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About Bal Raksha Bharat
Bal Raksha Bharat (also known as Save the Children) is India's leading independent child rights organisation. It is a member of the Save the Children movement that operates globally with the mission to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and achieve immediate and lasting changes in their lives. We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:
- No child dies from preventable causes before their fifth birthday
- All children learn from a quality basic education and
- Violence against children is no longer tolerated
We run programs in the remotest corners of India and urban areas in the areas of Health & Nutrition, Education, Child Protection and Livelihood & Economic Wellbeing in order to facilitate quality education, healthcare and protection from harm and abuse and life-saving aid during emergencies to children
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ROLE PURPOSE
The Project Manager will lead the day-to-day management and coordinated implementation of Project, a 36-month school-based health initiative for nutrition and exercise across 20 government and private schools in Chennai and Coimbatore. The role will translate the approved program strategy into high-quality, timely and integrated implementation across the four strategic pillars: screening, early detection, counselling and referral; physical activity promotion; mental well-being and psychosocial health; and healthy school policy and governance. The Project Manager will oversee the implementation team, coordinate with the PIU Lead, PACT, District Coordinator, MEAL/Data support, Finance & Admin and technical experts, and maintain effective linkages with school leadership, School Wellness Committees, Health & relevant government departments and other partners. The role will ensure program quality, budget and resource management, progress tracking, documentation, reporting, learning, risk mitigation and sustainability/hand-over, while ensuring child safeguarding, gender equality, inclusion and child-centred implementation throughout the project.
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SCOPE OF ROLE
Scope: The Project Manager will be responsible for operational leadership and coordination of Project across Chennai and Coimbatore, covering 20 schools (10 government and 10 private) and approximately 10,000 children aged 6–14 years over 36 months. The role will ensure integrated implementation across school, family/community and system levels, with particular focus on strengthening Health Promoting School practices, early identification of unhealthy weight gain, healthy food environments, physical activity, mental well-being, student leadership, parent engagement and convergence with existing government platforms. The Project Manager will lead implementation planning and review, supervise the program team, facilitate government and school engagement, oversee quality assurance and data use, and ensure timely delivery against annual milestones and quarterly targets.
Reports to: PIU Lead / State Lead
Staff reporting to this post: District Coordinator – Coimbatore; Project Assistants – Chennai (direct); Project Assistants – Coimbatore (through the District Coordinator).
Budget Responsibilities: Yes – responsible for project budget planning, utilization monitoring, expenditure tracking and compliance within delegated authority.
Role Dimensions: Development context; Specialized in Health and Wellness, multi-school and multi-district implementation; government and private school engagement; cross-functional program management.
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KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
The key area of accountability required will be as follows:
- Lead annual, quarterly and monthly implementation planning for Project across Chennai and Coimbatore, ensuring sequencing of school, family/community and system-level activities in line with the approved proposal, budget, workplan and milestones.
- Coordinate implementation across the four strategic pillars: screening/early detection/counselling/referral; physical activity promotion; mental well-being and psychosocial health; and healthy school policy and governance.
- Oversee engagement and handholding of 20 participating schools, ensuring establishment and effective functioning of School Wellness Committees, School Wellness Charters and School Wellness Action Plans with clear roles, timelines and indicators.
- Ensure timely completion and quality of baseline, midline and endline processes, including biannual BMI screening, growth and wellness monitoring, screening data review and follow-up of children requiring referral or additional support.
- Guide school teams in strengthening healthy food environments, nutrition education and Eat Right approaches, including orientation of canteen/vendors where applicable and alignment with FSSAI-aligned practices.
- Oversee implementation of physical activity promotion, including active classrooms, movement breaks, sports/recreation, yoga, Fit India activities and inclusive opportunities, with specific attention to girls' participation and the “She Moves” strategy.
- Ensure integration of mental well-being and psychosocial components, including social-emotional learning, mindfulness, positive body image, stress management, anti-bullying, peer support and appropriate referral pathways, in consultation with technical experts.
- Coordinate and strengthen Health Champions and student-led activities, ensuring meaningful child participation, peer leadership, health campaigns and recognition mechanisms.
- Lead parent and community engagement processes, including quarterly parent learning meetings, parent–teacher wellness dialogues, digital family engagement, Healthy Tiffin initiatives and family wellness actions.
- Build and maintain effective working relationships with state, district and school-level stakeholders, including Education and Health departments, DEOs, health officials, RBSK/RKSK/mental health teams, DIET, FSSAI, Fit India coordinators, school leaders, SMCs/PTAs and local service providers.
- Facilitate integration of with existing platforms such as Ayushman Bharat School Health and Wellness Program, RBSK, RKSK, District Mental Health Program/Tele-MANAS, Eat Right School, Fit India, Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme and Tamil Nadu Nutritious Meal Program, avoiding parallel systems.
- Supervise, mentor and support field staff through regular review meetings, school visits, joint supportive supervision and performance follow-up; ensure implementation fidelity, problem solving and timely course correction.
- Coordinate with the MEAL/Data Manager and research/evaluation partner to ensure data quality, indicator tracking, data validation, analysis and use of evidence for program decision-making, learning and reporting.
- Ensure timely and accurate donor, internal and government-facing progress reporting, including narrative updates, indicator performance, milestone status, challenges, mitigation actions, case studies, innovations and best practices.
- Monitor project budget and resource utilization in coordination with Finance & Admin; ensure adherence to BRB financial, procurement, travel, documentation and compliance requirements.
- Maintain an up-to-date risk register and lead mitigation actions related to school participation, staff turnover, community engagement, implementation quality, approvals/coordination and other operational risks identified during implementation.
- Support development, refinement and contextualization of implementation tools, training materials, school wellness resources and communication approaches based on field learning, Technical Advisory Group guidance and stakeholder feedback.
- Lead documentation and dissemination of program learning, including annual reflection processes, success stories, case studies, best practice compendiums and inputs to policy briefs, scale-up toolkits and district/state dissemination platforms.
- Drive capacity transfer and sustainability by progressively strengthening school ownership, mentoring School Wellness Committees, supporting government convergence and preparing schools and districts for handover and scale-up beyond the project period.
- Ensure that all implementation is child-centered, gender-responsive, inclusive, ethical and compliant with BRB safeguarding, accountability, confidentiality and data protection standards.
- Any other task assigned by the line manager.
Key Performance Indicators
- Timely achievement of annual and quarterly project milestones across Chennai and Coimbatore.
- % of participating schools meeting agreed implementation quality standards and maintaining functional School Wellness Committees, Wellness Charters and Action Plans.
- % of planned BMI screening, school wellness, nutrition, physical activity and mental well-being activities completed as per protocol/calendar.
- % of identified children requiring referral who are appropriately referred and followed up/closed or documented with unresolved barriers.
- % of teachers/School Wellness Committee members/Health Champions completing planned capacity-building and demonstrating required competencies.
- Quality and completeness of program data, MIS, monitoring reports and donor submissions; timely corrective action on data-quality issues.
- Budget utilization against approved plan and compliance with BRB financial/procurement requirements.
- Frequency and quality of supportive supervision, review meetings and stakeholder engagement mechanisms.
- Documented use of monitoring/evaluation evidence, stakeholder feedback and learning for program improvement.
- Progress towards institutionalization, sustainability and handover readiness of participating schools and government stakeholders.
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BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)
Accountability - Takes ownership for program quality, timely delivery, team performance, stakeholder commitments and responsible use of resources; uses review mechanisms to identify and address gaps.
Ambition - Demonstrates commitment to achieving measurable improvements in school health and well-being and to positioning as a credible, scalable model for Tamil Nadu.
Collaboration- Works effectively across BRB functions and with government, schools, technical experts, research partners, communities, parents and children to achieve shared outcomes.
Creativity - Solves implementation challenges proactively, encourages innovation and adapts program approaches to different school contexts without compromising technical quality or program intent.
Integrity Acts with honesty, transparency and strong ethical principles in program management, financial stewardship, data handling, stakeholder engagement and decision-making.
Empathy and child-centeredness: Demonstrates active listening, respect for children and caregiver realities, and ensures that decisions and implementation remain child-centered, inclusive and non-stigmatizing.
Learning orientation: Uses monitoring data, research, supervision findings, school feedback and implementation evidence to improve quality, strengthen systems and inform adaptation and scale-up.
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QUALIFICATIONS
Preferred qualifications: Master's degree in Public Health, Health Management, Nutrition, Food & Nutrition, or a postgraduate qualification (Social work / sociology / psychology) with a strong focus on public health, program management, school health/nutrition will be an advantage.
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EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
Minimum 8 years of relevant professional experience, preferably in public health, school health, nutrition, child/adolescent well-being, education, community development or related programs, with demonstrated experience managing multi-stakeholder and/or multi-site projects. Experience in government engagement, school systems, health promotion, behaviour change, program planning, budgeting, team management, monitoring and reporting is required.
Preferred: Demonstrated experience managing school-based or adolescent health programs; working with government Education and Health departments; convergence with RBSK/RKSK/School Health and Wellness Program, Eat Right School, Fit India or similar platforms; managing screening/referral systems; leading capacity building and supportive supervision; coordinating research/MEAL processes; and generating quality donor/technical reports. Experience working across both government and private school settings in Tamil Nadu will be an advantage.
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KEY COMPETENCIES
Technical competencies
- Strong program/project management skills, including planning, implementation, budgeting, risk management and review.
- Strong understanding of school health, child/adolescent health, nutrition, physical activity, mental well-being and health promotion approaches.
- Knowledge of BMI/anthropometric screening, early identification of overweight/obesity and undernutrition, counselling and referral pathways, with ability to work within approved protocols and technical guidance.
- Ability to translate evidence and technical guidance into practical school-level implementation, training and supportive supervision.
- Strong government liaison, stakeholder management, negotiation, networking and partnership-building skills.
- Ability to lead and motivate multi-disciplinary teams and coordinate across program, MEAL, finance/admin, research and technical functions.
- Strong data literacy, including use of MIS/monitoring data, interpretation of indicators, quality assurance and evidence-based decision-making; proficiency in MS Office/Excel and relevant digital platforms.
- Strong report writing and communication skills, including donor reporting, presentations, review documentation and knowledge products.
- Ability to facilitate adult learning, capacity building, school review meetings and participatory stakeholder processes.
- Strong understanding of safeguarding, accountability, gender equality, inclusion, confidentiality and responsible data protection in programs involving children.
Generic Competencies:
- Being the Voice of Children: Utilizes being part of a global movement to promote change in the policy and public sphere on child-related issues.
- Advancing Equality & Inclusion: Drives an enabling environment for gender equality and inclusion, prioritizing the most deprived and marginalized children.
- Builds & Strengthens Partnerships: Inspires others to embrace the values and principles that underpin partnerships and the localization agenda.
- Child Rights: Promotes the rights of children in own work and in work with colleagues and peers.
- Empathy, active listening and non-judgmental engagement with children, families, teachers and school stakeholders.
- Commitment to confidentiality, data protection, safeguarding and ethical engagement with children and communities.
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Additional job responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.
The Project Manager is expected to manage and coordinate implementation within approved program protocols and delegated authority and is not expected to independently provide clinical diagnosis, prescribe medicines or deliver clinical treatment beyond the scope of their qualification and approved program responsibilities.
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CHILD SAFEGUARDING (Strike out whichever is not applicable)
Level 1: NOT APPLICABLE for this role.
Level 2: NOT APPLICABLE as the primary safeguarding classification for this role.
Level 3: The role holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work in programs or visit programs; therefore, a police check will be required.
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Child Safeguarding
We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.
The role holder must comply with all BRB child safeguarding policies and procedures and immediately report any safeguarding concern through the prescribed mechanisms.
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Safeguarding our Staff
The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the BRB's anti-harassment policy.
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Equal Opportunities
Bal Raksha Bharat aims to be an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all applications irrespective of age, race, color, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief or creed. Women candidates are encouraged to apply.
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