based leadership in Artificial Intelligence for Health.
• Lead efforts to evaluate and validate the use 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.
• Lead the integration of AI in the DigiHealth and DigiPharma technical assistance programs by the Knowledge Bank’s IFC health technical assistance.
• Lead the development of the Bank's AI in health investment framework, including risk stratification criteria for AI products in clinical vs. population health settings.
• Own the Bank's internal quality standards for AI procurement in health operations, including evaluation criteria for fairness, explainability, and clinical validation.
• Drive original research or analytical work on AI readiness in LMICs, contributing to flagship publications or policy briefs.
• Provide authoritative guidance on regulatory pathways for AI-enabled health devices in low-resource settings, engaging with WHO, ITU, and national regulatory authorities.
• Lead the Bank's engagement with global AI governance frameworks as they apply to health (e.g., WHO guidance on AI ethics, G20 AI principles applied to health systems).
• Serve as the global focal point for countries establishing 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. 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.
• Lead capacity-building workshops and coaching for client counterparts on architecture, interoperability, governance, AI for health, and implementation practices.
• Lead 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. 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.
• Lead 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.
• Represent the World Bank at global digital health and AI forums including but not limited to conferences, webinars, and technical consultations.
• Support the onboarding of new team members as appropriate.
• Coordinate with World Bank TTL(s) to draft proposals, draft budgets, and report on progress as appropriate.