Lead Researcher

Program Lead – Discovery Phase @ JSPL

About Sukoon

Sukoon is India's leading behavioral health platform, operating specialized mental health services across sectors. We are building a system of care that is structured, scalable, and measurable—with a focus on early intervention, team-based care, and clinical outcomes.

Through
Sukoon Hospitals
, we deliver evidence-based inpatient and outpatient care across major cities. We have 5 facilities across Delhi NCR, Bangalore and Hyderabad. We're on track to build 40 such facilities with 1200+ beds.

Through
Sukoon Workplace
, we partner with organizations to bring structured mental health care to employees and their families—combining individual therapy, proactive detection, and system-wide insights. We have 30K employees in care and the ambition to scale this to 500K individuals.

Through
Sukoon On Campus
, we run full-stack mental health programs inside India's top universities—integrating education, detection, and treatment directly into the student journey. We have 15K students under our care and have our sights set at 500K students across India by 2032.

Our approach is practical, data-driven, and built to deliver impact in high-pressure environments. Every intervention is tailored. Every outcome is tracked. Every person matters.

We're building a world-class mental health team—and we're looking for professionals who are sharp, grounded, and ready to push what good can look like for their patients.

Context and Role Purpose

India's industrial workforce faces unprecedented mental health challenges — with high prevalence of anxiety, substance use, trauma, and somatic distress, particularly among shift workers and migrant labor populations.
JSPL and Sukoon have partnered to build India's first globally benchmarked industrial mental health ecosystem.

The Discovery Phase is a 3–4-month foundational phase that validates mental health needs, stakeholder alignment, and digital and clinical readiness across JSPL's Raigarh, Angul, and corporate sites. This phase will set the blueprint for a scalable, multi-tier mental health care model.

The Ideal Candidate

• Be passionate about mental health, human behavior, and system design
• Thrive in complex stakeholder environments (corporate, union, community)
• Be equally comfortable on-site with factory workers and in boardrooms with CXOs
• Bring sharp execution skills, humility, and a data-first mindset
• Have experience in field operations, management consulting, public health, or workforce mental health

Key Responsibilities

1.Program Implementation and Field Execution

• Anchor the entire Discovery Phase rollout across 3 sites — Angul, Raigarh, and Corporate
• Own the day-to-day execution of all discovery tasks: ethnography, surveys, interviews, digital mapping, and clinical validation
• Coordinate the field team (psychologists, social workers, surveyors, tech staff) across activities
• Monitor timelines, quality, and compliance against the defined project plan
• Deliver a comprehensive workplace anxiety report at the end of the discovery phase

2.Stakeholder Engagement and Communication

• Serve as Sukoon's primary face to JSPL HR, Safety, Plant Operations, and Corporate leadership
• Align diverse stakeholders: HR, unions, EHS, health center staff, community representatives
• Conduct structured feedback loops and alignment huddles across all three sites
• Build early champions across the system to de-risk resistance and enhance adoption

3.Systems, Data and Digital Integration

• Work with Sukoon's digital health team to validate infrastructure readiness (HRIS, EHS, IT)
• Support deployment and testing of digital screening, chatbot, and dashboard prototypes
• Ensure fidelity and integrity of all data collected during screening and ethnography
• Track discovery outcomes through structured logs and periodic dashboards

4.Clinical and Family Insights

• Help surface site-specific mental health risks (alcohol use, trauma, fatigue, violence) from ground intelligence
• Enable community mapping and family-centric need identification, especially for women, children, and spouses
• Feed these insights into the final service design recommendations

5.Report Development and Recommendations

• Synthesize field learnings into a Discovery Phase Final Report — covering needs, risks, digital readiness, workforce segmentation, and rollout strategy
• Support the Sukoon Advisory Team in structuring the Phase 2 & 3 roadmap
• Present findings to JSPL's executive committee and support alignment workshops

Competencies and Experience

• 6–10 years of program management or consulting experience in healthcare, workforce wellbeing, social impact, or similar sectors
• Demonstrated experience managing multi-stakeholder projects in complex field settings
• Familiarity with ethnographic tools, survey design, and human-centered design processes
• Strong documentation and synthesis skills — ability to turn field data into strategic insight
• Fluency in English and Hindi (Odia/Chhattisgarhi a plus)

Outcomes and Accountability

• In 4-5 months, the Program Lead is expected to:
• Complete discovery across all three locations with >90% protocol fidelity
• Surface clear, site-specific needs, digital gaps, and clinical risks
• Establish working relationships with key JSPL leadership and ground stakeholders
• Deliver a high-quality report with actionable recommendations, backed by data
• Co-lead the alignment workshop that secures buy-in for Phase 2 rollout

Reporting and Structure

• Reports to: Co-Founder and Chairman

How to apply?

If you are interested in the position, kindly reach out at You may also connect with the hiring team on for this role.