District Coordinator – LSS – Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND)

Apply by 30th Jun 22

Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) is established in India as an independent non-profit organization created under Section 8 (Indian) Companies Act, 2013 with its office in New Delhi. FIND India is the key implementing partner of Central Tuberculosis (TB) Division, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, for strengthening and expanding TB laboratory diagnostic capacity within the Revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP) supported by the Global Fund. FIND India is a subsidiary of FIND, an international non-profit organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Total Positions: 4

The organization is dedicated to activities that result in;

1) new diagnostic tools;

2) expanded access to these tools; and

3) strengthened diagnostic testing capacity for poverty-related diseases in low- and middle-income countries.  For more information, please visit www.finddx.org Project Background: A responsive, accessible, and pandemic resilient public health system is critical towards early detection, accurate treatment, and continued care management.

1. This is especially true for Bihar, India with its high proportion of rural population (88.7%) and persons below the multi[1]dimensional poverty line (51.9%- highest in the country).

Bihar faces many challenges towards building an adequate public health laboratory diagnostic capacity to meet its demand.

Public health laboratories are cornerstones of a public health system with availability of high-quality diagnostics, the first step towards accurate disease detection and containment.

Recognizing the need to establish a uniform code for equitable access to quality diagnostics, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) under the aegis of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has developed India’s National Essential Diagnostic List (NEDL) recommending tests for both communicable and non-communicable diseases at each health facility (HF) level based on utility, demand, infrastructure & personnel availability.

In the absence of suitable capacity, it recommends following a “hub and spoke model” to drive cost-effective test availability.

The recently launched Pradhan Mantri – Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM ABHIM) along with Guidelines on Integrated Public Health Laboratories (IPHL) by the MoHFW, Government of India, focuses on establishing integrated public health laboratories.

At district and sub-district levels, providing quality assured diagnostic services aiding clinical management, public health surveillance and supporting outbreak investigations.

The state of Bihar is committed to strengthening and upgrading testing facilities along a “hub and spoke model” – a tiered system designed to provide patient-centric care and minimize patient drop-off. This project is focused on supporting the Government of Bihar in its endeavor to improve the diagnostic services.

Objective and Primary Outcome: The main objective of the program is improving outbreak preparedness of the healthcare facilities, the proposed activities under the project will ensure adoption of IPHL guideline and follow IPHS-NHM norms at each level of health facilities.

The project intends to lead to following outcomes:

• Building diagnostic capacity at all levels of the public health system including strengthening in-house lab services as per Government of Bihar (GoB) strategy and in line with India’s NEDL and IPHL norms supporting development and implementation of a public-private partnership (PPP) for diagnostic services (in support of Government of Bihar plan and subject to award of tender by Government of Bihar)
• Strengthening quality diagnosis across tiers by building and implementing a quality management system (QMS) with continued mentoring mechanism
• Building sustainable laboratory capacity towards disease surveillance (focusing on febrile illnesses) through capacity building.

Location: Nalanda, Muzaffarpur, and 2 additional identified districts in Bihar

Job description: The District Coordinator will work closely with the Team Lead, Project Microbiologist and project team at FIND, as well as the district officials and other district stakeholders.

The specific activities & responsibilities will include but not be limited to:

• Lead implementation of the project activities at the district level.
• Work in close coordination with the district health officials to ensure seamless implementation of the project.
• Engage with key stakeholders which include public/ private health facilities.
• Project/ program implementation and operational support at the district.
• Conduct on-site visits to district hospitals, sub-district hospitals, community health centres, referral hospitals, primary health centres and sub-centres as per project plan.
• Ensure training of staff at labs of the above mentioned facilities on lab systems.
• Represent project in key external engagements at the district level.
• Provide strategy to field level staff and ensure achievements of set targets.
• Report on field level activities and achievements on a periodic basis to the project management team.
• Conduct monitoring visits to identified labs in the district and assist field staff in solving day to day operational challenges.
• Conduct/ Coordinate periodic project reviews.
• Facilitate trainings, CME, and supervisory visits of the project management team.
• Coordinate with identified sites/ districts – health facilities of Bihar and identify participants for training and capacity building.
• Coordinate with the Team Lead to organize on-site/assisted trainings and other project related activities
• Ensure that the project capacity building activities are conducted as per the workplan.
• Any other task assigned time to time.

Qualification and Experience required:

• Postgraduation with MSW/MPH/MBA with minimum 03 years of experience in health[1]related projects at districts/state level.

Desirable skills:

• Proficient in MS Office.
• Knowledge of development principles, development sector landscape and technical sector updates.
• Building successful collaborative relationship with internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience of working with National health program in a managerial capacity will be preferred.
• Experience in lab related projects will be preferred.
• Well familiar with public health programs in India.
• Good coordination skills.
• Good oral and written communication skills.
• Strong team orientation.

Nature of Appointment:   The selected candidate shall be on a third-party agreement duly issued by consultancy firm. The initial offer will be until 31 March 2024.

Compensation offered:  The selected candidate will be on third party payroll. The gross remuneration budgeted for the position shall be commensurate with the qualifications, experience and performance during interview process.

Deadline to send your application: Please mail a motivation letter, a detailed resume and three references to HR-IN@finddx.org and by 30 June 2022 

But don’t wait until the deadline! We will start screening right away and if we find the right person, we will stop searching.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted