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. 

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

Programme Overview:

India’s Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) is one of the largest public immunization programmes in the world. It caters to 27 million infants and 30 million pregnant women. The programme provides access to vaccines against 11 Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPDs) at the national level and against one VPD at the sub-national level.

Under the strong leadership of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and state governments, the immunization ecosystem has demonstrated a proactive commitment to achieving universal immunization coverage in the country in recent years. This includes health system strengthening efforts towards the introduction of new vaccines, rolling out of data systems, digitization of vaccine cold chain and inventory management, and health worker capacity building. MoHFW plans to scale up a digitized beneficiary management system (UWIN) for Routine Immunization, introduce new vaccines in the UIP, and reduce Zero-dose children.

Project Background

WJCF’s immunization program supports the MoHFW’s UIP at the national level and in the focus states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. The programme also supports national and state governments on broader operational aspects such as planning, capacity building and systems improvements for immunization service delivery.

In Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, the programme provides catalytic support for achieving and sustaining 90% FIC. The programme focuses on setting up effective program management & review mechanisms, identifying pressing challenges as well as best practices in RI, enhancing impact of well performing interventions, developing & deploying effective solutions to pressing challenges and undertaking multi-year planning for long term immunization systems strengthening. In Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the programme provides support to strengthen urban immunization systems and improve urban coverage in select cities in collaboration with the MoHFW and the state governments. Guided by the MoHFW’s City Embrace Model, the programme focuses on solving for systemic and hyperlocal challenges by conceptualizing and implementing contextual solutions.

Position Summary:

The Associate, Immunization will be responsible for playing a pivotal role in managing state-level engagement with government and non-government stakeholders, planning and implementing the urban immunization project at the state level, and supporting the government stakeholders, WJCF’s programme leadership and team in building a comprehensive and forward-thinking approach to expand the project support in new thematic areas and geographies. Based out of Bhopal, the Associate, Immunization will report to the Associate Director, Immunization and will be tasked with leading the learning agenda to understand urban context better, and designing creative solutions for intricate immunization and public health challenges within limited-resource settings. This dynamic position extends beyond strategic planning, involving active support for on-ground teams in operationalizing the program strategy.

We seek a highly motivated individual with strong problem solving, analytical, and stakeholder management skills, along with a consistent record of leadership and management. The successful candidate will have excellent communications skills, be able to function independently with flexibility in a dynamic and often uncertain situation, be self-motivated, can thrive in challenging environments, and have a strong commitment to excellence. Coordination of cross-functional and multi-location teams, coupled with personal qualities such as resourcefulness, responsibility, tenacity, independence, energy, and a strong work ethic, is highly valued.

• Manage state-level engagements with government and non-government stakeholders and drive program operations from the state level.
• Build and maintain trust-based relationships with relevant government stakeholders, development partners, and other stakeholders.
• Lead the development and execution of the strategic and operational plan for the Urban Immunization strengthening project.
• Develop comprehensive plans for piloting new approaches and interventions for improvement in immunization service delivery, program review mechanism, demand generation, and data systems strengthening in urban areas.
• Independently guide and collaborate with the team to devise specific strategies and interventions to meet short-term and long-term program objectives.
• Ensure the dissemination and socialization of the progress metrics and reports with internal and external stakeholders as well as public platforms.
• Develop purposive insights, visualizations, tools, templates, and planning aids that support in program management and progress tracking.
• Provide analytical and programmatic support, including dashboards and customized reports, to the team and to the state RI Cell on RI strengthening with special emphasis on urban immunization.
• Collaborate with program leadership to initiate ideas and develop proposals for new grants and projects, and contribute actively to the proposal development process, ensuring alignment with program objectives.
• Support in development of project progress reports and other outputs for different stakeholders including government, country leadership, and donor.
• Support capacity building of key functionaries on relevant competencies for sustained ownership and delivery.
• Supervise, capacitate and mentor team members on identified aspects that aid their growth journey while helping them contribute more effectively.
• Travel on short notice to various parts of the state and often to national destinations as well.
• Undertake any other duties as requested by the programme leadership to support the overall objectives.

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in business administration, management sciences, economics (pure or applied), finance, or public health with exceptional problem-solving solving skills and analytical capabilities
• 5 – 7 years of experience in a demanding result-driven environment in the private or public sector, with increasing levels of responsibility and leadership.
• Exceptional diplomacy and interpersonal skills with 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, including ability to create persuasive presentations and written reports.
• Ability to think strategically, handle ambiguity, display high EQ and problem-solve in a high-pressure, fast-paced, limited-structure, multicultural environment.
• Entrepreneurial mindset, including the ability to work independently, self-motivate, and propose and implement new initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex projects involving multiple teams, including priority setting, planning, performance review and management; and influencing with limited authority.
• Ability to balance and find productive trade-offs between various opposing parameters (e.g.: personal style, incentives, timeframe).
• Fluency in English and Hindi.

Preferred:

• Work experience in strategy roles in public health, social impact, impact investment, international development, management consulting, investment banking, private equity, venture capital, or high-growth startups.
• Strong experience of engaging with government officials and multilateral organizations
• Knowledge of public health, preferably on health system strengthening.
• Proficiency in data analytics and visualization tools such as R, Stata, SPSS, Power BI, Tableau, etc.