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Project Background:

In Madhya Pradesh, out of the 52 districts in the state, 22 districts fall under the sickle cell belt. A study conducted by ICMR in 2007 identified that 10%-33% of the tribal population in the state is sickle gene affected with Sickle Cell Traits and further 0.7% were confirmed to have Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) with a Homozygous (SS) gene. Based on another recent study, the state has an estimated number of 70,000 patients with Sickle Cell Disease. The government of India launched a national sickle cell anaemia elimination mission in July 2023 with the goal of eliminating SCD as a public health problem in India by 2047.

To meet the program goals, there is an urgent need to improve access to screening and treatment services for Sickle Cell Disease, especially among tribal populations. WJCF’s SCD program aims to strengthen health systems to ensure widespread access to quality products and services. The program aims to provide technical assistance to the state of Madhya Pradesh complemented by light touch implementation support to expand access to SCD diagnostic and management services. 

Position Overview:

The Associate/Senior Associate will lead the design and implementation of the Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) program in Madhya Pradesh, collaborating closely with the Program Manager to achieve grant objectives related to SCD screening and treatment. This role involves engaging with government officials to ensure effective program execution, as well as managing strategic and operational planning for WJCF’s initiatives.

The Associate/ Senior Associate will be responsible to manage strategic and operational planning for WJCF’s SCD work in the state. They will be managing and guiding a team of 1 or 2 Analysts on the design and implementation of the program strategy, develop operational roadmaps, and track the progress. They will lead the engagement with the state government on revision of program guidelines, development of SOPs and protocols for screening and treatment, conducting primary and secondary research, strengthening monitoring framework, collating and synthesizing information to generate high quality insights, coordinating with donors and partners on program design and collaborating with a range of internal and external stakeholders. The position requires 30% travel to program implementation sites within Madhya Pradesh and for meetings with stakeholders.

We seek a highly motivated, entrepreneurial individual with strong problem-solving and communication skills, who can work independently and is committed to excellence. Key personal qualities valued by WJCF include resourcefulness, humility, responsibility, accountability, tenacity, independence, energy, and attention to detail.

• Lead the formulation, design and implementation of the country program and its component projects in the area of Sickle Cell Disease in line with the government priorities.
• Ensure quality of program/project design incorporating lessons learned, newly developed policies and best practices and establishing appropriate execution and monitoring mechanisms and systems.
• Lead the development and roll-out of guidelines and data collection tools to support the program with data-driven decision-making.
• Develop purposive insights, visualizations, tools, templates, and planning aids that support in program management and progress tracking.
• Keep abreast of new policy developments and secondary research sources such as policy papers, strategy documents, and development frameworks, to prepare briefs and inputs to the theory of change of the programme.
• Lead the efforts on demand generation and supply chain management work streams (e.g., capacity building of service providers, community level engagement, product forecasting, developing stock monitoring tools, development of dashboards and visualization tools, etc.).
• Lead program monitoring to identify challenges and development roadmaps to achieve program goals.
• Develop an understanding and documentation of the ecosystem, including donors, partners, relevant government departments and officials.
• Closely work with the Manager on scoping for new opportunities/create pitch documents for new grants/donors in the SRH and allied workstreams and identify white space opportunity areas for WJCF.
• Lead project-wide outputs related to execution, implementation, reporting, compliance and updates.
• Lead documentation of program progress through reports, presentations, and templates for effective internal use and dissemination of reports at the state and national levels.
• Undertake other responsibilities as needed

• Bachelor’s Degree with a 5+ years of relevant work experience or postgraduate in a relevant field (public health/administration, economics, social work, sociology, management, population studies, etc.) with a minimum of 4-year experience.
• Demonstrated ability in managing large projects, project design, and experience in concept note/proposal development
• High level of technical proficiency with MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, and MS Word. Experience of using advanced analytical tools will be a plus.
• Ability to absorb and synthesize a broad range of information, including technical information, and prepare compelling presentations and reports.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills in English and Hindi.
• Ability to work independently, prioritise, and handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Experience of working with government stakeholders and familiarity with the Indian public health system will be a plus.

 Advantages:

• Willingness to travel extensively within and outside the program geography in India.
• Understanding of India's healthcare landscape, with a particular focus on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and abortion services.
• Previous experience with management consulting, pharmaceutical industry or other relevant private or public-sector domains.
• Entrepreneurial mindset: demonstrated ability to work independently on complex projects and solve challenging problems, in a high-pressure, fast-paced environment with limited oversight.
• Exceptional diplomatic and interpersonal skills, and ability to build strong professional relationships with a range of stakeholders in a challenging, multi-cultural environment.