Program Manager, Strategy & Ops

Indian Institute of Science (IISc); Bengaluru Urban; On-site; INR 1,620,000 - 1,980,000; Full time

Job summary

SPIRE Lab at IISc in Bengaluru is seeking a Program Manager to run day-to-day operations, coordinate partners and oversee a two-year philanthropy-funded project in rural Bihar. The role sits within an AI research lab and involves shaping how voice AI insights are fed to government decision-makers.

You will work with researchers and partners to manage timelines, budgets, and field coordination, with travel to Bihar and a base in Bengaluru.

Qualifications

• 3-5 years of work in public policy, government, the development sector or program management.
• Strong quantitative aptitude with budgets, targets and tracking data.
• Proven ability to build relationships with government officials and partners.
• Fluent Hindi and English; comfortable in rural Bihar.
• Proficiency with Google Suite and AI tools (Claude/Assistant).
• Willingness to be based at IISc Bengaluru with travel to Bihar.

Responsibilities

• Run and own the programme timeline across all partners.
• Coordinate day-to-day stakeholder communications.
• Identify bottlenecks early and escalate with options.
• Manage agreements, data-sharing docs, and vendor processes.
• Prepare logs, progress reports and funder updates.
• Monitor budget use, field targets and project metrics.
• Plan field visits to Bihar and coordinate with field teams.

Skills

Quantitative aptitude

Operations management

Stakeholder management

Public policy

Google Suite

Hindi language

English language

Budgeting

Travel readiness

AI tools familiarity

Tools

Claude/Assistant

Job description

SPIRE Lab, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru · Full-time, project position · 3 to 4 years of experience

About the project

SPIRE Lab at IISc is hiring a Program Manager to run day-to-day operations, partner coordination and oversee the project for a new two-year, philanthropy-funded research program in rural Bihar.

The programme asks a simple question: can voice AI help a state government genuinely listen to rural women? Millions of women in self-help groups have views on livelihoods, nutrition and local services, but little of it reaches decision makers in a usable form.

We will build and field-test voice AI that holds conversations with these women in Hindi and local languages, and turns what they say into insights a government can act on. Alongside it, we will build an open evaluation sandbox that tests how voice AI actually performs in the field, with rural accents and real phone lines, rather than in the lab.

The work brings together an academic AI lab, a state government livelihoods mission, a community media organisation, a policy and data governance institute, and a global philanthropic funder.

Why this role

This is a rare chance for someone from public policy or the development sector to work inside an AI research lab.

You will sit with speech and AI researchers at IISc every day. You will see how AI systems are built, evaluated and deployed for public good, and you will shape how that work meets the field. If you want a career at the meeting point of government, development and technology, this role gives you a front-row seat.

What you will do

You will own operations and partner coordination for the programme. A separate programme manager leads technical delivery, and you will work closely with them.

• Run the timeline. Plan and own the project plan, milestones and dependencies across all partners, and keep them current.
• Coordinate partners. Be the day-to-day point of contact for all stakeholder.
• Get ahead of delays. Spot bottlenecks early, follow up before things slip, and **escalate** with options, not just problems.
• Documentation. Ensure agreements with right clauses are in place, data-sharing documents, approvals, vendor processes and project administration through to closure.
• Report and document. Ensure meeting logs, progress reports and funder updates that are accurate and ready to send.
• Track the numbers. Monitor budget use, field targets and project metrics, and flag gaps early.
• Support the field. Plan and join visits to Bihar, and help coordinate work with community cadres and field teams.

This is not a role for moving files from one inbox to another. We want someone who holds the full context of the project and goes deep into it.

What success looks like

By 6 months

• You own the end-to-end project timeline.
• You anticipate bottlenecks and reach out to partners before delays happen.
• The team relies on you as the anchor for project context.

By 12 months

• The project runs on schedule.
• You hold the full context of the project and have trusted relationships with every partner.
• Your documentation and reports are precise and reliable enough to send out without review.
• You also own and track the budgets for the project

Must have

• 3-5 years of work experience in either public policy, government programmes, the development sector or program management in startups/industry.
• Strong quantitative aptitude. You are comfortable with numbers, budgets, targets and tracking data.
• A track record of building working relationships with government officials and multiple partners is a plus.
• Strong operations skills: planning, follow-through and attention to detail.
• Fluent spoken and written Hindi and English, and comfort working in rural Bihar.
• Proficiency with Google suite.
• Proficiency with Claude/Assistant in your daily work. Please share your GitHub profile, examples of AI workflows or example account of how you use AI tools.
• Willingness to be based at IISc Bengaluru, with regular travel to Bihar.
• Experience in managing budgets.

Good to have

• Preparation for the UPSC Civil Services or a state civil services examination, or an ambition to pursue public service.
• Ex-entrepreneur, shows you can own problems and solutions, you take decisions.
• An academic or research orientation, such as a master's degree, policy writing or published work, it shows you go deep into problems.
• Bhojpuri, Magahi or Maithili, or prior fieldwork in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh.
• Experience with self-help groups, rural livelihoods missions or community institutions.
• Experience managing grant-funded projects, including funder reporting.

Type

Full-time project position, tied to the program's duration (about two years).

Compensation

Up to ₹18 lakh per annum, based on experience

Reports to

Head of Program at SPIRE Lab