Job Opportunity for Senior Project Manager- FPO Strengthening Program at Grameen Foundation India in Varanasi

Position: Sr. Project Manager- FPO Strengthening Program

Status: Full-Time Employee

Location: Varanasi

About GFI: Grameen Foundation India (GFI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grameen Foundation USA works with the mission to enable the poor, especially the women to create a world without poverty and hunger. GFI’s program portfolio spans the sectors of financial inclusion and livelihoods and is particularly recognized for its work on deploying cutting-edge digital platforms and solutions to solve the most pressing problems faced by the poor and vulnerable.

About the Opportunity: GFI is implementing a large-scale FPO Strengthening Program in India.

Reporting and relationships: The position reports to the Project Director of Grameen Foundation India. The Sr. P.M. will directly supervise staff, local implementing partners, and contractors related to the project.

Availability: The Sr. Project Manager will be expected to work a typical work week of 40 hours, plus additional hours to get the job done. The position will be based at project sites in select towns in India. This position will need to be flexible to work in local conditions and be available to work across different time zones. This position will require intensive travel to field locations and partner branches for project-related work. Travel (20%-30%) within India.

Job Summary: Project Manager will use comprehensive experience, skills, and knowledge in FPO strengthening, Digital Agriculture, and Market linkage. He/she will work directly with the Grameen Foundation’s global and country-level teams to uncover opportunities and innovative solutions and services in partnership with technology Service Providers (TSPs) and local implementation partners, develop project plans, and execute projects.

Essential Job Functions

Key Responsibilities

• Plans, develop, and maintain procedures, equipment, and policies that have an impact in all facets of research; lead program strategy, program management, technology approach, implementation methodology, quality control, and support for the program; perform complex experiments, data collection, and data analysis.
• Research, evaluate and implement new technologies, customer experience and engagement, business modelling, training and stakeholder management.
• Manage project operations, work with individuals internal and external to project/program to exchange information, solve problems, resolve conflicts, develop workflow processes, allocate department resources across projects, and ensure efficient and effective implementations of initiatives.

FPO expertise

• Use Human Centered Design process  to research client needs and context regarding adoption of systems & procedures in FPO strengthening, integrate those learnings in project plan and develop systems and processes to onboard low- income clients.
• Developing business plan, mobilizing working capital and achieving business plan targets.
• Managing Agriculture Input Marketing & Agri Commodities Trading.
• Apply the GF innovation process to the workstreams, including identifying key research questions, deploying innovative research techniques, and leveraging resulting insights to drive agriculture market ecosystem institutions; individuals and Farmer Producer.
• Assist FPOs forging market linkages for fair price realization.

Project Management

• Develop detailed project plans with associated milestones and work with internal and external personnel to ensure goals, timelines and quality parameters are achieved using Project Management tools.
• Design pilot, scale-up and replication strategy.
• Keep internal and external stakeholders informed on the progress of the projects.
• Evaluate, hire and manage resources needed to support the project.
• Create and manage budgets, and track progress against budgets.

Partner Relationship Management

• Act as primary contact for the implementing partners.
• Proactively recognize and address concerns/ issues and use set communication protocols and methods to maintain an open, transparent and trusting relationship.
• Prepare reporting documentation and lead regular stakeholder discussions with the partners, including but not limited to Monthly Updates and Quarterly Reports. Ensure partners are involved throughout the process to create shared ownership of deliverables.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Deep commitment to eradication of poverty and alignment with Grameen Foundation’s mission.
• Outstanding project management skills with proven track record of achievement under a range of challenging situations and multi-stakeholder arrangements.  
• Experience of working on FPO strengthening, Digital Agriculture and Market linkage.
• Hands on experience of working on Project management tools.
• Ability to act as a representative of the  project  in public forums.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Hindi.

Education and Experience

• At least 7-10 years of relevant professional experience.
• Master’s degree in Agriculture and allied fields or MBA with specialization preferably in Agri Business Management from reputed Institute/University.

Additional Comment: The above job description is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, exhaustive of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made in appropriate circumstances. GFI offers a competitive compensation package.

How to apply: GFI is an equal opportunities employer. Interested candidates may apply by sending their updated resumes and letter of motivation to mghose@grameenfoundation.in mentioning “Sr. Project Manager FPO Strengthening Program” in the subject line and confirming the current and expected compensation and earliest joining date.