Sr Associate, Lead Exposure

Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI); New Delhi; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 2,100,000; Full time

Job summary

We are seeking a Senior Associate to join WJCF's embedded TSU in New Delhi, supporting day-to-day technical, coordination, and secretariat functions for government counterparts. The role translates high-level intent into structured workplans and fosters inter-ministerial collaboration to anchor governance beyond donor cycles.

Based in New Delhi, the position requires policy savvy and operational rigor, with travel as needed to programme states and alignment with NCDC for NBPC T activities.

Qualifications

• Policy acumen to navigate a multi-stakeholder environment.
• Operational discipline to ensure follow-through on plans.
• Experience supporting government counterparts is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day technical and secretariat support to government counterparts.
• Translate high-level intent into structured operational workplans.
• Facilitate inter-ministerial coordination and governance discussions.
• Develop and maintain workplans, dashboards, and briefing materials.
• Lead state-level engagement and coordinate with national and state health departments.

Job description

Job Summary

We are seeking a motivated and analytically rigorous Senior Associate to serve as a core member of WJCF's embedded TSU. The incumbent will provide day-to-day technical, coordination, and secretariat support to government counterparts translating high-level intent into structured operational workplans, facilitating inter-ministerial coordination, and helping anchor governance architecture that outlasts individual donor cycles.

The role demands both policy acumen to navigate a complex multi-stakeholder environment and operational discipline to ensure consistent follow-through. The incumbent will report to the TSU Lead and will function under the programmatic guidance of NCDC for TSU activities.

Lead poisoning is one of India's most significant and solvable public health challenges. India bears the world's highest burden of childhood lead poisoning, with over 275 million children carry blood lead levels above 5 g/dL; the national average is 6.2 g/dL and 23 States exceed the threshold. Lead exposure causes irreversible neurological damage in children, contributes to an estimated one million cardiovascular deaths annually in adults, and generates compounding intergenerational risks.

National Center for Disease Control, as the designated national focal agency under MoHFW, is establishing the National Biomonitoring Programme for Chemical Toxicants (NBPCT). WJCF is embedding a Technical Support Unit (TSU) to serve as the coordination backbone for India's lead mitigation response. This embedded model builds directly on WJCF's track record of high-impact TSU engagements across TB, vector-borne diseases, oxygen, surveillance, and health insurance.

The incumbent will provide day-to-day technical, coordination, and secretariat support to government counterparts translating high-level intent into structured operational workplans, facilitating inter-ministerial coordination, and helping anchor governance architecture that outlasts individual donor cycles.

Location: New Delhi (embedded at NCDC / MoHFW)

Travel: Domestic travel to programme states as required

Responsibilities

TSU Secretariat and Programme Operations

• Provide day-to-day secretariat support to NCDC for the NBPCT, including preparation of meeting agendas, data-backed workplans, activity plans, and meeting charters across surveillance, capacity building, and enforcement priorities.
• Support NCDCs National Lead Technical Working Group through data synthesis, expert inputs, documentation, and follow-up mechanisms that convert deliberations into actionable outcomes.
• Support integration of state and laboratory surveillance data into the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) and contribute to dashboard and visualisation design for NCDC decision-making.
• Strengthen NCDCs capacity for data-backed decision-making in hotspot identification, laboratory and referral infrastructure mapping, and partner coordination.
• Consolidate and disseminate learnings from state-level engagement through regional and national workshops.
• Support the Programme in convening and facilitating inter-ministerial consultations on lead and chemical toxicants across environment, industry, labour, food safety, water, and mines ministries.
• Prepare technical inputs, briefing materials, and correspondence for senior decision-making within the ministry.

Programme Planning and Monitoring

• Develop and maintain workplan trackers and milestone dashboards to monitor progress against grant commitments and government-agreed deliverables.
• Support development of costed annual workplans and embed these into the programmes operational budgeting cycle.
• Prepare high-quality progress reports, briefing notes, and strategy documents for donors and government counterparts.

State-Level Engagement

• Lead WJCFs engagement in focal states in coordination with NCDC and state health departments, tailoring activities to each states readiness and existing ecosystem.
• Support state-level surveillance system strengthening and feed learnings back into the national platform for wider uptake.
• Facilitate alignment between state health and environment departments on lead-related priorities.

Stakeholder and Partner Management

• Build and maintain relationships with NCDC, MoHFW senior officials, state health departments, CPCB, FSSAI, and development partners including WHO, UNICEF.

Disclaimer: This job posting has been aggregated from external source. Role details, content, and availability are subject to change. Applicants are advised to confirm the latest information directly on the company website before applying.