Program Manager - Malaria Technical Support Unit

Overview

WJCF is an Indian non-profit organisation committed to saving lives by reducing the burden of disease and strengthening government-owned, high-quality health systems. Since 2007, WJCF has combined data-driven approaches and deep public health expertise with strong government partnerships to design, implement, and scale solutions across India’s national and state health programmes. We work for and at the service of governments — supporting the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and State Departments of Health to build systems that are strong, sustainable, and led by Indian institutions.

As an Indian organisation, WJCF brings an unmatched depth of contextual understanding of India’s health system architecture, policy landscape, and implementation realities across diverse geographies and population groups. This local institutional credibility, combined with global technical rigour, is central to WJCF’s effectiveness as a partner to governments and donors.

Our work is built around four complementary roles: as a Trusted Government Partner, co-designing programmes and strengthening health system architecture; as an Operational Partner, translating strategies into effective on-the-ground delivery; as a Market Shaper, improving the availability and affordability of health commodities; and as an Ecosystem Catalyst, convening governments, development partners, academia, and the private sector to drive solutions at scale.

WJCF’s programme portfolio spans thematic areas like hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, vector-borne diseases, syphilis, cervical cancer, diabetes, maternal and childhood anaemia, immunisation, under-5 diarrhoea and pneumonia, sexual and reproductive health, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), hypoxemia and oxygen, safe drinking water, sickle cell disease, presbyopia, lead poisoning, and cross cutting thematic areas like AI and Health, integrated disease surveillance and climate and health.

We currently support programmes across 19 states and union territories, with teams working at national, state, district, and sub-district levels.

Our people are our greatest asset. WJCF brings together a talented, diverse team of professionals from public health, analytics, consulting, healthcare, the development sector, and academia, all united by a shared commitment to improving health outcomes for the people of India. We are entrepreneurial, action-oriented, and deeply grounded in the communities and systems we work in. Our field teams collectively bring hundreds of years of experience managing public health programmes across the country.

WJCF collaborates with a range of international and domestic partners and donors to advance its mission, including an affiliation with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), a global health organisation with which WJCF shares a common mission and values.

Programme Overview:

Malaria, a vector borne disease, which transmits through an infective bite of the Anopheles mosquito, is a major public health challenge, with ~263 million cases and ~597,000 deaths reported worldwide (World Malaria Report 2024), and 255,000 cases and 86 deaths reported across India in 2024 (NCVBDC Annual Report 2024). To combat the public health challenges posed by malaria, the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) was launched in 1953 built around three key activities - insecticidal residual spray (IRS) with DDT; monitoring and surveillance of cases; and treatment of patients. While the efforts were successful in bringing down malaria linked morbidity and mortality, subsequent technical, operational, logistical and infrastructural gaps along with rising resistance to drugs and insecticides, led to a resurgence of the disease, marked by focal outbreaks (Operational Manual for Malaria Control in India, 2016).

This was followed by various plans and strategies in succession, with the malaria control programme being integrated into the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) in 2002, which is anchored by the National Centre for Vector Borne Disease Control (NCVBDC). The NCVBDC is the central nodal agency for prevention and control of six vector borne diseases (VBDs) i.e. Malaria, Dengue, Lymphatic Filariasis, Visceral Leishmaniasis, Japanese Encephalitis and Chikungunya in India. It is responsible for framing policies, technical guidelines, operational manuals while also providing technical handholding support to states for the effective implementation of various malaria prevention, control and elimination activities.

Project Background:

WJCF is privileged to support NVBDCP's bold vision of accelerated elimination of Malaria through a technical support unit (TSU) embedded in NCVBDC since 2024. This TSU provides support to the NCVBDC including, inter alia:

• Strengthened technical and managerial support to the malaria division of NCVBDC
• Enhanced disease intelligence and analytics for improved programmatic decisions-making
• Adoption of dynamic innovations, and effective and sustained investments for malaria control and elimination
• Steering partnerships and multi-sector response

Position Summary:

WJCF is seeking a highly motivated individual with excellent strategic programming, people management, problem-solving, and analytical skills to lead the malaria team’s efforts across multiple grants and workstreams. The Manager will play a key role in overseeing implementation of projects, building a strong team, and securing and managing grants to achieve strategic objectives. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the development of implementable strategies that have a transformational impact on India’s malaria elimination effort, support the integration of cutting-edge innovations, and work closely with senior and programmatic leadership across WJCF. They will be reporting to the Deputy Director of Infectious Diseases and working closely with NCVBDC staff.

Responsibilities

1. Program Management and Leadership

• Lead the design, development and execution of coherent programmatic multiyear strategies aimed at streamlining WJCF’s approach towards malaria programming and fundraising.
• Develop cross-program collaborations and conceptual linkages with other VBD programs.
• Lead structured program performance reviews and develop an accountability culture within teams.
• Guide the development and updating of a program specific results frameworks, annual operational plans, program risk registers and other process documents to ensure effective program execution.
• Lead program tracking of progress, analyzing data, and making recommendations for improvements based on evidence.
• Lead structured program monitoring processes across teams including Gantt chart management and productive team meetings.
• Lead development and review of key program reports for internal and external stakeholder consumption including donors, government and WJCF leadership.
• Facilitate fundraising and business development efforts through grant writing, proof reading and desk reviews of key documentation.
• Build project implementation capacity and skills within program team ensuring timely execution of activities, compliance to WJCF policies and protocols, and responsiveness to government needs

2. Relationship Management

• Lead development of key relationships between governmental, donor entities, nongovernmental organizations and health service delivery points in collaboration with country leadership.
• Lead engagement with key NCVBDC staff/ division heads to gather input and ensure alignment and buy in across all programmatic activities.
• Lead and build strong relationships with key global team program counterparts ensuring effective representation of WJCF and showcasing lessons.
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive stakeholder matrix for the malaria portfolio ensuring stakeholder needs are identified, negotiation avenues are mapped and healthy relationships are maintained.
• Guide program team in navigating complex stakeholder relationships and favorably influence decision making in a professional and collaborative manner.
• Build a productive cadence of engagement with internal and external stakeholders and guide program team in replicating this across activities.

3. Strategic communication

• Regularly update key stakeholders on program progress, challenges, and successes through detailed reports and presentations.
• Lead effective internal and external communication approaches aligned with WJCF’s communication policies and tailored to audiences to achieve transformational impact and influence decision making.

4. People Management

• Build team resilience, creativity, adaptability, and teamwork in project execution.
• Foster a collaborative and innovative team environment, ensuring that each team member understands their roles and responsibilities within the context of the broader organizational goals.
• Provide hands-on guidance and expertise in technical matters, sharing your deep knowledge to assist the team in overcoming technical challenges and making informed decisions.
• Actively engage with each direct report to understand their individual career aspirations and professional development objectives.
• Continuously monitor progress of direct reportees, provide constructive feedback, and identify opportunities for skill enhancement and career growth.
• Be a role model and team player who demonstrates exceptionally high performance and harnesses the same from a diverse, talented and dynamic team.
• Proactively identify and address programmatic, team management and performance management matters that arise.
• Develop and maintain feedback mechanisms to ensure effective staff and team performance.

5. Financial Management

• Lead effective execution of program plans in accordance with donor and WJCF reporting requirements.
• Lead collaborative resource allocation decisions and ensure evidence informed prioritization of team activities with a lens of transformational impact.
• Lead program budget planning, tracking, and reporting, oversee budgets and resources for various projects, ensuring that they are used effectively and efficiently to achieve desired outcomes.
• Lead the development and review of financial and donor reports on project budget execution.
• Build collaborative working environment between activity leads, operational teams and finance liaisons.

6. Problem Solving

• Lead teams in proactively managing program related risk and identifying sensitive issues and escalate as needed.
• Lead compliance to WJCF’s approach to problem solving, ensuring effective consultation, use of data and scenario reviews before developing insights and recommendations.
• Lead, demonstrate and drive critical thinking skills, building the team’s capacity to handle difficult or unexpected situations in the workplace.
• Lead risk assessment exercises and build teams to exercise emotional intelligence and self-awareness.

7. Technical Expertise

• Lead subject matter development among program team ensuring thorough grasp of key program principles.
• Develop a reading culture and challenge program teams to spotlight their work during internal and external WJCF engagements.
• Lead knowledge management and sharing of best practices at national and global convenings.

Qualifications

• MBBS with postgraduate degree (MD, MPH, MBA or similar) with 15+ years of experience.
• Demonstrated experience in supporting health programmes at the state and national level with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and respective state departments.
• In depth knowledge of malaria is desirable with professional experience in programme design and management in public health sphere.
• Good knowledge and networks within public health ecosystem in the country, including development partners, civil society and advocacy groups.
• Proven track record of working in challenging multi-stakeholder environments & ability to build relationships with a range of stakeholders and drive immediate results.
• Entrepreneurial mind-set, including ability to work independently, self-motivate, and propose and implement new initiatives.
• Ability to think strategically, handle ambiguity, and problem solve in a fast-paced, limited-structure, multicultural environment.
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint and Word.
• Willingness to travel if required and at short notice, even to remote places.
• Fluency in English and Hindi.

Last Date to Apply: 9th November, 2026