WE’RE HIRING!

Head – Psychosocial Care, Counselling & Patient Support Department, Cipla Palliative Care and Training Cent re, Pune.

Location: Pune, Maharashtra (Onsite)

Employment Type: Full-time

Number of Openings: 1

About th e Organisation

Cipla Palliative Care and Training Centre (CPC) is one of India's earliest dedicated palliative care centres committed to improving the quality of life of patients facing cancer and their families.

Built on Cipla's ethos of Caring for Life, the Centre has evolved over nearly three decades into a trusted institution for clinical care, training, advocacy, and community engagement in palliative care. More than 26,000 patients have been supported by the Centre as of 31 March 2026.

The Centre's 49-bedded inpatient facility is thoughtfully designed to create a calm and healing environment, fostering peace, connection, and personalised support for patients and caregivers. At the heart of our philosophy is a multidisciplinary approach that brings together palliative care physicians, nurses, social workers, counsellors, nutritionists, physiotherapists, psychologists, volunteers, and support teams to address physical, emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual needs.

Through inpatient, outpatient, and partner-supported home-based care services, CPC delivers a continuum of care that supports patients and families across the cancer journey.

Learn more about our work: https://www.ciplapalliativecare.org/cpc

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and visionary Head – Psychosocial Care to lead and strengthen our Counselling & Patient Support Department for cancer patients and their families.

This leadership role will provide strategic and functional direction to the Department while advancing excellence in psychosocial care delivery, research, training, knowledge development, quality improvement, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in shaping evidence-informed psychosocial care that upholds dignity, quality of life, compassionate communication, caregiver support, and bereavement care for individuals facing cancer and their families.

Key Responsibilities

- Clinical & Department Leadership

Provide strategic, clinical, and operational leadership to the Counselling & Patient Support Department, overseeing psychosocial care services for cancer patients and their families across inpatient, outpatient, palliative care, and outreach settings.

Lead, mentor,



and develop a multidisciplinary psychosocial care team comprising social workers, psychologists/counsellors, and other patient-support professionals.

Establish and strengthen standards, protocols, pathways, and models of care for psychosocial assessment, counselling, emotional support, caregiver support, grief, and bereavement care.

Provide clinical guidance and supervision for complex psychosocial cases and ensure appropriate escalation and referral mechanisms.

Work closely with medical, nursing, palliative care, and allied health teams to integrate psychosocial care into holistic, patient- and family-centred cancer care.

- Foster a culture of reflective practice, ethical care, professional accountability, compassion, and continuous learning within the department.

- Research, Publications & Knowledge Development

Promote a culture of evidence-informed practice, research, inquiry, and continuous learning within psychosocial and patient-support services.

Lead and support research studies, service evaluations, publications, abstracts, conference presentations, and other academic dissemination initiatives in psychosocial oncology, palliative care, counselling, and patient support.

Strengthen documentation and analysis of patient and caregiver experiences and case narratives to demonstrate the impact and value of psychosocial interventions.

Develop and maintain structured knowledge repositories, practice resources, case compilations, and learning materials for internal capacity building and external dissemination.

Establish mechanisms for journal review, critical appraisal, and translation of emerging evidence into clinical and programme practice.

Facilitate the review, adaptation, and adoption of relevant national and international standards, frameworks, and best practices in psychosocial oncology and palliative care.

- Education & Capacity Building

Lead and facilitate internal and external education and training programmes for healthcare professionals, students, volunteers, caregivers, and partner organisations.

Strengthen competencies in psychosocial assessment, counselling, communication, caregiver support, grief and bereavement,



and patient-centred care through structured teaching, supervision, workshops, and experiential learning.

Develop curricula, training resources, and competency frameworks relevant to psychosocial care and patient support.

Mentor and build the next generation of professionals in medical social work, psychology, counselling, and psychosocial care.

Contribute to CPC’s role as a centre of excellence for palliative care education, training, and knowledge development.

- Quality Improvement & Clinical Governance

Lead quality improvement initiatives, clinical audits, service evaluations, and outcome-monitoring systems for the Counselling & Patient Support Department.

Define and monitor appropriate indicators to assess the quality, reach, effectiveness, and patient experience of psychosocial care services.

Use patient, caregiver, and team feedback to identify gaps and continuously strengthen service delivery.

Ensure high standards of clinical documentation, ethical practice, confidentiality, safeguarding, professional conduct, and adherence to organisational policies and applicable clinical governance standards.

Establish mechanisms for case review, peer learning, supervision, and continuous improvement across the department.

- Community & Stakeholder Engagement

Build and strengthen relationships with hospitals, cancer centres, hospices, academic institutions, skilled bodies, community organisations, and other relevant stakeholders to advance psychosocial and patient-support services.

Develop referral and collaboration pathways with external psychosocial, mental health, social care, and palliative care networks.

Represent the Counselling & Patient Support Department and CPC at relevant academic, professional, knowledge-sharing, and advocacy forums.

Contribute to thought leadership and sector-wide dialogue on psychosocial care, supportive care, palliative care, and the lived experience of cancer patients and families.

What We Are Looking For A compassionate leader, educator, researcher, and clinician who can combine psychosocial expertise with strategic vision to advance patient and family-centred cancer care and contribute meaningfully to the growth of palliative care practice in India.

Application Process

Interested candidates are invited to fill an Application of Interest, and our team will get in touch with shortlisted applicants - https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/RU37kVMtwv

Applicat i on Deadline: 17th October 2026

📌 Head - Psychosocial Care, Cipla Palliative Care and Training Centre, Pune
🏢 Cipla Foundation
📍 Pune