Associate, Lead Exposure

Programme Overview

Lead poisoning is one of India's most significant and most solvable public health challenges. India bears the world's highest burden of childhood lead poisoning, with over 275 million children carrying blood lead levels above 5 g/dL; the national average is 6.2 g/dL and 23 States exceed the threshold (NITI Aayog and CSIR review, 2022). Lead exposure causes irreversible neurological damage in children, contributes to an estimated one million cardiovascular deaths annually in adults (Larsen et al., 2023), and generates compounding intergenerational risks.

The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), as the designated national focal agency under the Ministry of Health Family Welfare, is establishing the National Biomonitoring Programme for Chemical Toxicants (NBPCT). WJCF is embedding a Technical Support Unit (TSU) nationally and state-level teams in select states. The state teams will work alongside the State Health Department, the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), and allied departments to build the governance architecture, program roadmap, set up an inter-departmental coordination mechanism, develop state-adapted protocols, and operationalise all NBPCT program activities.

Position Summary

WJCF is looking to hire a highly motivated, entrepreneurial professional with strong credentials and exceptional stakeholder skills for the role of program officer for the Lead exposure Program. The incumbent will support on-ground implementation to strengthen the delivery of the lead exposure programme in the state. The role is analytically demanding and operationally hands-on supporting programme operations, analysis, and stakeholder engagement across the State Health Department, the State Pollution Control Board, and allied departments. The incumbent will also take on direct engagement with district stakeholders as the programme rolls out.

The incumbent will report to the State Lead, Lead Exposure. The ideal candidate should have exceptional interpersonal skills, be able to work independently, be flexible, be comfortable working and supporting operations across cross-functional teams and have a strong commitment to excellence.

Location

Thiruvananthapuram (at the Directorate of Health Services)

Travel

To program districts within Kerala, and occasionally to New Delhi

Responsibilities

• Conduct desk research and primary data collection for the state governance and system gap assessment, including structured interviews with officials from the health department, district administration, and allied departments.
• Support the establishment and running of the state task force and inter-departmental coordination mechanism on lead exposure convening meetings and following up with departments to close out agreed actions.
• Drive on-ground execution of workplans in priority districts in coordination with the district magistrate s office, district health administration, facility staff and allied departments and routine field visits to track progress.
• Build and maintain dashboards, trackers, and analytical outputs that support state decision-making on hotspot identification, prioritisation, operational planning and program monitoring.
• Support in program planning and implementation in collaboration with team members and program leadership.
• Support technical assistance to the State Pollution Control Board, including development of training modules for staff and inspectors, protocols, and data analysis.
• Design and oversee contextualisation of IEC and training materials developed nationally
• Build and manage working-level relationships with government and non-government stakeholders at state and district levels
• Prepare high-quality presentations, progress narratives, update notes, and reports for government, donor, and internal audiences.
• Maintain the state workplan tracker and flag risks and delays to the State Lead in good time.

Qualifications

• Masters/bachelor s degree in public health, environmental health, public policy, management, engineering, economics, or similar fields, with a minimum of 5 years of work experience in management consulting, public health, public policy, or allied areas.

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