Digital Equity Consultant

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Location: Remote; possible to work from any country of residence/operation provided the specific requirements mentioned below are fulfilled.

Application Deadline: August 15, 2026

Contract Type: Short-term consultancy

Duration: 3 months, with possible 3-month extension

Expected Start Date: September 1, 2026

Working Language: English

ABOUT US:

ChildFund International is a child-focused international development organization that works in 23 countries to connect children with the people, resources and institutions they need to grow up healthy, educated, skilled and safe, no matter where they are.

We aspire for every person in our organization—program participants, supporters, staff, and volunteers alike—to feel free, safe, and confident to be themselves. In our culture of connection, you will have ample opportunity to grow, learn, and lead while contributing your talents and innovations to our inspiring mission.

ChildFund International has a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) and all other forms of harm by its staff, partners, and other representatives in the delivery of its mission and services for children. ChildFund is committed to creating a safe environment in the workplace as well as in the communities where it delivers programs and services. ChildFund expects every staff member, partner, and representative to adhere to this commitment and to ensure all organizational policies and standards are followed.

Purpose

The Digital Equity Consultant will provide strategic, technical, and operational support to advance ChildFund's global digital equity program agenda. The consultant will work closely with Program Resources & Institutional Learning, country and regional program teams, MERL colleagues, business development and resource mobilization teams, safeguarding and protection colleagues, IT or digital systems stakeholders, and other relevant staff.

The consultant will help ensure ChildFund's digital equity work is coherent, fundable, safe, scalable, locally grounded, and aligned with ChildFund's mission outcomes that children grow up healthy, educated, skilled, and safe. ChildFund's strategy explicitly states that digital equity advances these outcomes by ensuring children can safely learn, participate, and thrive in an increasingly digital world.

The consultant will also help position digital equity as both a stand-alone technical offering and a cross-cutting accelerator for education, protection, health, livelihoods, sponsorship, humanitarian response, youth engagement, innovation, and systems strengthening.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Review and refine ChildFund's Digital Equity strategic framing

The consultant will review ChildFund's existing digital equity materials and refine the overall framing, narrative, and strategic positioning. This work should build from ChildFund's definition of digital equity as safe, inclusive, empowering access to digital technologies, content, and opportunities for children and youth.

Key tasks include:

• Refine ChildFund's value proposition in child-centered digital equity.
• Clarify how digital equity advances ChildFund's core outcomes: healthy, educated, skilled, and safe.
• Strengthen the articulation of digital equity as both a programmatic driver and a cross-cutting approach.

2. Develop program design guidance and practical tools

The consultant will translate ChildFund's digital equity framework into practical guidance for program teams. The guidance should help country and regional teams integrate digital equity into new and existing programs.

Key tasks include:

• Develop a practical program design guide for integrating digital equity into ChildFund programming.
• Build possible stand-alone program interventions that drive digital equity.

3. Support donor positioning and resource mobilization

The consultant will support ChildFund in positioning digital equity for institutional donors, foundations, corporations, technology partners, and other strategic funders.

Key tasks include:

• Develop a donor-facing digital equity narrative.
• Identify priority funding themes and partnership entry points.
• Draft language for one or more priority digital equity funding opportunities.
• Identify ways to position ChildFund's digital equity with donors.

4. Develop an implementation and organizational capability roadmap

The consultant will develop a roadmap for operationalizing digital equity internally and across ChildFund's global program portfolio. Key tasks include:

• Identify organizational capabilities required to deliver digital equity programming at scale.
• Recommend internal coordination mechanisms across technical teams, MERL, resource mobilization, IT, safeguarding, and country offices.
• Identify staff and partner capacity-building needs.
• Recommend how ChildFund can build evidence, learning, and thought leadership around digital equity.

Required experience and skills

• At least 8 years of progressive experience in digital development, digital inclusion, digital equity, technology for development, EdTech, online safety, youth skills, digital transformation, or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience developing strategies, technical frameworks, investment platforms, program design guidance, or implementation roadmaps for international development, humanitarian, or nonprofit organizations.
• Strong understanding of child-centered, rights-based, inclusive, and safeguarding-informed programming.
• Experience working across one or more of the following areas: digital learning, youth digital skills, online protection, responsible technology, AI literacy, digital livelihoods, digital public goods, data governance, digital service delivery, or systems strengthening.
• Experience integrating digital approaches into education, protection, livelihoods, health, humanitarian, or youth programming.
• Experience supporting resource mobilization, proposal development, donor positioning, or partnership cultivation.
• Experience working across multiple countries or regions, preferably including low-resource, low-connectivity, or crisis-affected contexts.

Required Education

• Bachelor's degree required in international development, education, technology for development, public policy, digital inclusion, child protection, social innovation, information systems, or a related field.
• Master's degree preferred in a relevant field.