Program Head – Infrastructure and Standards

St. Jude India ChildCare Centres (St. Judes) bridges the gap between medical treatment and holistic care that is required by a child undergoing cancer treatment. It provides them with a hygienic, protective, and nurturing environment, which gives children the best chance of beating cancer.

Founded in 2006 by Shyama and Nihal Kaviratne, and a dedicated group of volunteers, St Judes offers a home away from home to underprivileged families during their child’s treatment for cancer. It provides children battling cancer, and their parents, accommodation, transportation facilities, counselling, educational and recreational activities along with art-based therapies and yoga without any cost. To know more visit: https://www.stjudechild.org/

About the Role

Location : Mumbai Reporting to: CEO

About the Role The Program Head will ensure St. Judes centres across India are protected, well-maintained, compliant, fit for purpose, and aligned with the organisation's quality standards.

The role brings together facilities management, civil and infrastructure projects, statutory and safety compliance, quality standards, and continuous improvement, while also contributing to the organisation's longer-term infrastructure and facilities strategy.

Key Responsibilities

1. Facilities & Infrastructure Management

- Oversee the overall management, maintenance and upkeep of St. Judes facilities across locations.
- Ensure buildings, electrical systems, plumbing, HVAC, water systems, equipment and other infrastructure are maintained to required standards.
- Develop and monitor preventive maintenance plans and ensure timely resolution of breakdowns and repairs.
- Establish appropriate standards for facility upkeep, safety, cleanliness and functionality across centres.
- Monitor facility-related risks and ensure timely corrective action.

2. Civil Works, Construction & Projects

- Lead and oversee new centre construction, renovations, expansions and major civil/infrastructure projects.
- Review project requirements, scope, estimates, timelines and quality before execution.
- Coordinate with architects, civil consultants, contractors and other technical agencies.
- Monitor projects for quality, cost, timelines and adherence to approved specifications.
- Ensure appropriate technical due diligence before undertaking major infrastructure investments.
- Support the organisation in evaluating potential sites from an infrastructure and feasibility perspective.
- Develop appropriate processes for project handover, snagging, maintenance and closure.

3. Statutory, Safety & Infrastructure Compliance





- Ensure compliance with applicable building, fire, electrical, safety, environmental and other statutory requirements related to facilities and infrastructure.
- Maintain an up-to-date compliance calendar and documentation across locations.
- Coordinate with relevant authorities, consultants and agencies wherever required.
- Ensure that fire safety systems, electrical installations, structural safety and other critical infrastructure are periodically inspected and certified.
- Identify potential compliance and infrastructure risks and ensure timely closure.
- Maintain documentation required for internal, regulatory, donor and other audits.

4. Quality & Standards

- Develop and maintain facility and infrastructure standards applicable across St. Judes centres.
- Establish appropriate checklists, standards and quality indicators for facilities, safety, hygiene and infrastructure.
- Conduct or coordinate periodic assessments of facilities and identify gaps.
- Drive Root Cause Analysis and corrective actions for recurring infrastructure, safety or quality issues.
- Work with Centre and Operations teams to ensure standards are consistently implemented.
- Identify opportunities to improve the quality, functionality and overall environment of the centres.

The role should complement the organisation's broader quality framework, which includes standardisation, audits, risk management, RCA/CAPA and continuous improvement. 5. Vendor & Contractor Management

- Identify, evaluate and manage contractors, vendors and service providers for facilities and infrastructure requirements.
- Establish appropriate service standards, SLAs and performance expectations.
- Monitor vendor performance, quality and cost.
- Ensure appropriate documentation, contracts, certifications and statutory requirements are maintained.
- Build a reliable network of technical and infrastructure partners across locations.

6. Budget & Cost Management

- Prepare and manage the annual facilities and infrastructure budget.
- Monitor expenditure against approved budgets and identify opportunities for cost optimisation.
- Review major repair, renovation and capital expenditure proposals.
- Ensure appropriate cost-benefit assessment for significant infrastructure investments.




- Maintain adequate records of maintenance, repair and project-related expenditure.

7. Risk Management & Emergency Preparedness

- Identify critical facilities and infrastructure risks across centres.
- Establish appropriate preventive and emergency response mechanisms.
- Ensure centres are prepared to respond to infrastructure, fire, electrical, water, weather-related and other emergencies.
- Review incidents and recurring failures and recommend preventive measures.

8. Strategy & Continuous Improvement

- Develop a long-term facilities and infrastructure roadmap aligned with St. Judes growth plans.
- Provide inputs into infrastructure planning for new centres, expansions and relocations.
- Identify opportunities for standardisation, technology adoption, sustainability and cost efficiency.
- Use data and facility performance trends to support decision-making and prioritisation.
- Advise the CEO and leadership team on significant infrastructure, facilities, compliance and quality-related risks and investments.

Desired Competencies

- Strong knowledge of facilities management, civil works and infrastructure
- Strong understanding of construction/project management
- Knowledge of statutory, safety and infrastructure compliance
- Process Excellence & Detail Orientation: Ability to spot and fix small details that critically impact safety and quality.
- Child & Family Sensitivity: Ability to execute rigorous quality standards with deep empathy and a child-sensitive approach.
- Strategic Influence: Exceptional communication and collaboration skills
- Analytical Rigor: Strong problem-solving and root-cause analysis skills, comfortable managing complex data and performance dashboards.
- Comfort with significant national travel.

Qualification & Experience

- Graduate/Postgraduate qualification in Engineering, Construction/Facilities/Standards Management, Infrastructure Management, Project Management or a related field.
- 20 years of relevant experience, preferably with significant experience across facilities, infrastructure management and quality.
- Experience managing multi-location facilities or infrastructure projects would be highly desirable.
- Strong experience in statutory, safety and infrastructure compliance.
- Experience managing architects, consultants, contractors and multiple vendors.
- Experience in quality systems, audits, standards or process improvement would be an advantage.
- Experience in the healthcare, hospitality, residential, education, NGO or other multi-site environment would be preferred.

If this role excites you, please apply to [email protected]

📌 Head of Infrastructure (Mumbai)
🏢 Social Synthesis
📍 Mumbai