Senior Program Officer – VPD/Polio Surveillance ,Telangana, Madhya Pradesh & Odisha

Overview

Jhpiego is an international, non-profit health organisation and an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University, dedicated to improving the health of women and families in developing countries. For over 50 years, it has focused on providing high-quality, low-cost health care solutions, training health workers, and strengthening health systems.

Jhpiego has been working in India since the 1980s in close partnership with national and state governments. With deep technical expertise and strong on-the-ground execution, Jhpiego helps design, test, and scale practical solutions and innovations that fit real- world systems across 11 thematic domains (Maternal and Newborn Health, Reproductive Health, Nutrition, Immunisation, Comprehensive Primary Health Care, Human Resources for Health, TB and Infectious Diseases, Global Health Security, Women's Cancers, Non-Communicable Diseases, Digital Health).

The Strengthening Vaccine-Preventable Disease (VPD)–Polio Surveillance in India project aims to strengthen polio surveillance within the broader VPD surveillance framework by supporting India's transition towards a government-owned, integrated surveillance system under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP).

The project focuses on strengthening institutional capacity, surveillance systems, private-sector engagement, and community participation to improve early case detection, timely reporting, outbreak preparedness, and rapid response. The initiative will also generate scalable implementation models and learning for wider adoption across India.

The Senior Program Officer – VPD/Polio Surveillance will provide technical and programmatic support for implementation of the VPD–Polio Surveillance initiative. The position will support surveillance system strengthening, capacity building, outbreak preparedness and response, private-sector engagement, community-based surveillance, digital monitoring, and documentation of implementation learning.

The role will work closely with government stakeholders, healthcare providers, private-sector partners, community platforms, frontline workers, and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen surveillance sensitivity, improve timely reporting, and support rapid identification and response to suspected VPD cases.

Responsibilities

- Implement VPD–polio surveillance strengthening activities in line with approved project plans.

- Strengthen surveillance systems for timely case detection, reporting, investigation, and outbreak response.

- Coordinate with private healthcare providers and district surveillance authorities to improve reporting and follow-up.

- Engage Jan Arogya Samiti (JAS), frontline workers, and community platforms to promote awareness and early reporting of suspected VPD cases.

- Support digital monitoring systems, dashboards, and alerts to improve reporting timeliness and completeness.

- Monitor surveillance performance, conduct field visits, and identify operational gaps requiring corrective action.

- Support/Ensure capacity building, supportive supervision, and provide technical guidance to improve surveillance quality.

- Prepare programme updates, reports, presentations, and other required documentation.

- Document best practices, challenges, and lessons learned through case studies, success stories, and technical briefs.

- Coordinate with government stakeholders, private healthcare providers, community platforms, frontline workers, and project teams.

- Perform other duties assigned by the supervisor in support of programme objectives.

Required Qualifications

Qualifications and Experience

- Master's degree in Public Health / Epidemiology / Community Medicine / Health Management / Social Sciences or a related field.

- Preferable experience in Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPD), polio surveillance, immunisation, outbreak preparedness, or disease surveillance.

- Minimum 5 years' experience working in immunisation/public health at national/state level.

Relevant experience in public health program implementation, disease surveillance, immunisation, or health systems strengthening

Preferred Qualifications

Abilities/Skills:

- Strong understanding of public health surveillance and disease surveillance systems.

- Strong understanding of VPD surveillance, case detection, reporting, outbreak preparedness, and response.

- Strong program implementation and coordination skills.

- Experience in capacity building, training, and supportive supervision.

- Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills.

- Good documentation, report writing, presentation, and knowledge-management skills.

- Proficiency in MS Office and digital data/monitoring systems.

- Willingness to undertake field travel as required.