Consultant Technical Advisor, Digital Payment Systems

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PATH is a global nonprofit dedicated to achieving health equity. With more than 40 years of experience forging multisector partnerships and with expertise in science, economics, technology, advocacy, and dozens of other specialties, PATH develops and scales up innovative solutions to the world's most pressing heath challenges.

About the Project

Funded by the Gates Foundation, PATH serves as a fiscal sponsor for several Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS) projects. The overall objective of these investments is to facilitate the launch of domestic and multi-country Instant and Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS), primarily based on the Mojaloop open-source Digital Public Good (DPG). Each deployment involves complex technical workstreams, including system architecture and infrastructure design, development of interoperability platforms (using Mojaloop or commercial systems), scheme governance and rulebook development, participant onboarding, and deployment and scale-up, delivered by a range of consultants, system integrators, and specialist vendors.

As PATH's portfolio of IIPS deployments expands in both scope and complexity, there is a growing need for independent, senior-level technical expertise to ensure that deliverables produced by consultants and vendors meet international standards, align with approved scope, and are fit for implementation within each country's regulatory and market context.

This is a global role.

Purpose and Objectives

PATH is seeking a Senior Technical Advisor with deep expertise in instant payment systems to provide independent technical oversight and quality assurance support for the development of governance and operational frameworks for Inclusive & Instant Payment Systems.

This role supports PATH in fulfilling its responsibilities as a fiscal sponsor by ensuring that technical deliverables produced by consultants and vendors meet international standards, align with the approved scope, and are fit for implementation within the local regulatory and market context.

The Advisor will function as a technical reviewer, risk assessor, and strategic sounding board, ensuring rigour, coherence, and value for money across all IIPS-related deliverables.

The specific objectives of this engagement are to:

• Provide expert assessment of technical outputs against international standards (including Level One Project principles, ISO 20022, and applicable regulatory frameworks).
• Identify and flag technical risks, gaps, inconsistencies, or overengineering in proposed frameworks, architectures, and operational designs.
• Support informed decision-making on milestone acceptance, payment approvals, and vendor performance.
• Offer strategic advisory inputs to PATH and its partners on emerging technical issues, new project opportunities, and evolving market dynamics.

Scope of Work

The Technical Advisor will undertake the following activities across the project portfolio:

• Conduct structured technical reviews of scopes of work, terms of reference, and key deliverables produced by subawards, consultants, system integrators, and vendors across active country projects.
• Evaluate the internal consistency, technical feasibility, and standards compliance of technical outputs, including system architecture designs, infrastructure specifications, API documentation, scheme rulebooks, and governance frameworks.
• Identify gaps, inconsistencies, or overengineering in proposed frameworks and provide actionable recommendations for improvement.
• Ensure technical deliverables meet relevant international standards (including Level One Project design principles, ISO 20022, and applicable local regulatory requirements) and are fit for purpose within each country context.
• Assess whether proposed technical solutions are proportionate to scope, country context, transaction volumes, and institutional capacity, with particular attention to infrastructure sizing, hosting models, and long-term operational cost implications.

• Provide written technical review memos to inform milestone acceptance and payment approval decisions by PATH.
• Flag risks related to scope creep, delivery quality, timeline slippage, or technical misalignment.
• Support PATH in determining acceptance, conditional acceptance, or required revisions of deliverables submitted by vendors and consultants.
• Review and provide input on user acceptance testing (UAT) plans, integration testing strategies, production validation approaches, and go-live readiness.
• Support PATH in determining when revisions, re-scoping, or phased delivery may be more appropriate than full acceptance of vendor submissions.
• Support vendor selection processes by reviewing technical proposals, scoring criteria, and assumptions related to effort, infrastructure, and delivery models

• Assess technical risks across the portfolio, including system downtime, capacity constraints, integration challenges, security vulnerabilities, and settlement risks.
• Provide guidance on risk mitigation strategies, including redundancy planning, disaster recovery, fraud prevention frameworks, and data protection compliance.
• Monitor and advise on regulatory and compliance risks arising from changes in the legal and regulatory landscape across project countries.

• Offer strategic advisory inputs for potential new country deployments or project extensions, including assessment of market readiness, technical feasibility, and resource requirements.
• Advise on the comparative merits of open-source (e.g., Mojaloop) versus commercial instant payment solutions in specific country contexts.
• Provide input on vendor selection processes, including review of technical proposals and evaluation criteria.
• Contribute to lessons-learned processes and knowledge documentation to inform future deployments.

Institutional Arrangement

The Technical Advisor will report to and work under the supervision of the Senior Program Officer at PATH, who serves as the primary point of coordination for the IIPS Deployment Projects. Day-to-day coordination will be supported by the Project Administration Officer.

Duty Station

The Advisor shall work on a remote basis. Occasional travel to project countries or to PATH offices may be required for in-person workshops, stakeholder consultations, or technical reviews, subject to prior agreement and separate reimbursement.

Duration of Engagement

The engagement is for a period of up to three (3) years from the date of contract signature, with an estimated level of effort of 10-40 hours per month. The engagement will be subject to annual performance review and renewal based on mutual agreement and the continued needs of the project.

The master services agreement is designed to provide flexible, on-demand access to senior technical expertise that can be scaled up or down in response to the pace of country deployments and volume of deliverables under review.

Desired Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years' professional experience in the design, implementation, or oversight of real-time or instant payment systems, payment switches, or national payment infrastructure.
• Demonstrated experience with open-source payment platforms (particularly Mojaloop) and/or commercial instant payment system solutions.
• Proven track record of conducting independent technical reviews, quality assurance assessments, or technical due diligence of complex ICT or fintech projects.
• Experience working with or advising central banks, national financial switches, or regulatory authorities on payment system governance, scheme design, and operational frameworks.
• Familiarity with Level One Project (L1P) design principles, ISO 20022 messaging standards, and relevant regulatory frameworks in developing country contexts.
• Experience in African markets or comparable developing economy contexts is highly desirable.

• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, with the ability to assess complex technical deliverables and identify gaps, risks, and opportunities.
• Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to produce clear, concise, and actionable technical review memos and advisory notes.
• Demonstrated ability to navigate among diverse stakeholders, including government officials, development partners, technology vendors, and financial institutions.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple concurrent review workstreams across different country contexts.
• Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Proficiency in French is highly desirable given country engagements in Guinea and Burundi.

Application Requirements

The following documents must be submitted for review:

• Letter of expression of interest (cover letter) describing relevant experience and approach to the role.
• Curriculum vitae (CV) indicating all relevant experience from similar assignments, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references with experience in payment systems or financial infrastructure.
• A brief technical writing sample (e.g., a technical review memo, assessment report, or advisory note) demonstrating the candidate's analytical and communication capabilities.
• Proposed daily rate in US dollars, exclusive of any operational or administrative costs.

Important Notes

• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. If you do not hear from us within 30 days of submission of your application, please consider your application unsuccessful.
• Applicants should indicate their preferred (all-in) daily rate in US dollars.