PAHO Consultant - Backend and Cloud Computing Architect Consultant for a Geospatial Vaccination Microplanning Solution

OBJECTIVE OF THE OFFICE/DEPARTMENT

This is a requisition for employment at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO)

Contractual Agreement:

Non-Staff - International PAHO Consultant

Job Posting:

August 28, 2026

Closing Date:

September 7, 2026, 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Primary Location:

Off Site

Organization:

EIH Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health

Schedule:

Full time

PURPOSE OF CONSULTANCY

Organization: Department of Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health (EIH) and PAHO technical teams for immunization, health analysis, and digital transformation.

Background
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) supports countries of the Region of the Americas in strengthening immunization systems, epidemiological surveillance, identification of coverage gaps, and planning of interventions aimed at populations with limited access to health services.

The project seeks to identify where children who have not received the first dose of measles vaccine are concentrated (zero-dose children for measles). This information will serve as the basis for designing and implementing a cloud-based solution to support geospatial microplanning of vaccination campaigns, enabling the integration of coverage, population, health facility, priority territory, access barrier, and campaign operational results data.

Strengthening measles vaccination requires tools that can detect and prioritize territories with subnational gaps, transform fragmented data into actionable information, and support national and subnational teams in planning routes, resources, monitoring, and evaluation. The planned solution must be prepared to operate in a secure, scalable, and sustainable institutional environment, with capabilities for data ingestion, geospatial processing, APIs, authentication, traceability, monitoring, and cloud deployment.

To advance this component, PAHO requires a consultant specialized in backend architecture and cloud computing, capable of designing the technical architecture, configuring core cloud and backend components, defining integration requirements, and establishing a secure basis for further development of the vaccination campaign microplanning platform.

Purpose
Design, document, and implement the backend and cloud computing architecture for a geospatial vaccination campaign microplanning solution aimed at identifying and prioritizing areas with children who have not received the first dose of measles vaccine.
Ensure that the proposed solution is modular, scalable, secure, traceable, and interoperable with institutional data sources, including vaccination coverage, population, administrative boundaries, health facilities, operational routes, and other inputs required for microplanning.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:

Responsabilities

The consultant will be responsible for planning, developing, and documenting the assigned technical components through the following activities:

1. Cloud and backend architecture design

• Gather technical and functional requirements with PAHO teams and designated counterparts.

• Define a modular cloud architecture for ingestion, processing, storage, geospatial analysis, APIs, and visualization.

• Specify compute components, databases, geospatial services, load balancing, scaling, recovery, and operational continuity.

• Develop logical, physical, and deployment architecture diagrams, including development, testing, and production environments.

2. Data design, interoperability, and geospatial processing

• Design data ingestion, validation, cleaning, transformation, and versioning flows from immunization systems, population sources, health facilities, and geographic layers.

• Define relational and geospatial data models, including standards for metadata, data dictionaries, and lineage.

• Configure or specify geospatial databases and spatial query services that enable the identification of clusters and priority areas.

• Design APIs for secure data exchange with analytical modules, web interfaces, and approved external services.

3. Backend prototype implementation and cloud deployment

• Configure repositories, environments, containers, backend services, and continuous deployment pipelines in accordance with PAHO technical policies.

• Implement minimum backend services for authentication, user administration, data upload, geospatial queries, and results export.

• Configure infrastructure as code or equivalent documentation to reproduce environments and facilitate maintenance.

4. Security, privacy, governance, and compliance

• Define role-based access controls, authentication, authorization, encryption, secrets management, audit logging, and environment segregation.

• Incorporate principles of data minimization, protection of sensitive information, and privacy risk review.

• Document security assumptions, dependencies, technical risks, and mitigation measures.

These activities are essential to ensure that the future solution can identify vaccination gaps, prioritize territories, and support vaccination campaign microplanning in a secure, sustainable manner oriented toward use by national and subnational teams.

Consultant profile
A consultant specialized in backend architecture, cloud computing, and geospatial data solutions applied to public health is required, with the ability to work in multidisciplinary teams and translate programmatic needs into implementable technical components.

The consultancy corresponds to Band A, as it involves specialized technical services of moderate complexity focused on the design, implementation, and documentation of core components for an institutional solution.

Languages: Advanced Spanish or English; working knowledge of the other language will be considered an advantage.

Education: Minimum first university degree for the lower end of the band; advanced university degree for the mid or upper range of Band A, in fields related to the purpose of the consultancy.

Experience: Minimum of four (4) years of experience in development, architecture, or implementation of backend and cloud computing solutions, preferably in projects related to public health, geospatial data, surveillance, immunization, data analytics, or institutional platforms.

Demonstrated experience in cloud architecture design, database integration, API deployment, environment automation, performance testing, security, and system documentation. Experience with geospatial technologies, health interoperability standards, and work with international organizations or ministries of health will be considered an asset.

Skills:

• Cloud architecture and scalable backend design.

• Containers, CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and secure deployment.

• SQL/NoSQL databases and geospatial databases.

• REST/GraphQL APIs, authentication, authorization, and user management.

• Geospatial processing, data interoperability, and metadata standards.

• Information security, privacy, auditing, and operational monitoring.

• Clear technical documentation and knowledge transfer.

Technical coordination and supervision

Under the supervision of the Advisor in Data Science from the Health Analysis team of the Department of Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health. The consultant will coordinate with immunization, information systems, geospatial analysis, data, information security, and other focal points designated by PAHO.

Contract value

Depending on deliverables, daily rates can vary from US $172 to US $215.

Duration: September 9, 2026 - December 31, 2026

Contract type: PAHO International Consultant - Non-staff Position (Band A)

Band level: Band A: services related to projects or technical tasks of moderate complexity or specialization; require specialized qualifications.

Main location:  Remote work (off-site), with regular virtual meetings and coordination with PAHO teams and national counterparts.

Scheduled weekly hours: Up to 40 hours, according to the work plan and deliverables schedule.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• Successful candidates will be placed on the roster and subsequently may be selected for consultancy assignments falling in this area of work or for similar requirements/tasks/deliverables.  Inclusion in the Roster does not guarantee selection for a consultant contract.  There is no commitment on either side.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• All applicants are required to complete an on-line profile to be considered for this consultancy. For assessment of your application, please ensure that your profile in the PAHO Career page is updated; all experience records are entered with elaboration on tasks performed at the time.  Kindly note that CV/PHFs inserted via LinkedIn are no accessible.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. PAHO/WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. PAHO will also use the databases of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation http://www.chea.org/search/default.asp and College Navigator, found on the website of the National Centre for Educational Statistics, https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator to support the validation process. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to PAHO/WHO Regulations, and e-Manual.
• For information on PAHO please visit: http://www.paho.org
• PAHO/WHO is committed to providing a respectful and supportive workplace for all personnel .
• PAHO is an ethical organization that maintains high standards of integrity and accountability. People joining PAHO are required to maintain these standards both in their professional work and personal activities.
• PAHO also promotes a work environment that is free from harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and other types of abusive behavior. PAHO conducts background checks and will not hire anyone who has a substantiated history of abusive conduct.
• PAHO personnel interact frequently with people in the communities we serve. To protect these people, PAHO has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. People who commit serious wrongdoings will be terminated and may also face criminal prosecution.
• PAHO/WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.
• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority.  The execution of the work under a consultant contract does not create an employer/employee relationship between PAHO and the Consultant.
• PAHO/WHO shall have no responsibility whatsoever for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant.  The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by PAHO/WHO.