Program Associate

About YRG MERF

Established in 1993, YRGMERF is a leading non-governmental organisation in India dedicated to improving health outcomes through integrated healthcare, inclusive partnerships, and research-driven interventions. Guided by the principles of integrity and sustainability, the organisation addresses both immediate and emerging public health challenges, with a strong focus on prevention, care, support, and treatment—particularly in the area of HIV and other infectious diseases.

In India, the TIFA project aims to strengthen national health security through coordinated action across government systems and community stakeholders. This approach is designed to build a resilient ecosystem capable of detecting, preventing, and responding to emerging infectious disease threats.

As part of this initiative, a decentralised community-based surveillance model will be implemented, aligned with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)’s Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) and the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) framework. The model enables community platforms such as Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and Mahila Arogya Samitis (MAS) to identify and report early warning signals using IHIP tools, thereby strengthening community ownership, improving early detection, and enabling timely public health response.

Role Overview

The Program Associate is responsible for capturing, organising, and presenting the project’s operational experience, lessons learnt, and knowledge products. This is not a communications or PR role. The core function is to produce honest, detailed documentation of how the SCS model works in practice – what went well, what did not, what adaptations were needed, and what other districts or states could learn from this experience. The documentation produced under this role is meant to serve government stakeholders (NCDC, State Health Missions) who may want to replicate the model, and the donor who needs to see that their investment generated usable knowledge beyond the immediate project outputs.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop a framework in the first month of the project, specifying: what will be documented (processes, outcomes, adaptations, community responses, government engagement), in what format (case studies, process notes, photo documentation, data summaries), at what frequency (monthly field notes, quarterly synthesis, final compendium), and who will provide inputs (District Coordinators, State Coordinators, community sentinels, government counterparts)
  
• Conduct at least one documentation visit to each state per quarter. During these visits, interview community sentinels, government health workers, District Coordinators, and district health officers to capture their first-hand accounts of how the surveillance system is operating
  
• Write monthly field documentation notes based on inputs received from State and District Coordinators. These notes capture the operational narrative – not just numbers, but the texture of what is happening: how communities are responding, what problems are arising, how government counterparts are engaging, what workarounds the field team has developed
  
• Produce quarterly documentation outputs: one process case study and one outcome case study per quarter, drawn from the most instructive experiences in the four districts. Case studies should be 3–5 pages, written plainly, with photographs where available, and focused on practical learning that others can use
  
• Support the Project Lead in preparing the narrative sections of quarterly donor reports by providing documented evidence of field-level progress and challenges
  
• Prepare the final project documentation compendium: a comprehensive record of the SCS model as implemented, including district profiles, community mobilisation approach, training design, IHIP integration, verification protocols, government coordination experience, and recommendations for scale-up. This document is the project’s primary knowledge legacy
  
• Manage the project’s photographic record. Ensure that photographs are taken systematically (training sessions, community meetings, government meetings, verification exercises) with proper consent, and are stored, labelled, and organised for use in reports and case studies
  
• Coordinate with the Data Quality Control Officer to ensure that documentation narratives and data tell a consistent story. Where data and narrative diverge, investigate and resolve the discrepancy before including either in any report.
  

Requirements