Website Trayas

Who We Are

Trayas is a knowledge-driven public purpose enterprise. We collaborate and co-create reform agenda with state governments to pursue freedom-oriented and prosperity-driven policy reforms.

We work with several State Governments to reduce rigidity in labour regulations through new labour rules at the state level, increase in flexibility of building and construction standards and to remove legal barriers to economic opportunities for women. We are recipients of the 2021 Emerging Ventures Award of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and part of The Convergence Foundation, Atlas Network, Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship and Azim Premji University networks.

Who Are We Looking For

The incoming (Senior) Research and Policy Manager will be a key managerial hire at Trayas. S/he will work with the Director of Research / Co-Founders to develop and execute Trayas’ research and policy advisory practice. S/he will sherpa our government engagements, provide intellectual leadership on the what and how of these engagements, and lead the execution engine on client commitments. The most significant of these engagements is policy reform for job creation at the state level.

At Trayas, our commitment to clients and partners is a careful, considered work product, every time. The position requires an ability to cultivate collaborative working relationships with clients and partners, a keen understanding of public policy issues and competitive federalism, project management skills, and sound knowledge of India’s political and administrative system. The incoming Sr Research/Policy Manager will also need to be a strong writer and communicator to ensure that our work products are clean, error-free, and useful to our clients and partners in making policy decisions.

Our commitment to the team is a deeply collaborative and high-learning environment, characterised by mutual enrichment not crude competition. The position therefore, also requires the ability to groom, manage and upskill young analysts in the organisation. It also requires a growth mindset and a willingness to build the organisation’s ways of working.

Our team culture prizes openness to ideas and dialogue, antifragility, honesty, drive for self-improvement, adaptiveness, will to lead change, and pragmatic perfectionism. At Trayas, curiosity about the world, relentless pursuit of knowledge, and ability to relay with others, are necessary for success.

Your work history and education

MA/MSc Economics/Law/Political Economy/Public Policy/Public Administration
At least five years of research experience from a think tank, law firm, government body or consulting firm; if to be considered for senior manager role, at least seven years of experience
At least two of these years should be in a policy engagement manager role
Published/unpublished academic research (academic papers, reports, blogs in own name)
Past experience working with government administrative data (including data sourced from gazettes, and regulatory research (i.e. analysis and study of laws/notifications)
Comfort with and interest in computational thinking
Demonstrated proficiency in high-quality succinct error-free writing in English
Proven track record as validated by references of collaborative work and working with cloud technologies.

What Will You Be Doing

Policy engagement execution, and quality control
Manage Trayas policy reform engagement work programmes;
Supervise and develop the team, and ensure quality and timely delivery of work products;
Conceptualise, write, review, and edit work products, and build a practice of writing in external publications;
Develop and maintain effective systems to track progress, and analyse and report progress on projects internally and externally;
Liaise with communications and development team to ensure timely, creative and effective dissemination of research/policy outputs;
Work with Trayas’ leadership to identify, incubate and drive new project opportunities aligned with Trayas’ founding principles and vision; and
Develop concept notes, write project proposals, and participate in client/partner pitches.
Policy engagement communication and external relations
Serve as a leading resource and liaison for engagements;
Lead coordination and presentations during consultations with governments and clients;
Track administrative and policy changes in partner governments to improve project delivery;
Develop, sustain and grow relationships with partners, clients and target audience; and
Represent Trayas in external platforms and grow the network of supporters.

Organisation growth and development

Assess and recruit new hires and mentor and improve capabilities of the team;
Ensure effective use of project resources and participate in organisation-wide financial planning and resource mobilisation;
Contribute to Trayas’ short-term and long-term strategic plans.

What Competencies Are We Looking For

Team Management and Mentoring
Builds meaningful partnerships with analysts, interns and other staff;
Nurtures relationships with individuals from diverse backgrounds, needs and skills;
Assists, supports, and encourages others in identifying difficulties, prioritising tasks, defining goals and producing positive results;
Shares expertise and provides informal advice and developmental feedback.
Strategic leadership, tactical agility and operational savvy
Understands Trayas’ philosophy and demonstrates ability to lead the team toward the project goal;
Understands the political/administrative environment, management priorities, staff roles and responsibilities and grasps external factors impacting the organisation;
Perceives external sensitivities and acts accordingly.
Anticipates trending issues and potential opportunities and consequences accurately;
Can juggle complex and occasionally shifting timelines.

Analytical skills

Analyses and clearly documents data to make comparisons and draw conclusions;
Has training in economics and/or public policy, and a strong hold on academic literature;
Effectively reviews work of analysts to probe for data discrepancies, logical inconsistencies or suggest alternatives approaches to analysis;
Identifies opportunities to visualise data and present analysis creatively for impact.

Presentation Skills

Is able to organise, express and communicate ideas in a clear, succinct, accurate and convincing manner through a variety of communication settings and styles;
Improves work products, fact sheets and other written materials developed by research team;
Is effective in a variety of formal presentation settings: one-on-one, small and large groups, with peers, direct reports and to the media.

Interpersonal Communications

Actively listens to seek clarification and understanding and is open to considering other viewpoints;
Uses diplomacy and tact;
Can be counted on to hold things together during tough times, and can handle stress.

Priority Setting and Problem Solving

Spends time on what’s important and eliminates roadblocks and creates focus;
Probes all sources for answers, looks beyond the obvious;
Re-prioritizes projects to incorporate additional demands without difficulty.

Relationship building and Collaboration

Works cooperatively with others, inside and outside the organisation, to accomplish objectives to build and maintain partnerships, leverage information, and achieve results.
Identifies, organises, facilitates and /or sustains mutually beneficial partnerships and alliances with internal and external stakeholders.

To register your interest for the position, please click on the quick apply button. A member from the team will get in touch with you.

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