About the Centre
NCAER has recently established the Centre for Health Economics (CHE). The Centre seeks to address the need for a dedicated institution that provides thought leadership and evidence-based policy guidance at the intersection of public health, health economics, and innovation within India’s health ecosystem.
CHE plans to lead strategic initiatives on a range of pressing health and economic challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration with government, industry, academia, implementing organizations, civil society, and regional, global, and multilateral institutions. Working within a strong cross-disciplinary environment, CHE aims to position NCAER as a national and regional leader in public health policy, health economics, and health systems research.
NCAER is seeking candidates who can help shape, support, and implement the Centre’s strategic vision in alignment with NCAER’s mission and India’s evolving health and economic priorities. Successful candidates will be passionate about addressing complex healthcare and public policy challenges through strategic thinking, rigorous analytics, and supporting evidence-based research.
The role offers the opportunity to engage closely with a breadth and depth of stakeholders, while contributing to research that informs health policy in India and beyond.
Position Overview
The successful candidate will provide strategic and technical support to the Director in establishing CHE as a leading policy and research centre at the intersection of public health, health economics, regulation, innovation, and health systems strengthening. The role will involve conducting reviews of literature, analyzing and collating data, staying abreast of health economics in India and globally, and creating organizational and technical products, helping define a focused and actionable research agenda, and supporting the development of policy-relevant evidence that informs decision-making at national, regional, and global levels.
Key Responsibilities may include and are not limited to:
- Design, implement, and collaborate in research assessing the efficiency, quality, sustainability, and equity of India’s healthcare system, with particular emphasis on health economics and public health policy.
- Conduct quantitative and qualitative research by gathering, cleaning, and analyzing datasets from government, academic, industry, and international sources to support evidence-based policy recommendations.
- Translate data into policy insights through statistical analysis, literature reviews, policy briefs, presentations, and research reports that communicate findings clearly to policymakers and non-technical audiences.
- Apply advanced analytical tools and methods beyond spreadsheets, including programming languages, data visualization platforms, GIS tools, and AI-assisted research workflows to generate robust and reproducible analyses.
- Contribute to rigorous policy research projects by developing research frameworks, evaluating public policies and programs, synthesizing academic evidence, and collaborating with senior researchers on publications, stakeholder engagements, and thought leadership initiatives.
- Draft, review, and provide technical inputs for flagship reports, policy briefs, consultation papers, and stakeholder engagement strategies to ensure analytical rigor, policy relevance, and clear communication.
- Identify emerging policy challenges related to demographics, pharmaceutical and healthcare industry dynamics, environmental health, pandemic preparedness, the growing burden of non-communicable diseases, and evolving financing needs, and translate these into actionable research priorities.
- Contribute to the development of a robust evidence base on priority themes identified by the Director and advisory board, including health workforce productivity, digital health, emerging diseases, environmental health, security and preparedness, to support policy reform.
- Provide strategic and evidence-based inputs to shape a policy-focused research agenda on health innovation, clinical research, digital health, and sciences, strengthening India’s role in regional and global health and pharmaceutical value chains.
- Support the Director with related activities, including presentations, briefing notes, speeches, stakeholder communications, meeting materials, and other strategic and operational tasks as required.
Qualifications, Experience and Skills
- Ph.D. or Master’s degree in International Relations, Health Economics, Public Health, Health Policy, Economics, Public Policy, Sociology, Anthropology, Political Science, Development Studies, Healthcare Management, Medicine, Nursing, Epidemiology, or a related discipline.
- Minimum 3 years of progressively responsible experience in the above listed subjects or related fields, preferably in leading research institutions, think tanks, government agencies, international organizations, NGO, or development sector organizations.
- Strong analytical skills with both qualitative and quantitative research data sets and methodology.
- Demonstrated expertise in policy-relevant research, with a strong track record of producing high-quality reports, policy briefs, publications, and evidence-based recommendations for policymakers.
- Deep understanding of India’s healthcare ecosystem, including health financing, healthcare delivery, public health systems, health regulation, pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors, and emerging healthcare challenges.
- Excellent analytical, writing, communication, and team work skills, with the ability to translate complex evidence into actionable policy recommendations, partner with research teams, and contribute to resource mobilization and collaborations across sectors.
- Training in economics, public policy, political science, statistics, data science, or a related field, with demonstrated experience in empirical research and data analysis.
Appointment Term
Applicants should send a letter describing their past experience and their interest, a detailed CV, and the names of three professional references. The appointment will be on a renewable, 3-year contract. Applications will be reviewed as they are received. For fullest consideration, please apply by June 25, 2026.
Please send your application by email, noting “Associate Fellow-CHE” in the subject line.
Compensation
A salary that is commensurate with market and experience of the selected candidate.
About NCAER
NCAER is India’s oldest and largest national, non-profit, independent economic research institute. Since 1956, NCAER has contributed high-quality research to shape policy decisions in India. It is among the few think tanks globally that have strong field data collection capabilities for national surveys; and its research covers a spectrum of policy-focused applied research in economics, from macroeconomics to poverty and infrastructure.
NCAER offers a vibrant, dynamic academic environment with both world-class faculty and physical infrastructure. If you’re stuck with a writer’s block, a stroll around our campus might be the antidote. If you want to unwind, there will always be someone willing to play a game of table tennis or badminton.
Join a visionary team that values research excellence, collaboration, and professional growth. NCAER offers a stimulating work environment where your research ideas can make a real difference.
NCAER is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
