Associate Director, National Partnerships, EIP

The/Nudge; Delhi; On-site; INR 3,000,000 - 5,000,000; Full time

Job summary

The/Nudge is seeking a Senior Programme Manager to lead the Ultra-Poor program in collaboration with MoRD. You will oversee strategy, planning, and delivery across states, ensuring timely implementation and effective governance.

The role requires 12+ years in government or development sectors, strong leadership, stakeholder engagement, and excellent written and spoken Hindi and English. Regular state visits and cross-organizational collaboration are expected.

Qualifications

• Master's or postgraduate degree in a relevant field with consulting or ministry exposure.
• 12+ years in government, development agencies, or research with senior leadership experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop, manage and execute strategic plans for the Ultra-Poor program with MoRD.
• Collaborate with MoRD senior officials to design and rollout poverty alleviation schemes.
• Monitor progress through tracking mechanisms and ensure timely delivery.
• Coordinate with central/state anchors and partners for coherence across components.
• Lead risk management, governance reporting, and data-driven program design.

Skills

MoRD programmes understanding

Stakeholder management

Project management

Data analysis

Hindi & English communication

Education

Master’s Degree/PG in Management or related field

Advanced degree in development studies / policy

Tools

MS Office

MIS

Job description

About The/Nudge

The/Nudge is an action institute building resilient livelihoods to alleviate poverty. We work with women, farmers, tribals, and youth across rural development, agriculture, skilling, and economic inclusion, in partnership with 15+ central and state governments.

Our economic inclusion journey towards serving 25 million Indians spans 10 states and currently reaches over 1.5 million people. Through our incubator, accelerator, and grand challenges, we have supported 200+ social entrepreneurs, including Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees, Earthshot Prize winners, and nationally recognized changemakers.

Founded with the support of 130+ eminent philanthropists, 40+ corporates, and 15+ foundations, The/Nudge is working towards a poverty-free India, within our lifetime.

What are we solving for?

We are solving for households in poverty who are also financially and socially vulnerable through a targeted, multi-faceted, and sequenced model called the graduation approach, which has demonstrated that we can durably pull households out of poverty.

At The/Nudge, We Are In The Process Of Catalyzing The Propagation Of The Same. Our Purpose Is To Contribute To Making The Most Excluded Individuals a Contributing Member To The Economy

• Enable govt to adopt by providing research, design, and implementation support
• Continue to implement on its own to iterate the design for impact at scale
• Enable more NGOs to adopt technical and capacity-building support
• Continue to generate data on poverty and evidence on graduation approach to nudge governments to adopt at-scale
• Build technology solutions for NGOs and governments to adopt and implement at scale & with quality.

What are some of the principles/approaches we use to solve problems?

• First principles thinking
• Human-centered design (thoughtful, action-oriented, experimental & iterative process) with a gender lens
• Systems thinking (analytical, stakeholder-oriented, and holistic)
• Strategic planning (result oriented, logical, and coherent with clearly defined outcomes, grounded on the current realities)

Responsibilities

• Develop, manage and execute strategic plans for the Ultra-Poor program with MoRD

At The National Level

• Collaborate with senior officials of MoRD to design and rollout a scheme focused on poverty alleviation
• Preparation of a detailed timeline/ action plan for the overall program and the specific projects as well as the institution of a tracking mechanism to monitor overall progress. Ensure that roles and responsibilities at different levels for regular and quality tracking of progress are clarified within the teams
• Review and build robustness of internal monitoring and project management frameworks by developing and maintaining project management frameworks, trackers, review cadences
• Ensure quality reporting and representation of overall program and specific project progress, at decided periodicities, using data from the National Tech solution and other appropriate sources to key stakeholders
• Identify potential risks to program implementation and develop risk mitigation strategies. Monitor and manage risks to ensure the smooth functioning of the program overall.
• Ensure smooth coordination with the concerned anchors at central and state levels or the smooth integration into programmatic aspects (Livelihood, Gender, Climate and PVTG)
• Identify potential partnerships for strategic convergences, including government and non-government organisations, so that the program is contextualised to meet the requirements of states. Enable strategic ecosystem building efforts to galvanise a coalition of like-minded partners (regional, national and international levels) to further the agenda
• Ensure that the required technical inputs across all themes are provided in a timely and qualitative manner to all states and also ensure that coherence is maintained between all technical partners working on the program strategy
• Ensure that the guidelines/advisories and manuals for each programme component are prepared and updated on a time-to-time basis. The same needs to be shared with concerned States and state technical partner agencies.
• Organise frequent workshops, consultations, and brainstorming sessions with the key stakeholders on different program-related aspects to bring clarity and coherence on the programme.
• Undertake frequent travel to the States for support provision and monitoring

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree/PG in Management, Rural Management/Development/ Business Administration or any other relevant field. An advanced degree in development studies, livelihoods, rural/urban development, public policy or a relevant field. Consulting experience will be preferred, with experience of working in central ministries
• At-least 12 years of work experience, 5 at the senior management level with experience in project management or operations. Experience in developing programs at scale is preferred.
• Minimum of 6-8 years’ experience in Government, reputed Governmental organisations, international development agencies and research organisations in relevant areas.
• Strong understanding of MoRD’s programmes, functioning, stakeholders and ecosystem, making his experience particularly relevant to the role.
• Comfortable navigating complex government ecosystems, stakeholder dynamics and institutional processes.
• High-energy, proactive and effective at building and sustaining relationships across stakeholders; well-networked across government forums and events.
• Strong understanding of databases, analytical tools, and research methodologies. Should possess excellent project management, communication, report writing, and presentation skills, and should be well versed with MS Office and MIS. Excellent written and spoken Hindi and English language is required.
• Strong interpersonal skills to support teams in a fast-paced, highly collaborative, and multicultural environment.
• Creative problem-solving ability and adaptability to changing workflow/team needs;
• Proven ability to work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of the thematic aspects across different social and economic contexts i.e. livelihood- farm, non-farm and off-farm, climate change and adaptation, PVTGs and Gender, and an ability to work around intersectional thematic areas for the benefit of the overall program strategy.
• Sound financial management and planning skills for ensuring optimal utilisation of resources