Public Health Specialist

About the Organization

The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) is working towards building a healthier India. It is helping to address the limited institutional and systems capacity in India by strengthening education and training, advancing research and technology, and facilitating policy and practice in the area of Public Health. PHFI is headquartered in New Delhi with national presence through its constituent units of regional Indian Institutes of Public Health (IIPHs) and Centers of Applied Research in core public health themes. The Foundation, established in 2006 as a public-private initiative, is governed by an independent board comprising senior government officials, eminent Indian and international academic leaders, civil society representatives, and corporate leaders.

About the Project

Public health and healthcare services are vital for reducing the mortality and morbidity of the masses. Public health activities focus on health promotion, prevention and treatment of diseases, and increasing longevity. To achieve good health, efforts must be made toward evidence-based public health interventions. Human resources are the lifeline to implement any healthcare intervention. To improve public health outcomes, clinical, public health, and administrative activities need to be targeted separately. For healthcare services to be responsive and effective, they must address disease prevention, health promotion, and mortality and morbidity through essential public health activities.

The NFHS-6 (2023-24) showed that states have made considerable progress on the health front between NFHS-4 and NFHS-6, with significant improvements in reproductive and child health, fertility indicators, infant mortality, under-five mortality, and delivery indicators. There is moderate improvement in anemia among adults and children. Strengthening health systems requires consistent and continuous efforts based on regularly updated evidence. The Institution Strengthening Grant aims to provide support for building institutional capacities in the priority states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, identified among the socio-economically disadvantaged states in India. These states have long suffered from structural deficiencies in their health systems, contributing to poor health outcomes compared to other states. Recent years have seen positive efforts toward improving and strengthening health systems and sectors.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical assistance to the project’s Principal Investigator (PI).
• Support situational analysis on various aspects of the health sector.
• Facilitate development of new project proposals, strategies, reports, and documentation derived from situational analysis.
• Review epidemiological data and provide feedback for implementation.
• Monitor and implement various research projects and capacity development initiatives regularly.
• Conduct hands-on training of project personnel in public health aspects.
• Attend project meetings with government representatives and liaise with technical agencies.
• Participate in internal project review meetings and provide inputs to the project team.
• Develop and update guidelines, terms of reference (TORs), curriculum, templates, formats, training modules, and guidance documents.
• Undertake project-related travel as required.
• Support the supervisor and team in handling day-to-day implementation of project activities.
• Undertake any other activities or tasks as assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications

Essential:

• MD (Community Medicine / Preventive & Social Medicine / Community Health) or PhD in Public Health with a Master’s in Public Health (MPH), MBBS, or BDS at the undergraduate level.

Desirable:

• 3–5 research publications.

Experience

Essential:

• Around 3–5 years of work experience in public health, research, or project management in the development sector.

Desirable:

• Work experience in public health practice at national/regional levels and working with multiple stakeholders.
• Academic or research experience.

Skills & Competencies

• Excellent communication skills (oral and written).
• Ability to work in cross-cultural teams.
• Ability to plan, conceptualize, and organize.
• Strong documentation and report-writing skills.
• Ability to innovate and contribute to organizational strategy ("think tank").
• Proficiency in data analysis, report writing, research proposal writing, and manuscript development for publication.