Capacity Building Specialist (Public Health) – Philippines

Country: Philippines Organization: Asian Disaster Preparedness Center Closing date: 1 Nov 2026 A. About Asian Disaster Preparedness Center ADPC is an autonomous international organization established for scientific, educational, developmental, and humanitarian purposes with a vision of safer communities and sustainable development through disaster risk reduction and climate resilience in Asia and the Pacific and Africa. Established in 1986 as a technical capacity-building center, ADPC has grown and expanded its role to serve scientific, educational, developmental, and humanitarian purposes. ADPC employs a wide range of professional expertise typically required for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Resilience (CR). ADPC develops and implements cross-sectoral projects/programs on the strategic themes of Risk Knowledge and Geoinformatics, Policy and Institutional System, Effective Localization for Resilience, Climate Services, Resilient Planning and Implementation, Preparedness and Anticipatory Action, Nature based Solutions, Financing for Resilience, Resilient Recovery, Food and Water Security, Disaster Risk Finance Insurance, Health Risk Management, Urban & Infrastructure Resilience, Private Sector Engagement, and ADPC Knowledge Academy. Our strategic themes are complemented and underpinned by the cross-cutting themes of gender equality and social inclusion, disaster and climate innovations, and regional and transboundary cooperation. Through its work, ADPC supports the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the New Urban Agenda, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the agenda defined at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, and other relevant international frameworks. For details, please refer to the ADPC website at http://www.adpc.net/. B. Department Introduction The Preparedness and Climate Action Department (PCA) strengthens the capacities of governments, response organizations, civil society, private sector actors, and at‐risk communities to prepare for, respond to, recover from disasters and adapt to the increasing risks associated with disasters and climate change. PCA emphasizes locally led preparedness and adaptation, ensuring that resilience-building efforts are rooted in local systems, institutions, knowledge, and leadership. PCA contributes to ADPC’s regional mandate by designing and implementing programs aligned with ADPC’s strategic priority areas, including Climate Services, Preparedness and Anticipatory Action, Resilient Planning and Implementation, Health Risk Management, Nature‐based Solutions, Resilient Recovery, and Financing for Resilience, among others. These programs support countries in advancing the Sendai Framework, SDGs, and the Paris Agreement, while strengthening institutional, community, and system-wide resilience. The department also ensures that all interventions incorporate ADPC’s core cross‐cutting themes, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), Disaster and Climate Innovations, and Regional and Transboundary Cooperation, as foundational elements across program design, implementation, monitoring, and knowledge generation. PCA is structured into three functional units that work together to deliver integrated preparedness and climate action programming: • Climate Action and Impact (CAI) – driving climate action strategies, impact measurement, monitoring and evaluation systems, and evidence generation. • Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) – strengthening preparedness capacities, emergency response planning, and health risk management. • Resilience Building and Localization (RBL) – supporting resilient recovery, localization approaches, and capacity development at national and subnational levels. Through multi‐country operations, technical advisory services, and strategic partnerships, PCA ensures coherent, evidence‐based, and impact‐driven delivery of ADPC’s mandate across Asia and the Pacific. C. Statement of Intent: The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) seeks to strengthen its regional programming and technical capacity for public health emergency preparedness and response across the Asia-Pacific region. Building on its experience in disaster preparedness, emergency response, regional cooperation, and multi-country program implementation, ADPC aims to strengthen its support to countries and communities in preparing for and responding to emerging and re-emerging infectious disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies. Effective public health emergency preparedness and response require timely and coordinated action, supported by strong technical and operational capacities, effective coordination mechanisms, and capable national and local response actors. Through partnerships with governments, regional institutions, UN agencies, civil society organizations, academic and research institutions, and technical networks, ADPC promotes nationally and locally led approaches that strengthen preparedness, response, and recovery capacities. Within this broader commitment, ADPC is a consortium partner in the Local Engagement and Response Network (LEARN): Strengthening Localized Multi-Sectoral Readiness and Response to Infectious Disease Outbreaks in Humanitarian Settings, led by International Medical Corps (IMC). LEARN aims to strengthen Local First Responders (LFRs), particularly Local and National Non-Governmental Organizations (L/NNGOs), to improve their readiness and multisectoral response to infectious disease outbreaks of epidemic or pandemic potential in humanitarian settings. As a consortium partner, ADPC will provide technical and implementation support for LEARN activities in South and Southeast Asia, including the Philippines. In the Philippines, ADPC will work closely with the IMC Philippines Country Team to provide technical support for capacity-strengthening activities, including contextualization of LEARN materials, training facilitation, organizational capacity strengthening, remote coaching and technical assistance to participating L/NNGOs. To support this work, ADPC seeks to engage a Capacity Building Expert (Public Health) – Philippines. The consultant will serve as ADPC’s technical capacity-strengthening and coordination focal point, working closely with the ADPC project team, the Health Emergency Management (HEM) Specialist, the IMC Philippines Country Team, participating L/NNGOs and relevant stakeholders to plan, deliver and follow up practical technical support within the agreed country implementation arrangements. A key focus of the assignment will be to ensure that LEARN's capacity-strengthening approaches and resources are appropriately contextualized to the Philippine public health, humanitarian, disaster risk, and institutional context, and that participating L/NNGOs receive practical technical support to strengthen their readiness and capacity to respond to infectious disease outbreaks. Note: It is not the intent of the ToR to cover every aspect of the position requirements, rather to highlight the most important areas of personal and joint responsibilities. D. Duties and Responsibilities: Under the overall guidance of the Unit Head, Emergency Preparedness and Response/LEARN Program Lead of ADPC, the Capacity Building Expert will serve as ADPC’s technical capacity-strengthening and coordination focal point for LEARN activities in the Philippines. The consultant will work closely with participating L/NNGOs, relevant stakeholders, the ADPC project team and the IMC Philippines Country Team on day-to-day planning, implementation coordination, organizational engagement and follow-up, and translation of LEARN technical approaches into practical, context-appropriate support responsive to identified organizational and operational needs. The consultant will undertake the following key responsibilities: 1. Technical and Capacity-Building Support • Provide technical expertise in public health emergency preparedness and response to support ADPC's technical contribution to LEARN implementation in the Philippines. • Jointly plan capacity-strengthening activities with ADPC and the IMC Philippines Country Team, and undertake agreed technical preparation, contextualization, facilitation and follow-up of training, exercises and other capacity-development interventions for participating L/NNGOs and local first responders, in accordance with the approved workplan and country implementation arrangements. • Adapt relevant LEARN training materials, tools and technical resources in consultation with the IMC Philippines Country Team, participating organizations and relevant stakeholders to reflect organizational capacities, priorities and Philippine realities; submit substantive technical products to the ADPC LEARN team for technical review and quality assurance before use, and incorporate agreed feedback. • Support the review of English-to-Filipino/Tagalog and relevant local-language translations of LEARN training materials, tools and guidance for accuracy, clarity, consistency of public health terminology and suitability for participating organizations. Work with the IMC Philippines Country Team and qualified translators or language reviewers, drawing on the Consultant’s language competencies, and coordinate with project team to resolve technical ambiguities before use. • Provide technical facilitation and resource support for agreed LEARN training and capacity-development activities, coordinating participant engagement, schedules, field access, event arrangements and logistical requirements with the IMC Philippines Country Team and ADPC according to their agreed responsibilities. • Apply appropriate adult-learning, participatory and practical training methodologies to strengthen the application of knowledge and skills by participating organizations. • Provide practical technical support according to assessed needs on infectious disease preparedness and response, including Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) or equivalent response mechanisms, health emergency management (HEM) systems, activation and escalation arrangements, emergency operations/incident coordination, community-based surveillance and reporting, risk communication and community engagement (RCCE), infection prevention and control (IPC), water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), referral pathways and multisectoral coordination. • Apply the 7-1-7 framework as an additional ADPC technical framework, rather than an existing LEARN contractual requirement, with participating L/NNGOs and local first responders as appropriate to their roles and Philippine public health systems: detect a suspected infectious disease outbreak within seven days of emergence, notify the appropriate public health authority within one day of detection, and complete priority early response actions within seven days of notification. • Integrate relevant 7-1-7 concepts into assessments, training, coaching and exercises with the IMC Philippines Country Team to identify bottlenecks and enabling factors in detection, notification and early response, and strengthen reporting, activation and coordination pathways. Organizational support will contribute to wider system performance within each organization’s mandate; the Consultant will not be responsible for measuring national 7-1-7 performance. 2. Organizational Capacity Strengthening and Technical Assistance • Work closely with the IMC Philippines Country Team to plan and conduct the agreed technical components of organizational and readiness assessments using agreed tools; document baseline capacities, strengths and gaps, validate findings with participating L/NNGOs, and submit findings to project team for technical review to inform capacity-strengthening support. • Translate validated assessment findings into organization-specific capacity-strengthening action plans with participating L/NNGOs and the IMC Philippines Country Team, identifying priorities, responsible persons, timelines, training and coaching requirements, and evidence of progress. Align implementation with the Program’s approved workplan, country implementation arrangements and available resources. • Provide ongoing technical assistance, mentoring, practical exercises and remote or in-person just-in-time coaching, as appropriate and authorized, to participating organizations to implement agreed capacity-strengthening priorities and apply learning in their preparedness and response arrangements, coordinating support and follow-up with the IMC Philippines Country Team. • Support L/NNGOs in developing, testing and updating organizational preparedness arrangements and community response plans, including roles and responsibilities, activation triggers, reporting and referral pathways, coordination and resource needs, based on assessed priorities. • Monitor progress against organization-specific action plans through documented follow-up, evidence of practical application and reassessment where appropriate; identify additional coaching needs, support problem-solving, and escalate unresolved technical issues and operational constraints to the Program Lead and IMC Philippines focal point, as appropriate. • Promote approaches that build on existing national and local systems, structures and capacities and support locally led preparedness and response. 3. Stakeholder Engagement and Field Coordination • Coordinate regular technical engagement with participating L/NNGOs, local first responder networks, public health and humanitarian actors, community-based organizations and other relevant stakeholders in close collaboration with ADPC and the IMC Philippines Country Team, following agreed country engagement and communication arrangements. • Jointly conduct participatory stakeholder mapping exercises with the IMC Philippines Country Team, building on existing country mapping, and periodically update the mapping of L/NNGOs, local first responders, community-based organizations, public health authorities, health facilities, surveillance and laboratory actors, humanitarian coordination mechanisms and technical partners relevant to approved project locations. • Analyze stakeholder roles, capacities, geographic and population coverage, coordination relationships, referral and reporting pathways, and gaps or duplication to inform organizational screening, selection and onboarding recommendations and capacity-strengthening priorities. • Support participating organizations in establishing or strengthening linkages with relevant national and subnational public health preparedness and response mechanisms, as appropriate • Maintain an updated stakeholder map/database in coordination with the IMC Philippines Country Team, applying appropriate data protection procedures and sharing relevant information with ADPC. • Maintain regular technical communication with participating organizations to identify emerging capacity needs and provide appropriate follow-up support. • Contribute to consultations, technical discussions, workshops and other LEARN engagements as required. • Provide contextual and technical updates to the ADPC LEARN team on public health emergency preparedness, disaster-health risks and other developments affecting capacity strengthening and project implementation in the Philippines. • Facilitate peer learning among participating organizations in coordination with the IMC Philippines Country Team and participate in cross-site technical exchanges with the Thailand–Myanmar Border Capacity Building Expert, HEM Specialist and relevant LEARN partners to share tools, lessons and practical solutions while maintaining context-specific implementation. • Contribute Philippine experience and lessons to the refinement of LEARN capacity-strengthening resources and approaches. 4. Outbreak Readiness and Response Support • Maintain awareness of emerging infectious disease events and public health threats relevant to participating organizations and project locations through coordination with the IMC Philippines Country Team and appropriate public health information sources, and communicate significant developments and potential support needs to ADPC. • Where an outbreak or other public health emergency creates a need for additional LEARN support, provide agreed technical and coordination assistance to participating L/NNGOs in close collaboration with the IMC Philippines Country Team, subject to ADPC/LEARN authorization, available resources, security considerations and defined project scope. Support will be coordinated with responsible public health authorities and relevant response mechanisms and remain within Consultant’s competencies and authorized role. • Support rapid identification of organizational operational needs, capacities and gaps with IMC Philippines and participating organizations, and translate findings into priority actions. As authorized and appropriate, assist activation of RRTs or equivalent mechanisms, coordination, information management and reporting, community engagement, referral pathways, IPC/WASH and response planning; provide remote or field-based just-in-time coaching. • Document operational bottlenecks, enabling factors and lessons from response support with IMC Philippines, applying 7-1-7 or Early Action Review principles where appropriate, and integrate agreed learning into organizational action plans, community response plans and subsequent preparedness activities. 5. Monitoring, Documentation and Reporting • Monitor capacity-strengthening activities and organizational progress against agreed workplan milestones, action plans and LEARN indicators in coordination with the ADPC project team and IMC Philippines Country Team, using agreed country monitoring systems and reporting schedules. • Maintain training attendance and participant profiles, learning assessments, exercise findings, mentoring/coaching logs, stakeholder mapping records, organizational action trackers, technical review records and evidence of follow-up, using agreed formats and safe data-management procedures. Coordinate record collection and consolidation with the IMC Philippines Country Team to avoid duplication and disaggregate participation data by sex, age and disability where feasible, appropriate and safe. • Provide regular technical and implementation updates to ADPC and share relevant updates with the IMC Philippines Country Team through agreed reporting arrangements, including achievements, action-plan progress, challenges, emerging needs, agreed corrective actions and responsibilities for follow-up. • Contribute technical inputs and supporting information to ADPC's periodic LEARN progress reports, monitoring requirements and other project documentation. • Document feedback, lessons learned, capacity-development results, good practices and emerging technical needs from participating organizations and field implementation. • Propose improvements to technical tools, learning resources and guidance based on assessment findings, implementation experience and feedback from participating organizations and the IMC Philippines Country Team, and submit substantive technical revisions to the HEM Specialist for review and quality assurance. • Support continuous improvement of LEARN capacity-strengthening approaches and contribute Philippine experiences and lessons to cross-country learning and refinement of technical resources. 6. Cross-Cutting Responsibilities • Integrate Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), safeguarding, conflict sensitivity and do-no-harm principles throughout stakeholder engagement, organizational assessments, training, coaching, community response planning and monitoring. • Facilitate safe, inclusive and accessible participation, taking into account language, disability-related needs, displacement-related barriers and other relevant contextual considerations. • Protect confidential organizational and community information, apply appropriate data protection and information-sharing procedures, and report safeguarding concerns through established ADPC and partner mechanisms. • Undertake other related technical and capacity-strengthening responsibilities as may be reasonably required to support effective implementation of LEARN in the Philippines. E. Working Principles: In performing the duties and responsibilities outlined above, the Consultant will report directly to the LEARN Program Lead, who will provide overall programmatic, contractual and management oversight, including workplan and budget management, coordination with IMC, and approval of major implementation decisions. For country-level implementation, the Consultant will work in close coordination with the IMC Philippines Country Team on activity planning, organizational engagement, implementation arrangements, technical delivery and follow-up, in accordance with agreed partner responsibilities and coordination mechanisms. F. Required Qualifications: Required Qualifications and Specifications Education: • Advanced university degree (Master's degree preferred) in Public Health, Epidemiology, Global Health, Health Emergency/Disaster Management, Community Health, International Development, or another relevant field. • A Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline combined with substantial relevant professional experience may be considered. Professional Experience: • At least 8 years of relevant professional experience in public health, humanitarian health, infectious disease preparedness and response, health emergency management, community health, disaster preparedness or a closely related field. • Demonstrated experience in capacity strengthening, training facilitation, mentoring and/or coaching of local organizations, health workers or community-based responders. • Practical experience in infectious disease outbreak preparedness and/or response, public health emergency management or related programming. • Proven experience working with government/public health institutions, health emergency coordination mechanisms, local government structures, NGOs and technical partners in the Philippines. • Demonstrated experience working with local and national NGOs, civil society organizations and/or community-based organizations. • Experience conducting or supporting organizational/capacity assessments and translating identified gaps into capacity-development interventions. • Experience facilitating participatory, competency-based and/or scenario-based training is highly desirable. • Experience with Rapid Response Teams (RRTs), emergency operations, community-based surveillance, risk communication and community engagement, IPC/WASH, community response planning or related technical areas would be an advantage. • Knowledge of contemporary outbreak readiness and response frameworks, including 7-1-7, is highly desirable. Experience supporting real-time outbreak response, RRTs, emergency operations/incident coordination, Early Action Reviews, after-action reviews or comparable operational learning processes would be an advantage. • Experience working across the disaster–health nexus, including preparedness and response in areas affected by natural hazards and concurrent public health emergencies, would be an advantage. • Demonstrated knowledge and experience of the Philippine public health emergency preparedness and response context, including national and/or subnational systems, is strongly preferred. • Experience working with organizations or stakeholders in Luzon/NCR and/or Mindanao/BARMM would be an advantage. Language • Excellent written and spoken English is required. • Professional proficiency in Filipino/Tagalog is highly desirable. • Knowledge of relevant local languages in project implementation areas would be an advantage. G. Performance Competency Core competencies • Integrity: Demonstrates the highest level of commitment and demonstrates respect for persons of concern to ADPC, partners, and colleagues in all aspects of work. Ensures that personal and professional behavior is of the highest standard. • Diversity Awareness: Able to embrace the uniqueness of all individuals along several dimensions such as race, religious beliefs, ethnicity, age, gender, physical abilities, political beliefs, socioeconomic status, disability, political conviction, or any other distinguishing features. • Equality Awareness: Understands that each individual has an equal opportunity to make decisions, participate in social activities, perform any work at the organization, and make the most of her/ his life and talents. • Teamwork and Collaboration: Works constructively within and across teams in ways that allow shared objectives to be achieved. Works effectively with colleagues and partners. Fosters a positive and collaborative environment. H. Preparedness and Climate Action Department Functional Competencies: • Teamwork and collaboration: Works constructively within and across teams in ways that allow shared objectives to be achieved. Works effectively with colleagues and partners. Fosters a positive and collaborative environment. • Results Orientation: Focuses on delivering agreed-upon results through effectively managing internal and external resources to achieve results. Demonstrates a commitment to both personal and organizational excellence, with an emphasis on results. • Analytical Problem-Solving Skills: Displays analytical thinking by identifying, defining, and analyzing information, situations, and problems. Arrives at viable solutions through a variety of approaches. Demonstrates critical thoughts, methodical review of implications, intuition, and rational conclusions. • Adaptability: Demonstrates flexibility, both intellectually and behaviorally, to adapt to and work effectively in various situations, often under demanding conditions, and to cope with the unforeseen or unexpected. Looks for opportunities presented by change and is not "paralyzed" by new and unusual scenarios. Creates opportunities to improve how they work. I. Duty Station: Manila, Philippines. Technical support will cover participating L/NNGOs and approved LEARN project locations in the Philippines. Specific locations, remote support and field missions will be agreed through the approved workplan in close coordination with the IMC Philippines Country Team; travel requires ADPC authorization, available resources, appropriate access and security arrangements, and alignment with project scope. J. Duration: November 2026 – September 2027 (11 months) K. Itinerary: During official missions outside the duty station, the Consultant will be entitled to local/international travel, daily subsistence allowance, accommodation, and other related travel costs as per ADPC financial policy. L. Condition of payment: The Consultant will receive a monthly payment upon submission of completed timesheets. In addition, the Consultant is eligible for reimbursement of any program-related expenses incurred in the implementation of project activities, subject to the prior approval of the Program Lead. How to apply Interested Candidates can submit the completed ADPC Application Form, (downloadable from www.adpc.net), resume, copy of degrees/certificate(s) together with a cover letter, to: Google Link or https://forms.gle/d91oYDm81zZQuB2M9 by midnight Bangkok time on 1 November 2026. Interested candidates are required to submit a Financial Proposal using the attached form, together with all other required documents. Female candidates are especially encouraged to apply. ADPC encourage diversity in its workplace and support an inclusive work environment.