Specific Responsibilities

The Public Financial Management Specialist will be responsible for a wide spectrum of activities that span policy advisory, systems strengthening, capacity building, and stakeholder coordination.

Strategic Advisory and Technical Support

• Provide high-level policy advice to Ministries of Health and Finance on integrating Rethinking Africa Health Financing in a New Era priorities into national health financing strategies and budget frameworks.
• Guide fiscal space analysis, health budget prioritization, and medium-term expenditure frameworks (MTEFs), ensuring alignment with national development and macro-fiscal policies.
• Support compliance with the Abuja Declaration commitment of allocating at least fifteen percent of national budgets to health.
• Serve as a trusted advisor in negotiations between Health, Finance, and Planning ministries to ensure budget allocations are evidence-based, equitable, and sustainable. Also serve as a trusted advisor to support negotiations with external financing.

Public Financial Management (PFM) Systems Strengthening

• Support the design and implementation of country-specific PFM reforms to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability in health spending.
• Strengthen budget formulation, execution, and monitoring processes in the health sector, with emphasis on program-based budgeting and timely disbursement.
• Develop or refine budget classification systems to better track health allocations and expenditures.
• Institutionalize health expenditure tracking systems, including National Health Accounts and public expenditure reviews, and ensure they inform policy decision-making.
• Advise on digital PFM tools for health budget management, including digital expenditure tracking
• Bridge technical analysis with strategic insights on how PFM interacts with models of financing including insurance, strategic purchasing, and accountability.

Domestic Resource Mobilization and Innovative Financing

• Identify and promote opportunities to increase domestic health revenues through improved tax policy, earmarked levies, social health insurance schemes, and public–private partnerships.
• Support the costing of health sector strategies and investment cases to strengthen budget negotiations.
• Facilitate the design and adoption of innovative financing instruments, such as solidarity levies, earmarked taxes, diaspora bonds, and blended finance facilities, ensuring they are embedded within national PFM systems for sustainability.

Governance, Accountability, Transparency, and Anti-Corruption

• Strengthen audit systems, procurement oversight, and financial reporting in the health sector.
• Promote citizen engagement and parliamentary oversight in health budget processes, reinforcing transparency and accountability.
• Develop and support the use of dashboards, scorecards, and other monitoring tools aligned with Africa CDC’s continental accountability framework.
• Enhance anti-fraud measures and financial oversight in collaboration with ministries, parliaments, and civil society organizations.

Coordination, Partnerships, and Capacity Building

• Act as Africa CDC’s focal point on PFM within the country, ensuring coordination between Africa CDC HQ, the country office, national ministries, and external stakeholders.
• Harmonize health financing support with development partners to reduce transaction costs and strengthen alignment with national priorities.
• Design and deliver capacity-building programmes for government officials, including training on gender-responsive and equity-oriented budgeting.
• Serve as an embedded catalyst within national institutions, reinforcing local ownership and leadership rather than creating parallel structures.

Academic Requirements and Relevant Experience

• Master’s degree in public financial management, Economics, Public Policy, Public Administration, Finance, or a related field with 10 years of progressively responsible experience in public financial management reform, preferably with a focus on the health sector in Africa .
• Or
• Bachelor’s degree in public financial management, Economics, Public Policy, Public Administration, Finance, or a related field with  12 years of progressively responsible experience in public financial management reform, preferably with a focus on the health sector in Africa .
• Demonstrated experience in budget formulation, execution, and monitoring; fiscal space analysis; and expenditure tracking and high-level reports for senior government and AU leadership.
• Experience working with ministries of health, ministries of finance, international financial institutions and/or development partners on PFM issues.
• Knowledge of AU health financing frameworks and familiarity with Africa CDC’s strategic priorities is an asset.