Job Opportunity for Senior Program Manager (Rural Women Entrepreneurship) at American India Foundation in Gurgaon

Position: Senior Program Manager (Rural Women Entrepreneurship)

Program: Livelihoods

Location: Gurgaon, Haryana

Project Operations: Across West Bengal and Assam

Reporting Relationship: Director – Livelihoods/ CEO- MASF

Nature of Employment: Open Ended Staff position

Background:

The American India Foundation is committed to improving the lives of India’s underprivileged, with a special focus on women, children, and youth. AIF does this through high impact interventions in education, health, and livelihoods, because poverty is multidimensional. AIF’s unique value proposition is its broad engagement between communities, civil society, and expertise, thereby building a lasting bridge between the United States and India. With offices in New York and California, twelve chapters across the U.S., and India operations headquartered in Delhi NCR, AIF has impacted 8.4 million lives across 26 states of India. Learn more at www.AIF.org

About the Livelihoods Program:

AIF’s Livelihoods program envisions a world where poor and vulnerable communities have access to dignified work opportunities, empowering them with sustainable livelihoods. Since 2006, our Livelihoods program has, directly and indirectly,reached more than 1.2 million beneficiaries. To enable a razor-sharp focus on the country’s livelihood issues, AIF has also initiated the Market Aligned Skills Foundation (MASF), a Section-8 company envisioned as a social start-up. Closely aligned to the Global Sustainable Development Goals, the program’s ‘Vision 2030’ focuses on seven “Pathways to Impact” with the goal of creating two million livelihoods and overall reaching out to ten million lives.

Pathways to Impact

1. MAST 2.0: Provide Market Aligned Skills Training and Employment as per need of the geography

2. ABLE 2.0: Create Career Pathways for Persons with Disabilities

3. Entreprerana: Create Sustainable Income for Street Vendors

4. Engage to Empower: Create Aspirational Career Pathways for Youth and Women

5. Harit Jeevika: Create Sustainable Green Livelihoods

6. Aatmnirbhar: Create Sustainable Rural Livelihoods for Migrant Families or Women

7. Grameen Jobs: Create remote/multi skills jobs for rural youth within their local areas

The incumbent would be responsible to support the Big Bets Programme, where AIF is the prime applicant and will act as an intermediary to a multi-agency coalition called as Big Bets Coalition (BBC) comprising of partner organizations namely, AIFT, Gurgaon, EnAble India, Bengaluru, Selco Foundation, Bengaluru, Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), New Delhi and Centre for Education and Communication (CEC), New Delhi. In the capacity of an intermediary, AIF along with BBC partners will gather insights from the key partners and beneficiaries through convening primary and secondary research activities, consultations, field visits and periodic check-ins to draft a strategic plan for the implementation phase. To address the mammoth problem of low Female Labor Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) in India, AIF is proposing to work through a coalition as opposed to an individual organization. A coalition is a temporary alliance or partnering of groups in order to achieve a common purpose or to engage in joint activity. Forming coalitions with other groups of similar values, interests, and goals will allow AIF and BBC members to combine their resources and become more powerful than when they each acted alone and therefore increase their collective potential for success. AIF further believes that a coalition can bring more expertise and resources to bear on complex issues, where the technical or personnel resources of any one organization would not be sufficient.

Key Roles & Responsibilities:

Coalition Management & Strategic Conceptualization :

• To provide support in NGO assessment and validation ensuring high quality of validation as per the due diligence process of AIF, NGO capacity building, and advocating for NGO accountability, transparency and governance.

• To work closely with the coalition partners by co-designing and defining a strategic work plan, individual partner goals, implementation plans, budgets, and monthly reports that align in realizing the overall AIF vision for the projects. 

• Workshops to support the co-creation of the program with active engagement with coalition partners.

• To help organize capacity building workshops for NGOs in the areas of governance, leadership, strategic planning, program and financial management including the timely release of funds to partners.

• Conduct Coalition partner’s quarterly review meetings based on a MEL reporting framework, key performance indicators being finalized.

• Resource Mobilization: Capacity building plan for the Coalition members on fundraising.

• To take up field visits for data compilation; analysis and report writing on NGOs, as and when required.

• To supervise maintenance of a comprehensive MIS on NGO validations, files and mandatory documents for audit purposes.

• Process documentation plan: Field experiences, learning and challenges

• To efficiently address queries raised by NGO partners and find innovative ways of effectively educating and engaging coalition partners

• To find appropriate forums and platforms to network and proactively build a long term partnership with new NGOs, promote different services being offered by AIF and empanel them in AIF.

Entrepreneurship :

• Responsible for assessing the entrepreneurial demand and supply and planning a range of interventions that facilitate business growth with market strategies and linkages.

• Responsible for the overall implementation of the self-employment programs under Livelihoods for the economically marginalized communities in the allocated geography through partner NGOs.

• Design strategies and set long term vision and mission for the project for the next 5 years

• Responsible for effective management and efficient end-to-end achievement of proposed outcomes of diversified Entrepreneurship opportunities across West Bengal and Assam and thereby strengthening the Entrepreneurship, Institutional and Financial ecosystem under the Livelihoods program.

• Liaise with Banks and Financial Institutions to create suitable financial linkages for micro enterprises / SHG’s.

• Networking and dealing with Governments, Urban local Bodies, Digital Payment Platforms, Street Vendor Associations, Kirana Associations, Women SHGs to ensure project outcomes are achieved to empower them with income and social recognition.

• Village Entrepreneurship Promotion through integrated ICT techniques and tools for training and capacity building and enterprise advisory services.

• Report on operational performance and suggest improvements while ensuring quality assurance protocols

• Coordinate with cross functional support teams internally for various project activities as per the processes defined for smooth functioning of the system.

• Overall Data Management, analysis, documentation and reporting in a timely manner.

• To network with local stakeholders like state government, development agencies and other relevant organizations to showcase the achievements.

• Preparation of the program budget for the respective location and ensuring activities align to the budgets specified and effectively utilized by the NGO partners.

• To network with local stakeholders like state government, development agencies and other relevant organizations to showcase the achievements

Monitoring & Reporting :

• To prepare and submit various programmatic and financial documents and reports on monthly, quarterly, half yearly and annual basis to line manager

• To ensure quality and accuracy of project data of projects and their entry in AIF MIS

• Ensure adequate monitoring and documentation of projects

• Develop reports, briefings, presentations on project progress and performance for internal and external stakeholders

• Track staffing requirements as per program strategy, hiring new employees as needed. Mentor and motivate teams to achieve productivity and engagement.

• Any other task assigned by the line manager that might emerge depending upon the need and opportunity decided by AIF

Qualification and Experience:

• Post Graduate in Social Sciences and Management.

• Minimum 10 Years of Experience with atleast 3 years of proven experience in Managing Entrepreneurship projects with an extensive understanding of the Government funding mechanisms preferably rural sector.

• Proven experience in collaborating and working with NGO partners across projects nationally.

• Very high level of understanding of technology aspects both in terms of delivery through digitalplatforms as well as transitioning the programs to the paperless management system.

• Proven track record of developing and running social entrepreneurship projects that have created livelihood for marginalized communities

• Excellent written & verbal communication skills; sound representational abilities.

• Strong networking and representation skills with both internal and external stakeholders

• Good knowledge of government regulations and policies

• Willing to travel extensively to and within project locations.

• High personal and professional integrity.

• Basic knowledge of accounting.

Other: Salary commensurate with experience.

Position Availability: Immediately

Application Process: To apply for this position, send your CV and covering letter describing how you meet the specifications for this role and what you bring to it to livelihoodrecruitments@aif.org with subject line “Senior Program Manager (Rural Women Entrepreneurship)”.

Deadline for applications: Monday, June 20, 2022.

Only applications of shortlisted candidates will be acknowledged.