Senior Program Officer

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.

CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work in conjunction with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.

In India, CHAI works in partnership with its affiliate the William J Clinton Foundation (WJCF), an independent not-for-profit entity, registered under Section 8 of the Indian Companies Act 2013. WJCF's mission is to save lives and improve health outcomes by enabling the government and private sector to strengthen and sustain quality health systems. To that end, the organisation has been working in India, since 2007, under the guidance of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) at the Central and states' levels on an array of high priority initiatives aimed at improving health outcomes. These, inter alia, include infectious diseases (COVID-19, hepatitis, HIV, TB, vector-borne diseases), non-communicable diseases (cervical cancer, diabetes, sickle cell disease), maternal and child health (anaemia, immunisation, diarrhoea, pneumonia), sexual and reproductive health, health insurance and digital health (AB PM-JAY, ABDM), oxygen and hypoxemia management, safe drinking water, and climate and health.

Our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 15 states of India with a broad range of skillsets and life experiences. 

Learn more about our exciting work: 

Program Overview:

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the World Health Organization-led National Polio Surveillance Project (NPSP) began in 1997 to support India's polio eradication efforts. After achieving that goal in 2014, the network broadened its focus to include active and passive, population-based and case-based surveillance of other vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) such as diphtheria, measles, rubella, pertussis, and neonatal tetanus. Today, it remains the most reliable source of VPD case incidence data in the country.

NPSP's complete transition to the Government of India is underway in a phased manner and is expected to conclude by 2027. The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), under the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has been designated to take over the functions currently managed by NPSP. Established in 2004, IDSP tracks more than 33 infectious diseases and conditions through near real-time, case-based reporting on the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP).

The planned integration of the National Polio Surveillance Network into the existing IDSP will be carried out comprehensively and responsibly to maintain the high standards of data quality, investigation, and sample collection that NPSP is known for. The initiative will ensure continued effectiveness in monitoring VPDs, especially for measles and rubella elimination and polio eradication, with a strong focus on capacity building and strategic oversight at both national and sub-national levels. Through this transition, the programme will support India's long-term health security goals, leveraging government partnerships, community engagement, and cutting-edge innovations.

Project Background:

WJCF is privileged to support IDSP, NCDC's vision for a sustainable transition of the existing VPD surveillance network through an embedded program management unit (PMU) model at the Central Surveillance Unit (CSU). The PMU will work under the direct supervision of NCDC, MoHFW leadership to facilitate the achievement of key strategic goals:

• Smooth transition of all functions related to VPD surveillance from WHO's VPD surveillance network to IDSP in a time-bound manner.
• Enhance sustainable leadership, management and technical capacity of IDSP-NCDC and consequently the state IDSP units for maintaining the appropriate standards for VPD surveillance by evidence-informed programmatic, financial and policy decision-making.
• Trigger development and comprehensive implementation of newer strategies, implementation frameworks and approaches for further building on the gains achieved thus far.
• Increase and sustain multisectoral responses, advocacy, and political momentum towards elimination goals.

Position Summary:

We are seeking a highly motivated individual with outstanding credentials and demonstrated VPD surveillance experience to facilitate day-to-day PMU operations, support the planning of national and state review meetings, coordination with various State Surveillance Units (SSUs) and health leadership across ministerial nodes for ensuring effective adoption of PMU interventions. This role provides the operational backbone for the PMU, ensuring seamless coordination and timely reporting of progress. The ideal candidate should have exceptional analytical skills, problem-solving ability and communication skills. The candidate must be able to function independently, be comfortable with travelling across India extensively, be flexible, and have a strong commitment to excellence.  WJCF places great value on relevant personal qualities: resourcefulness, responsibility, tenacity, independence, energy, and work ethics.

• Provide advisory support to IDSP programme managers at the State/District levels on effective programme performance monitoring, action plan creation and follow-up on adoption of national-level interventions till the last mile.
• Maintaining active feedback channels and close collaboration with State & District health leadership nodal officers for issue identification, resolution/escalation, and ensuring intervention uptake.
• Timely identification of context-specific program requirements, risks/challenges for adaptation of the program design accordingly.
• Support the development of strategic roadmaps and implementation guidelines rooted in evidence from field
• Support the development tech-enabled solutions, their testing, and sustainable adoption in government settings
• Lead the monitoring of intervention uptake and adherence to issued guidelines and directives from the Central programme leadership
• Facilitate cross-program collaboration by building and maintaining trust-based relationships with relevant government stakeholders, development partners, and other stakeholders.
• Synthesize and document key learnings, and support dissemination to key stakeholders through reports, briefs, presentation decks and other collaterals as needed.
• Support with other responsibilities as assigned by the program leadership.

• Master's/bachelor's degree in public health, medicine, public administration, management, economics or allied areas
• 5+ years of relevant field level work experience in immunization/infectious disease surveillance in the public sector including engaging with state and district officials on programmatic challenges, conducting multi-stakeholder workshops and undertaking capacity building for public health functionaries
• Exceptional interpersonal skills demonstrated ability to build strong professional relationships with a range of stakeholders in a challenging, multi-cultural environment
• Excellent analytical (qualitative and quantitative) and communication (written and verbal) skills
• Entrepreneurial mind-set, including ability to work independently, self-motivate, and propose and implement new initiatives
• Motivation to travel frequently to meet the needs of the program and deliver impact effectively.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint and Word
• Fluency in English & Hindi

Last Date to apply: 15th Nov 2025