Website Circle In

Position

Program Manager (PM), Centre for Economic Data and Analysis (in partnership with Circle In)

Problem Statement

India has seen a massive drop in female labor force participation (LFPR), from 26% in 2005 to 16.1% in 2020. India’s FLFP lags in comparison to that of its neighbouring countries like Bangladesh (30.5%) and Sri Lanka (33.7%), which are some of the lowest in the world. This comes at a time when the education levels among women have been increasing and awareness and efforts towards enhancing women empowerment are on the rise. Most of these efforts as well as the wider discourse on the issue have been geared towards addressing supply-side constraints such as social norms. However, we hypothesize that the poor rate of FLFP can be improved in the short- to medium-run by targeting demand-side barriers. Women have borne a disproportionate loss of jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that they have accounted for 23% of the total jobs lost between March 2020 and March 2021, it is more important now than ever to remove barriers to women’s entry/ re-entry/ retention/ progression in the workforce – both in terms of entrepreneurship and jobs.

About the Centre for Economic Data and Analysis

The Centre for Economic Data and Analysis (CEDA) has been set up by the Economics Department of Ashoka University with the primary objective of facilitating informed debate and discussion about economic and social development issues in India. It meaningfully contributes to public discussions on policy relevant issues through blog posts, summaries of research papers, commentaries on economic and social issues, etc.

As part of its efforts towards women empowerment, CEDA has partnered with Circle In. Circle In aims to be India’s leading organisation for understanding and mitigating barriers to women empowerment with a focus on women’s economic empowerment. Circle In will work with key stakeholders across the ecosystem, including the government, to run scalable, high-impact interventions and reform policies to support women empowerment. Circle In is incubated and supported by The Convergence Foundation, an organisation set up by Ashish Dhawan to identify critical voids in the social sector and build strong, long-lasting organisations to solve complex problems.

The CEDA-Circle In partnership’s core focus will be on identifying and testing high-impact interventions, working with the private sector to increase women’s participation in the workforce, and building networks/coalitions of industry champions to drive change. There are three broad components of the project – conducting thorough research of the sector, designing and implementing private sector initiatives, and creating a data portal. The CEDA-Circle In partnership will focus on the private sector initiatives arm of the project.

CEDA-Circle In has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to understand demand-side barriers to FLFP and to support champions for women’s economic empowerment.

Key people supporting Circle In:

Megha Chawla (Partner, Bain and Company)
Sri Rajan (former Chairman, Bain and Company)
Ashwini Deshpande (Founding Director of CEDA at Ashoka University)
Shaveta Kukreja (co-Managing Director, Central Square Foundation)
Ashish Dhawan (Founder, The Convergence Foundation)

Position Summary

We are looking to hire an exceptional Program Manager (PM) to join the team in an exciting time of organisational growth and development. This role will require working closely with organisation leaders at CEDA and Circle In to identify and test innovative interventions to reduce barriers to women’s work participation. Overall, the PM will provide intellectual and management support, aligned with the missions, goals and targets of CEDA-Circle In.

This is a high-energy, entrepreneurial role and a great opportunity for those who enjoy working in a start-up environment and care deeply about women empowerment and the impact sector. This role includes working with senior stakeholders and engaging with them on strategic projects that have the potential to solve key challenges to economically empowering women in India.

This role is based out of the Centre for Economic Data and Analysis and will work closely with the team from Circle In.

Key Responsibilities

Create a comprehensive data-driven sector report, encompassing an overview of different segments within the sector
Work with various stakeholders and initial set of champions to pilot high-impact interventions
Execute organisational policy changes and/ or bold new initiatives with private sector champions to mitigate barriers to women’s economic empowerment
Support the leadership team with research and insight, recommending an appropriate approach
Mapping of existing data sources on women’s employment, particularly in the private sector, and to support efforts to seek out more data
Work closely with the leadership team on creating and maintaining deep engagement with the government and private sector leaders
Develop and maintain a strong influencer/ advisor network, and initiate/ participate in a wide range of initiatives, not limited to proposals, events, and networking
Aid the development and implementation of activities and programs to build the organisation’s networking and communication capabilities
Identify and onboard champions, experts, private sector leaders, and other organisations that Circle In can partner with to achieve strategic priorities
Aid in the development and implementation of regular convenings, including closed-door convenings with private sector leaders and policy makers
Take on diverse operational tasks to ensure organisational success

Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities

Undergraduate degree from a top tier institution. While there is no preference for a particular major or specialization, we expect to see a high degree of intellectual curiosity and sophistication
2-4 years of work experience in a challenging/ high growth environment
Excellent analytical, critical thinking and problem-solving skills
Solid planning and organizational skills with high attention to detail, accuracy, protocol, and deadline
Excellent writing ability that is clear, concise and analytic in style
Excellent communication, interpersonal, and stakeholder-facing skills including solid presentation and facilitation skills
High level of flexibility and responsiveness with the ability to shift priorities quickly and as organizational demands require

Desired Qualities

High level of discretion in maintaining confidentiality of sensitive materials and issues
Ability to take initiative and develop solutions quickly and effectively
Ability to understand and consider organizational culture and change
Ability to function and interact in a professional level capacity to sustain the mission, culture and best interests of the respective organizations
Ability to adapt and exhibit confidence in a highly evolving, agile, and fast paced work environment
Excellent research skills with the ability to distill important concepts in a structured, concise, yet comprehensive manner
Broad and strategic mindset, creative aptitude and effective use of independent judgment
Operating style suited to working in a small-organization setting, where teamwork and resourcefulness are highly valued

Compensation

Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy pay scales and will depend upon the candidate’s qualifications and experience.

Location

New Delhi, India

To apply for this job please visit forms.gle.