State Project Officer – Gavi/ Health System Strengthening

1. POSITION VACANT: State Project Officer – Gavi/Health System Strengthening, UNDP, Raipur, Chhattisgarh

2. ORGANISATIONAL BACKGROUND:

Our Client, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and exclusion, and build resilience so countries can sustain progress. As the UN’s development agency, UNDP plays a critical role in helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

UNDP has been working in India since 1951 in almost all areas of human development - from systems and institutional strengthening to inclusive growth and sustainable livelihoods, as well as sustainable energy, environment and resilience. With projects and programmes in every state and union territory in India, UNDP works with national and subnational government, and diverse development actors to deliver people-centric results, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalized communities. As the integrator for collective action on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the UN system, we are committed to support the Government of India’s national development vision and priorities and accelerate the achievement of the SDGs for the people and the planet.

For more information about UNDP India, please visit https://www.undp.org/india

PROJECT BACKGROUND:

Immunization is a proven success story for global health and development, saving millions of lives every year. Vaccines play a pivotal role in prevention and control of many communicable diseases and have attributed to the reduction in the number of deaths from infectious diseases, dramatically. Since vaccines also prevent disability, which can impair children’s growth and cognitive development, vaccination ensures that the child not only survives but also flourishes.

vaccinating this cohort is significantly important considering the generalised vulnerability and the evidence that communities with zero dose children also have a significant number of under vaccinated children. Zero-dose children are more likely to experience early childhood nutritional failures linked to high risk of morbidity and mortality in childhood, poor growth trajectories, and poor health outcomes over the life course.

Missed communities, which are home to clusters of zero-dose and under vaccinated children, are vulnerable to recurrent vaccine preventable disease outbreaks, such as measles, which spread rapidly, worsening health and development outcomes. These missed communities often face multiple deprivations and vulnerabilities, including inadequate access to basic services like water and sanitation, socio-economic inequities, and often gender related barriers (like mother’s access to education, lack of household decision-making for healthcare, gender based violence, child marriages and teenage pregnancies).

The deprivations exist across multiple geographic settings, predominantly in urban/peri-urban, remote rural or conflict settings. Thus, reaching zero-dose and under vaccinated children would mean reaching the missed communities they are part of and building the link to the healthcare system and essential services. Thus, the imperative of reaching and ensuring complete immunization for zero-dose children becomes pressing.

Under Zero Governments Strategic Approach for reaching zero dose children, Ministry of Health Mandated UNDP India to provide technical and implementation support for nationwide roll-out of U-WIN. U-WIN is world’s largest Electronic Immunization Registry for registering Pregnant woman and children and further established digital tracking mechanism for vaccination status to reach and reduce zero dose children.

For the nationwide roll-out of U-WIN, UNDP deploys a State Project Officer at the state headquarters to coordinate with state functionaries and districts.

3. JOB PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF WORK (SOW):

The State Project Officer (SPO) will be positioned at the State HQ and will be the nodal person for U-WIN rollout and flagship interventions of UNDP including eVIN and CoWIN. The SPO will manage the team comprising of U-WIN Coordinator - Project Associate, U-WIN Coordinator - Data Analytics and IT, U-WIN Coordinator - Project Review, U-WIN Coordinator - Project Delivery, U-WIN Divisional Coordinator and Vaccine and Cold Chain Managers.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The State Project Officer (SPO) will be responsible for the following tasks:

(A) Project Planning and Implementation:

Provide advice and support to the development and phased implementation of the U-WIN (Universal Immunization Program-WIN) for Immunization Planning, citizen portal and vaccine coverage reporting on one single information system platform in the state. This activity will involve a systematic and phased scale up of a system at state, district and sub-district level.

(B) Building Partnerships:
Partner with the state and district level health vaccine structures to assess and understand the capacity needs and support required for the effective and timely implementation of the U-WIN. This activity will involve working closely State Level Health officials, coordinating with the GAVI- HSS partners namely UNICEF and WHO and other development partners working on immunization.           

(C) Capacity Building and technical assistance for Government:
Assist state level government to identify capacity-building needs on U-WIN and undertake capacity-building activities. This will include support to the development of training modules for different levels of ASHAs, ANMs and other health professionals and field-level functionaries, facilitate learning exchanges as well as policy influencing and providing technical expertise as required.

(D) Providing Leadership:

(1) Under the guidance of the Regional Project Analyst, SPO shall manage and provide direction to the Project and to the Project team in the State;

(2) Ably deal with Third party personnel issues including problem solving and conflict management. Discharge administrative and other responsibilities associated with the position;

(3) Mentor and support State and district based personnel supported through third party by UNDP;

(4) The SPO will be directly responsible to the mentoring and supervision of U-WIN coordinators, Project officer and other project staff.

(E) Monitoring and Evaluation:

Facilitate the review of the system and capacities relating to the delivery of U-WIN in conjunction with State Health Mission. This will include undertaking field visits to monitor the implementation of the system and providing technical inputs to address gaps and bottlenecks. Documentation to the implementation process and analytical learnings from the implementation to feedback into the effective scale up in all the districts.

(F) Report Writing:
Prepare periodic status reports, annual reports, case studies, etc. in a qualitative and timely manner.

4. QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES: 

Qualification:

Master’s Degree in Business Administration/ Public Health/ Hospital Management/Social Sciences/Material Management/Supply Chain Management from a reputed University/Institute.

Experience:
(1) Minimum two years of professional work experience at the State level in policy-cum-programme development, monitoring & implementation and this experience should be in Routine Immunization programme including the vaccine logistics and cold chain mechanisms;

(2) Experience in managing information technology driven projects;

(3) Should have analytical, negotiating, communication and advocacy skills;

(4) Should have computer knowledge in MS Office and other applications;

(5) Demonstrated experience in Health Policy analysis and influencing;

(6) Demonstrated experience in managing and scaling large projects preferably in health sector;

(7) Experience of working in the State Government or other international development organization will be an asset.

Skills and Competencies:

(1) Ability to identify problems and propose relevant solutions;

(2) Demonstrate ability to ensure gender inclusion and gender parity in the team.

(3) Demonstrate ability to conceptualize, innovate, plan and execute new ideas, based on research and best practices, as well as impart relevant knowledge and teach skills;

(4) Ability to present innovative ideas from the team for buy-in by own supervisor;

(5) Demonstrate a consistent approach in adopting an energetic, positive and constructive attitude;

(6) Promote knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office;

(7) Demonstrate openness to change and ability to manage complexities;

(8) Ability to manage stakeholder relationships, perform status reporting, and managing / resolving project issues;

(9) Ability to prioritize assignments and requirements, and multitask as needed;

(10) Ability to work independently with limited instruction;

(11) Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;

(12) Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;

(13) Aptitude for technical innovations and data analytics.

Languages:
(1) Good knowledge of written and spoken English is required.

(2) A good working knowledge of local language of the duty station will be needed.

5. CONSULTANCY FEE:

The monthly consultancy fee for the position shall be commensurate with the Government norms, as applicable for the position. The professional fee will be subject to withholding taxes, as applicable.

6. NATURE OF ENGAGEMENT:

The selected candidate shall be engaged as a Consultant on the rolls of SAMS, a third-party payrolling agency, for a full-time consultancy engagement for a period of one year. It is explicitly clarified that this consultancy engagement does not constitute a promise or guarantee of future employment, with SAMS, or our client, or any other organization associated with the project. 

7. LOCATION: Raipur, Chhattisgarh

8. REFERENCE: SPO-CHG0925

9. CONTACT INFORMATION:

Team SAMS
Strategic Alliance Management Services P Ltd.
1/1B, Choudhary Hetram House, Bharat Nagar
New Friends Colony, New Delhi 110 025
Phone Nos.: 011- 4081 9900; 4165 3612

www.sams.co.in

10. APPLICATION PROCESS:

Eligible candidates interested in the position are requested to apply by or before September 16, 2025.