District Coordinator in Bengaluru | YRGMERF

YRGMERF

Set up in 1993, YRGMERF is one of India's leading non-governmental organisations working to improve health outcomes for people who are often left out of the health system. It brings together direct healthcare, partnerships with government and communities, and research that shapes better practice. Its work covers prevention, care, support and treatment, with deep experience in HIV and other infectious diseases. The organisation works on both today's health problems and the new ones that are emerging. This role sits within YRGMERF's infectious disease surveillance project in Karnataka, which helps communities and government health staff spot and respond to disease threats early.

Role

The District Coordinator is the person who makes this project work on the ground. Every block visit, every community meeting, every skilling session, every conversation with a PHC Medical Officer and every disease alert followed up either happens through the District Coordinator or because the District Coordinator made it happen. The project builds a community-based surveillance model linked to the National Centre for Disease Control's Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) and the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, so that groups like Self-Help Groups and Mahila Arogya Samitis can report early warning signs of disease. This is not a desk job: about 70 to 80% of the time is spent in the field across blocks, sub-centres, villages and PHCs, and the rest at the district headquarters for government meetings, data work and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Map existing resources at the block level, giving special attention to areas that have reported animal-borne diseases in the last three years, and lead the block level landscaping report with support from the state and national teams.
• Meet Tehsildar, BDO and Assistant Commissioner rank officials to explain the Block One Health Committee's role and share the Government of India office memorandum.
• Work with the District Surveillance Officer to organise district meetings bringing together human health, animal health, forestry, agriculture and environment departments, and secure nominations to formalise the Block One Health Committee.
• Prepare a district report on disease trends over the last three years with subject experts, and identify the officials responsible for each data source.
• Visit blocks with the Cluster Block Coordinator for skilling activities, simulation drives, one-page alerts and committee meetings.
• Track every IHIP signal reported by ASHAs, Pasu Sakhis and forest staff through to verification, maintaining a signal register with the date, reporter, description, Medical Officer assigned, status, time taken and outcome.
• Follow up with Medical Officers when verification is pending beyond 12 hours, and escalate to the Block Medical Officer or District Surveillance Officer through the State Manager where officers are consistently unresponsive, so that the 24-hour verification window is always met.
• Support Medical Officers during field verification visits and record the practical problems faced in reporting, verification and risk communication for discussion in committee meetings.
• Build working relationships with committee members and the official who chairs it, coordinate with the District Surveillance Officer from the first week, attend district IDSP review meetings and give weekly informal updates on progress.
• Coordinate with Block Medical Officers so that PHC Medical Officers know their verification duties and have the IHIP access and training needed.
• Submit fortnightly reports to the State Manager covering committee activities, skilling, IHIP reporting, response team activity, closure of the reporting loop and use of the alert log book.
• Maintain audit-ready source documents including attendance sheets with signatures, meeting minutes, signal registers, photograph logs and government meeting records, and support the State Data Quality Assurance Officer during data quality audits.

Requirements

• Graduate degree in science, public health or animal husbandry.
• Post-graduation in public health or community development is preferred.
• Minimum 4-5 years of field-level experience in community health programmes.
• Experience as a Block Manager or District Coordinator in NHM, NRHM, an animal husbandry programme or an NGO-run health programme is preferred.
• Must be from the region, or must have lived and worked in the state for at least two years.
• Fluency in the local language is non-negotiable.
• Comfort using a smartphone, WhatsApp and basic data entry in Excel or Google Sheets.
• Ability to maintain detailed registers, meeting records and source documents that will stand up to an audit.
• Confidence working with senior government officials at block and district level.
• Willingness to travel extensively within the district, including remote blocks and villages with limited road access.
• Readiness to spend most of the working week in the field rather than at a desk.
• Own two-wheeler with a valid driving licence is strongly preferred.

Benefits

• 24 days of annual leave, in addition to public holidays.
• Health insurance coverage.
• A collaborative and inclusive working environment.
• Scope for learning and professional development.
• YRG is an equal-opportunity organisation and welcomes people of all abilities, sexual orientations, ethnicities, faiths and genders.

Apply

Interested candidates can apply through the link given below

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