Microbiologist - TB

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.

CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV / AIDS epidemic with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work in conjunction with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.

At CHAI, our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries with a broad range of skillsets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with majority of our staff based in program countries.

WJCF is an Indian not-for-profit entity, registered under Section 8 of the Indian Companies Act 2013, and has an affiliation agreement with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). Our mission is to save lives and improve health outcomes in the country by enabling the government and private sector to strengthen and sustain quality health systems. WJCF has partnered with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and state health departments since 2007, providing technical and operational support across key health priorities, including infectious diseases (COVID-19, hepatitis, HIV, TB, vector-borne diseases), non-communicable diseases (cervical cancer, diabetes, sickle cell disease), maternal and child health (anaemia, immunisation, diarrhoea, pneumonia), sexual and reproductive health, health insurance and digital health (AB PM-JAY, ABDM), oxygen and hypoxemia management, safe drinking water, and climate and health.

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Programme Overview

The World Health Organization estimated that 10.8 million people fell ill with tuberculosis (TB) in 2023 and 1.25 million succumbed to it. India accounted for the most people suffering from the disease, with 26% of the cases and 26% of mortality. The National TB Elimination Program (NTEP), headed by the Central TB Division (CTD), MoHFW, is an expansive public health program with the ambitious goal of eliminating TB in line with the mandate of the Sustainable Development Goals.

WJCF has been supporting the CTD and state health departments of more than 15 states in the mission to eliminate TB. WJCF's TB program has been operational since 2012, and its interventions address several program areas, including preventive therapies, case detection, access to diagnostics, engagement of the private sector, and more. It also lends technical support to Governments across a range of themes- strategic planning, data analytics, monitoring and evaluation, patient management and delivery of services.

Project Background

WJCF is constituting a multi-disciplinary group of consultants who will be working under the aegis of the NTEP, providing direct and need-based support to the CTD. The team will provide requisite strategic, technical, and analytic assistance. The objective of the work will be to provide visibility and high-quality perspectives on activities and workstreams of the NTEP. The CTD has an ambitious TB Elimination goal and is scaling up case finding and adoption of molecular testing for all presumptive TB cases.

Position Summary

WJCF is seeking a highly motivated individual with demonstrated experience in microbiology, to provide technical support and coordination to the TB laboratory network under NTEP, its supervision, monitoring and evaluation. The role will involve need based travel up to 40% across the country in service of the NTEP. The Microbiologist will be based out of Central TB Division and report to the DDG TB / NTP Program Manager on point for laboratories and diagnostics at the CTD.

• Offer technical assistance (TA) to states for optimal utilisation of installed molecular testing tools
• Provide Technical Assistance to states for assessing feasibility of new molecular tests, training, and quality assurance pertaining to the same
• Assist CTD in planning and scaling up quality assured DST / DRT for MDR-TB management and conduct of DRS
• Strengthen expansion of Quality assurance protocols to cover external quality assurance of TB diagnostics across the country and support in summarizing QA results on an annual basis into a standardized report.
• Assist in monitoring and analysing the reports pertaining to the Quality assurance of TB diagnostic centres reported by the states and Intermediate Reference Laboratories (IRLs).
• Assist the CTD in establishing and coordinating a network of laboratories capable of participating in future evaluation and demonstration studies of newer diagnostics and design protocols for evaluation of newer diagnostics in consultation with the programme.
• Assist in compiling the data from the project sites piloting / evaluating new diagnostic technologies and facilitating the NRLs / IRLs in planning and conducting supervisory visits to the states and track the reports on actions taken by the States. To facilitate certification of laboratories in various diagnostic modalities.
• Track the submission of quality assurance reports by the states and compiling the same and assisting in providing feedback from CTD on the laboratory performance to the states.
• Assist in developing Standard operating procedures for the various levels of laboratories and ensuring further adherence & compliance.
• Engage and monitor the agencies empanelled for annual maintenance contracts of various laboratory equipment's under NTEP.
• Facilitate to quantify the mycobacteriology laboratory related procurement in terms of quantification and demand forecasting.
• Coordinate and facilitate HR training and work load management across laboratories.
• Build capacity of the NRLs and IRLs for undertaking operational research for the programme.
• Facilitate change management with respect to use of ICT & Nikshay tools for concerned data entry, validation & its use for public health action. Provide support to the programme at all levels in effective digital data management, validation, analysis and its application to guide policies and actions.
• MD Microbiology OR Ph. D Medical Microbiology / Applied Microbiology / General Microbiology or related field OR M.Sc. Medical Microbiology / Applied Microbiology / General Microbiology with minimum 8 years of work experience.
• Previous experience in the Tuberculosis program management support at the national or state level preferred.
• Candidates familiar with existing and emerging diagnostic technologies strongly preferred.

Last Date to Apply 26th November, 2025

Skills Required

Quality Assurance, Microbiology, Monitoring And Evaluation, Molecular Testing, Data Analytics