Position Summary

CEGIS’ work in Public Finance covers both its constituents, i.e. public revenue and public expenditure. Revenue augmentation is a core area of work and we engage with all relevant revenue raising departments within the state government, including GST, Transport, Excise, and Revenue. In addition, we work with Municipal Governments to help augment all major tax and non tax revenue streams at the local level. The public expenditure workstream can encompass activities in any or all elements of (1) outcome based budgeting, (2) public finance management systems, (3) Financial impact assessment in the form cost effectiveness and rates of returns.

Our projects can be of a wide variety and involve elements of research and analytics, advocacy, policy implementation and evaluation, and active support to line departments in reforms adoption. A large part of the work is by its very nature quantitative.

Specifically, this will, among other things, entail:

Conducting detailed budgetary analysis at different levels of government
Conducting situational analysis on a variety of economic sectors and subjects
Conducting forensic analysis to identify anomalous patterns in taxpayer behaviour
Mapping government budgeting and administrative processes and identify efficiency enhancing solutions
Conduct financial impact assessment in terms of cost-effectiveness and rates of returns.
Design and implement micro RCTs on live policy interventions

The Program Manager/Senior Program Manager – Public Finance is required to play an important role in contextualizing and executing the CEGIS vision in Tamil Nadu. The role will work closely with the Public Finance technical team and the relevant State team, and collaborate with other CEGIS teams (Outcomes Measurement; Personnel Management; Sectoral teams). The Program Manager/Senior Program Manager will be jointly reporting to the Lead, Public Finance and State Leads.

Role and Responsibilities

Working closely with senior academics and government stakeholders to tailoring research/policy design and protocols to local contexts, and translating technical requirements to on ground implementation.
Managing government relationships with bureaucratic leadership at the highest level from end to end and ensuring timely delivery of outputs and ongoing engagement with CEGIS projects.
Managing a team of associates and supporting them in execution of programmatic projects and development of high quality outputs (presentations, reports, briefs) summarizing project progress, data analyses, research findings for both technical and non-technical audiences and for dissemination at various fora.
Ensuring adherence to data quality protocols, including auditing enumerators, monitoring data collection, and conducting data quality audits in any data collection project
Facilitating access to administrative data from relevant government line departments, review them using a prescribed template and conduct analysis as required
Managing all the primary, secondary, and administrative data by strictly following data management and security protocols
Assisting in standardization of protocols for projects
Supporting the technical and professional development of reportees
Keeping track of global best practices and research and assist in strengthening team’s capacity to adopt those

Education and Experience

Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, statistics, public policy, engineering, social science, or related fields from a reputed institution
4 to 5 years relevant work experience, including research, basic quantitative analysis, client management (preferably with governments) and managerial experience
Some experience in quantitative data management and analysis using STATA, R (strongly preferred) or Python programming

Required Skills and Abilities

Excellent problem-solving and strategic thinking skills, strong research aptitude ability to analyse complex quantitative and qualitative data and formulate solutions
Fluency in English and excellent writing and communication skills (ability to communicate complex ideas in a meaningful way and across different audiences) within and outside the organization. Some proficiency in the relevant local language will be a plus.
Demonstrated relationship-building ability and management of high-level relationships with partner organizations, ideally based on experience of working with Indian state governments
Strong planning and organizational skills, and an ability to be able to set priorities, plan timelines and meet deadlines
Passion for improving the effectiveness of Indian States, and alignment with CEGIS’s theory of change/ impact
Operating style suited to working independently and in a small-organization setting, where teamwork and resourcefulness are highly valued
Ability to work under pressure by handling competing priorities, strong planning and organizational skills, and an ability to be able to set priorities, plan timelines and meet deadlines, maintaining attention to detail and delivering high-quality outputs
Ability to think creatively, willing to take risks to experiment with new ideas and the ability to turn ideas into action
High ability to collaborate and actively listen to others, understanding and valuing others’ views
Versatility to be comfortable taking on different projects and quickly dive into new sectors
Understanding of at least one of taxation, public finance management systems, or budgeting would be preferred.
Understanding of experimental and non-experimental research methods, including design and implementation of field sample surveys is an added advantage.

Personal Characteristics and Desired Qualities

Fluency in English and basic to intermediate proficiency in Tamil
Excellent problem-solving and strategic thinking skills, strong research aptitude ability to analyse complex quantitative and qualitative data and formulate solutions
Fluency in English and excellent writing and communication skills (ability to communicate complex ideas in a meaningful way and across different audiences) within and outside the organization
Strong planning and organizational skills, and an ability to be able to set priorities, plan timelines and meet deadlines
Ability to manage teams from diverse backgrounds including working closely with Government (Department) stakeholders to ensure smooth project delivery
Passion for improving the effectiveness of Indian States, and alignment with CEGIS’s theory of change/ impact
Operating style suited to working independently and in a small-organization setting, where teamwork and resourcefulness are highly valued
Ability to work under pressure by handling competing priorities, strong planning and organizational skills, and an ability to be able to set priorities, plan timelines and meet deadlines, maintaining attention to detail and delivering high-quality outputs
Ability to think creatively, willing to take risks to experiment with new ideas and the ability to turn ideas into action
High ability to collaborate and actively listen to others, understanding and valuing others’ views
Versatility to be comfortable taking on different projects and quickly dive into
new sectors

Location and Compensation

CEGIS is looking for suitable candidates for this role in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy and social sector pay scales and will depend on the candidate’s experience levels.

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