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.

At CHAI, 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 40 countries with a broad range of skillsets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with majority of our staff based in program countries. Our alumni secure positions in reputed business and policy institutions (Harvard, Columbia, MIT, etc.) and pursue high-impact professional opportunities globally.

In India, CHAI works in partnership with its India registered affiliate William J Clinton Foundation (WJCF) 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. Currently, WJCF supports government partners across projects to expand access to quality care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, tuberculosis, COVID-19, common cancers, sexual and reproductive health, immunization, and essential medicines.

Learn more about our exciting work: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org

Program Overview

In response to worsening climate change impacts, WJCF is exploring work at the intersection of climate change and health, starting with a new strategic initiative focused on improving access to affordable, high-energy efficiency sustainable cooling. Efficient cooling will not only be critical to mitigate the health impacts of extreme heat and reduce emissions but will also unlock significant economic savings in our power grids.

Our aim is to address the direct health impacts of climate change, strengthen the climate resilience and environmental sustainability of health systems and facilities, and promote the “health co-benefits” of climate change mitigation in other sectors.

The impacts of climate change on healthcare are numerous: Extreme weather events not only cause severe injuries and large-scale mortality but also disrupt essential services and infrastructure, leading to domino-health related impacts. Rising temperatures expand the transmission zones of vector-borne diseases, pollution worsens chronic conditions, while resource constraints further susceptibility to infectious diseases. These are just some of the ways climate change acts as a health risk threat multiplier. Simultaneously, the health sector is also a direct contributor to climate change while also being vulnerable to knock-on impacts from other high-emitting sectors.

In the backdrop of leading governmental, multilateral, philanthropic and civil society stakeholders prioritizing work at the nexus climate and health, WJCF is at an exciting foundational stage of designing its strategy on this important agenda. Building off decades of experience in the public health sector, WJCF is keen to implement climate-health programs that are a value-add to ecosystem efforts and tap on our unique expertise as an operational partner for communities, a market shaper in the private sector (manufacturers, innovators, consultancies, etc.), and a catalyst for the global climate-health ecosystem. Central to this approach is being a trusted strategic partner to the government agencies and providing deep analytical support for national and state level climate-health priorities.

Role Overview

We seek a highly motivated individual with demonstrated experience for the role of Associate – Climate & Health for WJCF’s strategic initiative in climate change. The candidate will report to the Lead – Climate & Cooling and, as an integral member of the country team, work closely with representatives of different internal country and global teams. The Associate will have the opportunity to play a powerful role in defining the program strategy and implementation approach for WJCF’s new Climate x Health initiatives. As such, a high level of entrepreneurialism and resourcefulness will be expected. 

The Associate – Climate & Health must be driven, flexible, and resilient. The candidate should be able to function independently and be comfortable working in cross-functional teams. The candidate should be highly adept at managing and excelling in uncertainty, possess analytical skills, and have a strong commitment to excellence. WJCF places great value on relevant personal qualities: leadership and high emotional quotient, humility, resourcefulness, creative problem solving, energy, and work ethic.

• Provide specialized inputs for informing WJCF’s climate strategy and scope new interventions at the intersection of climate and health
• Collaborate and coordinate with other WJCF teams as well as external partners to construct approaches and frameworks for designing and implementing initiatives and forging alliances in climate and health
• Conduct primary research and literature review and track developments related to technological, policy, regulatory, trade, and commercial aspects of climate change and health in India and outside.
• Support development of concept notes, program proposals and donor outreach collateral
• Develop frameworks that monitor & evaluate impact of climate and health projects
• Develop and leverage networks with key entities in the climate and health ecosystem in India.
• Significantly contribute to thought pieces and research collaterals for WJCF.
• Support the crafting of internal and external facing collaterals and reports.
• Play the representation role for WJCF at appropriate fora such as symposiums and workshops.
• Support existing climate and health projects, including Clean Cooling
• Undertake any other responsibilities as assigned by program leadership.

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in social sciences, environment, engineering, policy, economics/finance
• 3-4 years of relevant experience in analytical roles, such as consulting, research, etc., with focus on climate and/or public health topics
• Track record of developing research and outreach collaterals commiserate with the requirements for consulting firms, research entities, and think tanks
• Ability to thrive in uncertainty and develop bottom-up hypotheses which can be tested
• Proven ability to deliver high quality outputs under time sensitive and complex requirements
• Strong analytical skills and in-depth working knowledge of digital analytical and visualization tools
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work in a matrix and multi-cultural team across geographies