Associate Program Manager

Arthan; Patna; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 1,900,000; Full time

Job summary

Arthan in India seeks an Associate Program Manager to serve as the on-the-ground interface with government partners, the State Health Society, and Bihar officials. The role drives advisory, ecosystem coordination, and digital transformation to strengthen public financial management for health outcomes.

You will coordinate across departments, support MERL activities, and manage field work focused on smart payments and governance reforms.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional experience leading program management, government relations, or digital governance workflows within or alongside government systems.
• Strong prior experience working directly within Bihar geography.
• Proven mastery in managing complex, senior-level government relations and navigating bureaucratic communication to maintain momentum.
• Master's degree in Management, Public Policy, Public Health, Development Studies, Technology, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Establish deeply grounded working relationships with government departments, the State Health Society (SHS), and technical teams managing state digital platforms.
• Act as the core alignment point in a multi-stakeholder ecosystem, balancing priorities between implementation partners, research institutions, and state agencies.
• Facilitate high-level consultations, state-level workshops, review meetings, and cross-departmental discussions.
• Maintain rigorous follow-ups on action items; translate administrative discussions into definitive operational progress.
• Support day-to-day management, coordination, and tracking across different program areas against project workplans.
• Develop realistic workplans, draft governance notes, identify operational risks, and design localized mitigation strategies.
• Maintain program MIS, trackers, and monitoring dashboards to keep remote leadership informed of real-time field progress.
• Oversee the implementation and tracking of Smart Payments and digital initiatives across identified state health schemes.
• Coordinate MERL initiatives being undertaken to assess the impact of health expenditure efficiency.
• Coordinate with field teams and technology providers to diagnose and unblock operational bottlenecks across state frameworks.

Skills

Program management

Government relations

Digital governance

Stakeholder management

Bihar geography familiarity

Education

Master's degree in Management, Public Policy, Public Health, Development Studies, Technology, or related field

Job description

Role & Program Overview

As the Associate Program Manager, you will serve as the crucial, on-the-ground interface between our organization, its multi-sector development and research partners, the State Health Society, and senior Bihar government officials. This initiative drives strategic advisory, ecosystem coordination, and digital transformation to strengthen Public Financial Management systems, with the ultimate goal of dramatically improving public health outcomes and service delivery across the state.

The program focuses on addressing systemic, on-ground challenges related to fund flows, financial visibility, fragmented information networks, and administrative inefficiencies across government platforms. By deploying initiatives focused on smart payments, fiscal information exchange, and governance reforms, the broader objective is to optimize fund tracking, streamline the timely delivery of healthcare benefits, and strengthen the evidence base for public expenditure efficiency.

To succeed in this role, you must be a highly resilient professional who thrives in complex, multi-stakeholder environments. The operational terrain demands an exceptional capability to navigate unpredictable bureaucratic dynamics, build baseline trust across various administrative levels, and independently drive project momentum even when verbal assurances from stakeholders face operational or administrative delays.

Key Responsibilities

1. Government Liaising & Partner Engagement

• Establish deeply grounded working relationships with government departments, the State Health Society (SHS), and technical teams managing state digital platforms.
• Act as the core alignment point in a multi-stakeholder ecosystem, balancing competing priorities between implementation partners, research institutions, and state agencies.
• Facilitate high-level consultations, state-level workshops, review meetings, and cross-departmental discussions.
• Maintain rigorous follow-ups on action items; skillfully translate administrative discussions into definitive operational progress.

2. Program Management & Field Coordination

• Support day-to-day management, coordination, and tracking across different program areas against project workplans.
• Develop realistic workplans, draft governance notes, identify operational risks, and design localized mitigation strategies.
• Maintain program MIS, trackers, and monitoring dashboards to keep remote leadership informed of real-time field progress.

3. Implementation & MERL Support

• Oversee the implementation and tracking of Smart Payments and digital initiatives across identified state health schemes.
• Facilitate various Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MERL) initiatives being undertaken to assess the impact of health expenditure efficiency.
• Coordinate with field teams and technology providers to diagnose and unblock operational bottlenecks across state frameworks.

Qualifications, Experience & Skills

Must-Haves:

• Experience: 6+ years of professional experience leading program management, government relations, or digital governance workflows within or alongside government systems.
• Geographic Acumen: Strong prior experience working directly within the Bihar geography. A deep, intuitive familiarity with the region's localized socio-political and administrative dynamics is essential.
• Stakeholder Acumen: Proven mastery in managing complex, senior-level government relations. High capacity to navigate ambiguity, read between the lines of bureaucratic communication, and maintain structural momentum without frustration.
• Education: Master's degree in Management, Public Policy, Public Health, Development Studies, Technology, or a related field.

Flexible/Preferred Skills:

• Sector Background: Prior experience in Public Financial Management (PFM) or Public Health domains is preferred but NOT mandatory.
• Candidates with exceptional government-liaising and program management skills from other development domains (such as the Climate/Sustainability Sector or general development consulting) are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Familiarity with government payment infrastructures, digital public infrastructure (DPI), or large-scale data systems is a major plus.