Program Manager - Child Nutrition & Health

About the Creche Initiative

Azim Premji Foundation is running 1800+ creches for children aged between 7 months and 3 years, in partnership with civil society organizations across rural and urban areas in more than 7 states in India. The program aims to –

a. Ensure access to safe spaces for children,

b. Provide nutritious meals, and

c. Identify children experiencing malnutrition and facilitate timely interventions through health referrals. More details about the program can be found here.

About the Role

The Program Manager – Child Nutrition & Public Health will provide technical guidance and programmatic oversight to strengthen nutrition and health outcomes among the children enrolled in creches. The role focuses on ensuring quality implementation of nutrition interventions, strengthening convergence with public health systems, and enabling data-driven decision-making across program locations.

Key Responsibilities

a) Provide technical leadership and guidance on Infant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCN) interventions, including growth monitoring, feeding practices, malnutrition and illness management.

b) Design and support implementation of malnutrition management strategies for identification and management of SAM, MAM, and Growth Faltering cases, including CMAM approaches, NRC referrals, and structured follow-up plans.

c) Coordinate delivery of core program components such as growth monitoring, special nutrition care, home visits, referrals, NRC admissions, and community-based interventions in alignment with operational guidelines.

d) Design early identification and management of common childhood illnesses (diarrhea, ARI, fever) strategies, ensure timely treatment and referrals, and integrate illness management with nutrition recovery plans.

e) Conduct regular field visits to support the quality of growth monitoring sessions, VHSND service delivery, referral systems, and home-based counselling practices.

f) Support and mentor Supervisors and Health coordinators in identifying, tracking, and managing SAM, MAM, GF-2, ensuring timely referrals and follow-ups with ANMs and health systems.

g) Collaborate with MIS teams to review dashboards and nutrition indicators, identify high-burden pockets, analyze trends, and guide micro-planning and corrective actions.

h) Strengthen systems for accurate and timely nutrition data collection, verification, and validation in coordination with Supervisors and MIS staff.

i) Prepare nutrition-focused inputs for reports and support documentation of best practices, case studies, and learning insights to inform program improvement and scale-up.

Educational Qualification & Experience

a. Master's degree in Public Health / Nutrition / Community Health / Social Work / Allied fields

b. 5–8 years of relevant experience in maternal and child nutrition / public health programs

c. Strong understanding of public health systems (ICDS, NHM) and field implementation of nutrition programs

d. Experience in data analysis, program monitoring, and field implementation.

e. Strong communication skills in Hindi & English

f. Proficiency in additional regional language is an advantage

Location: Ranchi/ Raipur