Director – Just Transition

iForest - International Forum for Environment, Sustainability & Technology; Dadri; On-site; INR 2,000,000 - 4,000,000; Full time

Job summary

iFOREST in Noida, India, seeks a Director to lead the Just Transition programme, guiding research, policy development, and stakeholder engagement across multiple workstreams. You will manage a 17-member team, coordinate with government bodies, industry partners, and funding sources, and represent iFOREST in national and international forums.

The role requires a driven leader with a strong policy background, capable of shaping strategy, building partnerships, and delivering impact in a complex,

Qualifications

• Minimum Master’s degree in Economics, Public Policy, or related field.
• 15+ years of experience in public policy or economic development.
• Experience engaging with governments, think tanks, and development institutions.

Responsibilities

• Develop and drive the Just Transition programme strategy and workplan.
• Lead multi-disciplinary teams and manage cross-functional projects.
• Engage central/state governments and industry stakeholders to inform policy action.
• Plan flagship events, policy dialogues, and knowledge dissemination.
• Oversee fundraising, partnerships, and programme sustainability.
• Ensure high-quality research outputs and institutional quality standards.

Skills

Public policy

Leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Fundraising

Education

Master’s degree in Economics or Public Policy

Undergraduate degree in Engineering or Economics

Job description

The Director will lead iFOREST’s Just Transition programme, one of the organisation’s core initiatives, with a focus on developing practical policy and implementation solutions for regions, sectors and workers undergoing economic and energy transition.

The Director will head a multidisciplinary team of researchers and professionals working across the following key workstreams: Economic diversification and green growth of mining areas and energy clusters.; Green Jobs and Skilling, and Policy and implementation support for just transition. The role carries end-to-end responsibility for research, government and stakeholder engagement, team management, supporting institutional development and fundraising, and the programme’s events and convenings.

This is a role for a driven, purposeful leader who can set direction, build a strong team, support programme’s growth and impact, and represent iFOREST credibly with senior government officials, industry, and national and international forums.

Key Responsibilities

• Programme Strategy and Leadership
• Set the programme’s strategic priorities and annual workplan across the workstreams and identify new areas of work.
• Lead projects and implementation initiatives within the Just Transition portfolio, including commitments under partnerships with central and state governments, and PSUs.
• Manage major and multi-stakeholder projects, ensuring high-quality and timely delivery against agreed milestones.
• Identify opportunities for strategic partnerships with governments, PSUs and industry, development institutions, and other relevant organisations.
• Research
• Provide overall guidance to research projects, including research design, execution, analysis and development of final outputs.
• Provide scholarly and strategic guidance to primary and secondary research and oversee the analytical work undertaken by project teams, including field research.
• Translate research and analysis into clear, actionable policy and implementation recommendations.
• Lead the preparation of reports, policy papers, technical studies, and other knowledge products, and ensure they meet iFOREST’s institutional quality review standards. Remain responsible for all final research outputs of the team.
• Identify and engage with external experts to strengthen research quality and outputs.
• Identify emerging research areas and contribute to strengthening iFOREST’s knowledge agenda on Just Transition.
• Government and Stakeholder Engagement
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with central and state governments and concerned agencies.
• Lead engagement with senior government officials and industry stakeholders to inform policy action, support uptake and implementation of knowledge outputs, and advance programme goals.
• Build and maintain engagement with civil society organisations to strengthen public engagement on just transition.
• Represent iFOREST in forums related to Just Transition, green economic growth and sustainable economic transformation, regional development, and related areas.
• Events, Convenings and Communications
• Plan and lead the programme’s flagship events, including national conferences, report launches, consultations, workshops, roundtables and policy dialogues.
• Work with the communications team on media engagement, and contribute op-eds, commentary and public outreach that build the programme’s profile and influence.
• Team Management and Mentoring
• Lead and mentor a multidisciplinary team of around 17 professionals, including Leads, Senior Programme Associates and researchers.
• Provide strategic direction and technical guidance to research teams, and support the recruitment, performance management and professional growth of team members.
• Ensure quality, consistency, and timely delivery across programme activities and outputs.
• Fundraising and Resource Mobilisation
• Support fundraising for the programme: identify funding opportunities, and develop concept notes, proposals and budgets for philanthropic, bilateral, multilateral, government and CSR funders.
• Oversee partner reporting and compliance in coordination with the concerned administrative and finance teams.
• Grow and diversify the programme’s funding base to secure the sustainability of its multi-year agenda.

Education and Qualifications

• Minimum Master’s degree, with background in Economics, Development Economics, Public Policy, or a closely related discipline.
• An undergraduate degree in Engineering, Economics, or another relevant discipline is highly preferred.
• Candidates with other combinations of education demonstrating strong expertise relevant to the programme may also be considered.

Experience

• Minimum of 15 years of relevant professional experience in public policy, economic development, just energy transition, or related fields is required.
• Demonstrated experience in leading policy research and advisory assignments.
• Demonstrated ability of government engagement at the national and state levels.
• Experience engaging/working with reputed think tanks, government departments, research-oriented consulting, and such relevant institutions.
• Experience organising and leading high-level and high visibility events and convenings is desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and manage projects from conceptualisation through delivery.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong understanding of public policy, economics, development processes, and the political economy of structural and economic transition.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, with the ability to work across quantitative and qualitative evidence.
• Ability to assess and comprehend economic, social, institutional, policy, and investment perspectives.
• Strong understanding of government decision-making and policy processes.
• Excellent report writing and communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex issues clearly to senior government officials, industry leadership, multilateral organisations and other such stakeholders.
• Strong stakeholder engagement, relationship-management and fundraising skills.
• Strong programme and project management capabilities.
• Demonstrated ownership, initiative, and the ability to work independently.

Location and Commitment

• Noida, India (on-site), with travel to project states as required.
• Full-time.

About iFOREST

The International Forum for Environment, Sustainability & Technology (iFOREST) is an independent, nonprofit research and innovation organisation dedicated to driving India’s transition towards an economically prosperous, environmentally sustainable, and socially just future. The organisation’s work is rooted in rigorous research, stakeholder engagement, and developing innovative solutions to shape subnational, national, and global agendas.

Enabling and supporting a Just Transition to Net Zero is a core initiative of the organisation. Its focus areas include just transition planning for coal-dependent regions, repurposing and economic diversification of mining areas, socio-economic research with affected workers and communities, and green jobs and skilling for India’s energy transition.

Why Choose iFOREST

• Purpose-driven work: Shape how India manages one of the largest economic and energy transitions in the world, from districts and states to national and global policy.
• Real policy reach: Work directly with central and state governments, public sector enterprises, industry and development partners on decisions that affect millions of workers and communities.
• Professional development: Work on contemporary and critical issues alongside experienced researchers and practitioners.
• Competitive compensation: We recognise and reward commitment and talent.
• Inclusive culture: A supportive, diverse, and empowering work environment.

Remuneration

• Competitive salary based on experience and proficiency. The final designation will depend on the selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.