Head - Quality & Standards

About St Jude India ChildCare Centres

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/

Role Description

Location

Reporting to:

Role

Key Responsibilities

Quality Framework, Benchmarking & Standard Setting

·        Develop, update, and manage the SJICC Quality Standards Manual (QSM), viewing the residential stay as a critical high-touch service experience.

·        Benchmark standards against best practices in pediatric residential care, specialised infection control, and premium hospitality/service operations.

·        Define measurable, high-rigour Quality Indicators, compliance checklists, and reporting formats that reflect process excellence and child-centric outcomes.

·        Ensure all standards are practical, scalable, and fully aligned with the unique medical needs of immunocompromised children.

Rigorous Centre Audits & Compliance

·      Design and execute a meticulous, multi-tiered audit program (daily digital spot-checks, comprehensive monthly/quarterly on-site inspections) that mirrors the rigour of an executive hotel inspection.

·  Lead the Quality Audit team to assess all facets: cleanliness, food safety, process adherence, documentation, and the overall quality of the family experience.

·  Identify all non-compliance issues, conduct Root-Cause Analysis (RCA), and enforce time-bound, measurable corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) with Centre Managers.

·     Maintain a central, real-time Quality Assurance Dashboard tracking compliance scores, key defects, and action closure status across all centres.

Safety, Hygiene & Critical Risk Management

·   Establish and enforce non-negotiable protocols for fire safety, electrical safety, structural integrity standards, critical water quality, advanced food safety, and aggressive pest control.

·    Lead the development and monitoring of advanced infection-prevention and control norms suitable for a high-risk population, drawing on clinical hygiene standards.

·  Oversee the Incident Management System, ensuring immediate, systematic reporting and detailed analysis of all safety, health, and operational incidents to prevent recurrence.

Continuous Process Improvement & Innovation

·   Actively seek out opportunities for process re-engineering in housekeeping, inventory management, psychosocial programming, and support service delivery to improve efficiency and the family experience.

·  Design and manage quality improvement projects (e.g., standardisation of environmental aesthetics, digital integration of SOPs, new hygiene technologies) and pilot them successfully before national rollout.

·   Drive a culture of proactive quality control rather than reactive defect detection.

Training, Standardisation & Cultural Alignment

·   Design and deliver compulsory, engaging, and highly effective training programs (the "SJICC Service School") for Centre Managers, caregivers, and support staff.

·  Topics include: uncompromising hygiene protocols, service standards, child protection, emergency response, and embedding the core SJICC values into daily interactions.

·    Ensure every staff member understands the criticality of their role in maintaining the child’s health and the family's psychological well-being.

Documentation, Reporting & Governance

·   Ensure all Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and quality documentation are current, accessible, and aligned with international quality management systems (QMS).

·  Prepare and present Executive Quality Reports detailing organizational compliance, key risks, and progress on CAPAs to the CEO, Director – Operations, and the Board on a quarterly basis.

·    Maintain impeccable records required for financial, regulatory (FCRA), and donor audits.

Child Protection & Wellbeing Leadership

·  Serve as the organisational lead for Child Protection Policy implementation and compliance across all centres.

·  Ensure all behavioural codes, safeguarding norms, and mandated reporting mechanisms are consistently trained, monitored, and adhered to by all staff and volunteers.

Desired Competencies

·      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 Rigour: Strong problem-solving and root-cause analysis skills, comfortable managing complex data and performance dashboards.

·     Comfort with significant national travel.

Qualification and Experience

·  10+ years of progressive senior experience in Quality Assurance, Standards Management, or Operations within an environment demanding meticulous process execution and high-stakes service quality.

·   Highly preferred sectors: Luxury Hospitality (Corporate/Multi-Property Quality Head), Healthcare Quality or a high-standard NGO/Residential Care organisation.

·   Proven expertise in developing and implementing advanced hygiene, infection control, and safety protocols for sensitive populations.

·  Extensive experience leading multi-location audit programs, developing SOPs, and running large-scale training initiatives.

·  Demonstrated ability to use data (KPIs, Audit Scores, RCA) to drive continuous organisational improvement.