Program Officer - Veterinarian Public Health Specialist

Overview

Jhpiego is an international, non-profit health organization 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, Immunization, Comprehensive Primary Health Care, Human Resources for Health, TB and Infectious Diseases, Global Health Security, Women's Cancers, Non-Communicable Diseases, Digital Health).

In India, Jhpiego works across various states in close collaboration with national and state governments, providing technical assistance in Global Health Security (GHS), laboratory strengthening, and infectious disease surveillance.

Jhpiego is supporting World Bank and DAHD to establish veterinary sentinel surveillance sites (VSSS) as operational learning laboratories with standardized SOPs, functional hub-and-spoke referral/data linkages, and a costed roadmap for scale-up.

Responsibilities

• Develop a comprehensive line-list of probable sentinel surveillance units across target geographies, including animal health dispensaries, wildlife dispensaries, slaughterhouses, animal farms, wet markets, district and state laboratories, and educational or research institutions.

Readiness Assessment

• Conduct field-level readiness assessments of feeder units, spokes (district-level units), and state hubs against defined sentinel surveillance frameworks.
• Orient nominated units on their roles and responsibilities within the VSSS surveillance matrix.

Capacity Building

• Plan and deliver orientations and training sessions for site personnel at all levels of the hub and spoke network.
• Training domains include specimen collection and transport, laboratory testing, data management, hub-spoke coordination, biosafety, and outbreak investigation.

Gap Assessment & SOP Field-Testing

• Facilitate the nomination and operationalization of sentinel surveillance sites.
• Implement procedural workflows as per drafted SOPs and prepare detailed gap assessment reports covering all associated technical domains.

Coordination Across the Network

• Coordinate specimen flow, referral pathways, and data reporting between feeder units, district spokes, and state hubs.
• Ensure timely and accurate data and specimen movement across the network.

Oversight & Monitoring

• Provide on-site mentoring and supervision for specimen-associated procedures and data management practices.
• Monitor timelines for site assessment, nomination, and operationalization activities across the network.
• The position will report to the Team Lead/Associate Director.

Required Qualifications

• Education: BVSc & AH; postgraduate degree (M.V.Sc.) in Veterinary Public Health & Epidemiology, Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Microbiology, Veterinary Extension, or Veterinary Parasitology is preferred.
• Experience: Minimum 5 years in animal disease surveillance, field-level veterinary services, facility assessments, laboratory practices, or One Health projects.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong understanding of India's animal disease management, diagnostics, and surveillance framework.
• Knowledge of national animal husbandry programs, institutional hierarchies, and disease outbreak management, including programs such as LHDCP, NADCP, and ASCAD.
• Familiarity with national and international frameworks from DAHD, WOAH, and FAO.
• Proficiency in national digital tools such as NADRES, NDLM, Bharat Pashudhan, and the National One Health Mission platform.
• Ability to liaise effectively with multi-level government stakeholders at district, state, and national levels.
• Competency in data generation, management, and analysis using disease and laboratory datasets.
• Willingness to travel extensively across target geographies as required.

Reporting Line

The Senior Program Coordinator will report to the Associate Director, World Bank Grant for Animal Health

Duration & Location

• Duration: May - 30 September 2026
• Location: Delhi with travel to project Geographies states

Travel Requirements

• Periodic travel to project Geographies State /districts for documentation, Reporting, and stakeholder engagement.

Jhpiego is an equal opportunity employer and offers highly dynamic and enabling work environment.

Jhpiego offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive employee benefits package. Women candidates will be preferred.

Due to high volume of applications, only shortlisted applicants will receive a response from Jhpiego HR