RADIOTHERAPY SERVICE PLANNING AND CAPACITY BUILDING CONSULTANT , Kabul, Afghanistan

## RADIOTHERAPY SERVICE PLANNING AND CAPACITY BUILDING CONSULTANT , Kabul, Afghanistan - Organization:WHO - World Health Organization - Office:WHO in Kabul, Afghanistan RADIOTHERAPY SERVICE PLANNING AND CAPACITY BUILDING CONSULTANT Contractual Arrangement : External consultant Contract Duration (Years, Months, Days) : 6 months Job Posting: Sep 29, 2026, 10:40:34 AM - Purpose of the Consultancy The purpose of this consultancy is to provide specialized technical and strategic support to WHO Afghanistan, the Ministry of Public Health ( MoPH ), the Ministry of Higher Education ( MoHE ), relevant national institutions and other stakeholders in planning and preparing the implementation of sustainable radiotherapy services in Afghanistan. The consultant will assess the current radiotherapy landscape, review progress against the most recent impact Mission recommendations, identify priority gaps and implementation dependencies, and develop practical recommendations related to service delivery, infrastructure, equipment, workforce, quality management, radiation safety and long-term sustainability. Cancer is an increasing public health concern in Afghanistan, while access to comprehensive cancer diagnosis and treatment remains limited. Radiotherapy is an essential component of cancer care and requires appropriate infrastructure, specialized equipment, trained personnel, radiation safety systems, quality assurance and sustainable maintenance arrangements. Afghanistan has previously undertaken assessments and received recommendations concerning radiotherapy and cancer-control capacity, including through the most recent impact Mission process. WHO Afghanistan seeks to support national authorities in translating these recommendations into a realistic, coordinated and feasible approach for strengthening radiotherapy services. The service under consideration would be among the first radiotherapy services in Afghanistan, with a radiotherapy bunker reportedly ready and funding for procurement being explored through collaboration among WHO, the European Union and the de facto authorities. The consultancy will focus on practical planning, coordination, capacity building and sustainability. Formal approval, procurement, construction, commissioning and clinical operation will remain the responsibility of the relevant authorities and technical organizations. - Planned timelines(subject to confirmation) Start date: 01/11/2026 This will be a full-time consultancy 20 days per month for six months Output 1:Updated radiotherapy situation assessment - Review the status of radiotherapy and related cancer-care services in Afghanistan and Identify service-delivery gaps, operational constraints, risks and critical dependencies. - Review national strategies, plans, assessments, technical reports and project documents. - Map existing and planned infrastructure, equipment and service capacity, subject to data availability. - Assess workforce availability and competency requirements, including radiation oncologists, medical physicists, radiotherapy technologists/radiographers and maintenance personnel. Deliverable 1.1Updated radiotherapy situation assessment, including priority gaps, risks and recommended actions. Output 2:Radiotherapy implementation concept - Define a realistic and phased approach to strengthening radiotherapy services. - Recommend service scope, implementation phases and sequencing. - Identify infrastructure, equipment, human-resource and institutional requirements. - Consider equipment lifecycle management, maintenance, service continuity and technical support. - Identify prerequisites, dependencies and recommendations appropriate to Afghanistan's health-system context. Deliverable 2.1: Practical radiotherapy implementation concept and phased wise road map. Output 3: Capacity-building and stakeholder-coordination framework - Assess current and anticipated workforce-development needs. - Recommend education, training, mentoring, continuing professional development and training-of-trainers approaches. - Facilitate coordination among MoPH , MoHE , national institutions, IAEA, donors, development partners, professional bodies, vendors and other stakeholders, as appropriate. Deliverable 3.1: Capacity-building and stakeholder-coordination framework. Output 4: Quality, safety and sustainability guidance - Provide recommendations for quality management and continuous quality improvement. - Support consideration of radiation protection and safety requirements in coordination with competent authorities and technical organizations. - Recommend approaches to preventive maintenance, technical support, replacement planning and service continuity. Deliverable 4.1: Guidance on quality, safety, maintenance, monitoring and sustainability. Output 5: Reporting, technical advice and final handover - Prepare monthly technical reports, briefing notes, presentations and decision-support materials for WHO Afghanistan. - Provide technical advice to WHO and national counterparts within the scope of the consultancy. - Present findings and recommendations to relevant stakeholders. - Maintain documentation of consultations, assessments and recommendations. - Conduct a final technical briefing and handover to WHO Afghanistan and relevant national counterparts. Deliverable 5.1: Consolidated final report, presentations, supporting materials and final handover. - Technical Supervision The selected Consultant will work on the supervision of: Responsible Officer: Public Health Officer and Head of NCD, MHPSS, and Drug Demand Reduction, WHE Email: Manager: WHO Emergency Team Lead - Specific requirements -Qualifications required: Advanced university degree in health sciences, radiotherapy services, radiation-based treatment technologies or a related field. - Postgraduate qualification in strategic management, health-system management, governance or organizational transformation. - Advanced professional training in radiotherapy services, quality assurance and health-technology implementation. -Experience required: 5 to 10 years of relevant professional experience in radiotherapy, medical physics or radiation-based healthcare technologies with international experience is mandatory progressively responsible experience with an international organization, preferably within the United Nations system. - Demonstrated experience in radiotherapy service planning, development or implementation. - Experience in international technical cooperation, capacity building, workforce development and knowledge transfer. - Experience in programme/project planning, stakeholder facilitation and multi-partner coordination. - Experience preparing technical assessments, strategic plans, implementation frameworks and decision-support reports. - Experience in resource-constrained or developing-country health systems is desirable. -Skills / Technical skills and knowledge: - Radiotherapy service planning and implementation. - Radiotherapy infrastructure and technology assessment. Additional Information - This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level. - Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted. - 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. 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/ . Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review. - For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int . - The WHO is c