Program Associate - Project Delivery

About CEGIS

Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS – pronounced See-Jis) aims to

improve lives by helping Indian state governments deliver better development outcomes.

The four key characteristics of any high-performing organisation are (a) measuring outcomes through reliable, high quality data that enables goal setting and monitoring progress towards these goals; (b) strategic use of personnel – competency based hiring and training, skilling, and performance appraisals to determine job assignments, pay, and promotions – to achieve the goals above; (c) strategic budgeting where resource allocation is based on evidence and cost-effectiveness; (d) and creating efficient systems to leverage external actors (including for-profit and nonprofit organisations). The Indian State needs to perform better on all four fronts above, by enhancing its capacity. CEGIS partners with states to improve this capacity by focusing on these four pillars of the State.

Overview:

As a Program Associate (PA) at The Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS), you will play a vital role in various projects across their entire life cycle. This includes handling concept notes, department-level diagnostics, solution identification, pilot development, pilot implementation, and providing support for scale-up initiatives. Projects typically involve frontline service delivery. Reporting to the respective Project Lead(s), you will significantly contribute to the analytical aspects of the projects, ensuring effective governance and public expenditure reforms.

Responsibilities:

Data Collection, Review, and Analysis:

• Keep track of data from different sources for accuracy.
• Analyse complex datasets to extract important insights relevant to key stakeholders.

Data Management, Quality, and Security:

• Prioritise and address data issues promptly to support ongoing project progress.
• Ensure data management, quality, and security standards are maintained.

Research, Diagnosis, Solutioning, and Reporting:

• Independently conduct research and root cause analysis.
• Document and present insights for effective problem-solving.
• Collaborate with vertical teams to lead co-creation efforts for project-specific solutions.

Analysis and Insights:

• Produce comprehensive presentations and documentation for critical project insights.
• Assist in gathering information for stakeholder communication.
• Summarise and document project progress for internal and external audiences.

Project Management and Project Deliverables:

• Regularly updates internal and external stakeholders on project progress.
• Collaborates with project delivery teams and stakeholders to align data diagnostics and analysis plans with project objectives.
• Ensures that all project activities are strategically directed towards the achievement of overarching goals.
• Develops and delivers high-quality outputs, including reports, notes, and analyses.
• Conduct literature review, prepare project collaterals, and manage files for efficient retrieval.

Stakeholder Mapping, Engagement and communication:

• Map relevant external stakeholders and conduct regular stakeholder analysis.
• Coordinate with stakeholders to plan meetings for both communicating project progress and decisions, as well as ensuring effective communication.
• Synthesise project information into documents, presentations, and dashboards.
• Cultivate and strengthen stakeholder relationships, fostering deep connections.
• Suggest innovative ideas to nurture partnerships and drive project advancement.
• Documentation and Knowledge Creation & Facilitation:`
• Support knowledge management processes to achieve project and organisational objectives.
• Conduct literature review, prepare project collaterals, and manage files for efficient retrieval.
• Support the team in acquiring, preserving, and sharing domain-specific information.

Qualifications:

• 1 to 3 years of experience with a Bachelor's degree (Master’s degree or equivalent preferred) in economics, public policy, social science or related fields from a reputed institution.
• Proven experience in project management and analytical contributions.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and leadership skills.
• Experience in client servicing/government projects would be preferred.
• Commitment to CEGIS's mission and values.

Pre-reads for the application process:

Please go through the following materials before sending in your application:

• Concept note on CEGIS
• A glimpse into life at CEGIS - CEGIS Retreat 2024
• CEGIS Snapshot 2023-24
• Podcast episodes with Prof. Karthik Muralidharan – one each on education and healthcare in India.
• You are also encouraged to read more of Prof. Karthik Muralidharan’s work here and through his book “Accelerating India’s Development: A State-Led Roadmap for India’s Development”.