Project Manager

Quality Council of India(QCI); New Delhi; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 2,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Quality Council of India (QCI) seeks a Project Manager in the Strategy and Policy Division to oversee day-to-day engagement execution and ensure timely, high-quality deliverables. You will coordinate across headquarters and field, synthesize inputs from experts, and produce decision-ready reports for government clients.

You will lead multi-disciplinary teams, manage client relationships, and drive governance, quality, and reporting standards on a high-visibility national programme.

Qualifications

• Postgraduate degree or diploma in a relevant field is required.
• 10+ years of professional experience in public-sector or strategy consulting, project management, market research, or related transformations.
• Prior experience managing government/public-sector engagements is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day execution of engagements across workstreams.
• Coordinate with client headquarters and field teams; consolidate inputs from subject-matter experts.
• Own baseline methodology, sampling plans and stakeholder engagement; deliver diagnostic and baseline reports.

Skills

Delivery leadership

Stakeholder management

Research design

Structured thinking

Writing & storytelling

Data analysis

Education

Postgraduate Degree / Diploma (Management/Operations/Finance/Marketing/Supply Chain/Public Policy/Business)

Tools

MS Excel

STATA

R

Python

Power BI/ Tableau

Job description

The Strategy and Policy Division (SPD) of the Quality Council of India (QCI) is a team of young professionals working to augment the capacity of government bodies in policy making and to formulate high-level strategies for projects that address national priorities. We function as a high-impact consulting group within QCI: a fast-paced, mission-driven unit whose work sits at the intersection of policy, research and project management.

Our work spans strategic transformation of service lines across QCI's boards and divisions, conceptualisation and launch of new projects and proposals aligned to national priorities, strategic research and advisory on current and emerging policies, quality assurance, and technology-led transformations, and comprehensive research and assessment studies for central and state government bodies.

ROLE SUMMARY

As Project Manager within the Project Management Unit, you own day-to-day execution of the engagement. You manage deliverables control, coordinate across headquarters and field, consolidate inputs from a panel of subject-matter experts, and ensure adherence to timelines, quality standards and reporting requirements. You direct workstreams against defined stage gates, own methodology and sampling where required, and consolidate findings into decision-ready reports for the client's acceptance. You act as a day-to-day point of contact for senior government counterparts and translate their objectives into rigorous, well-sequenced delivery.

The role blends delivery leadership, people management, and client management on a high-visibility national programme, and is a blend of a strategist, a project management professional, and a public-sector adviser.

WHY THIS ROLE IS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY

You will be at the epicentre of policy and execution, translating the Viksit Bharat @ 2047 vision into actionable, on-the-ground projects that affect millions of lives, rather than producing reports and opinion pieces alone.

We are looking for individuals who want to look back at their careers and point to a specific national programme and say, 'I helped build that.' If you have intellectual rigour, a strong commitment to public service, and the resilience to navigate complex challenges, this is the place for you.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

The role carries clearly defined ownership across the following areas, applied to the engagements to which you are assigned:

• Day-to-Day Execution & Deliverables Control: Manage day-to-day execution of the engagement, control deliverables end-to-end, and ensure scope, timelines and quality are met across assigned workstreams.
• Coordination & Input Consolidation: Coordinate with client headquarters and field, and consolidate inputs from all subject-matter experts into coherent, integrated deliverables.
• Methodology & Baseline Ownership: Where directing diagnostic work, own the baseline methodology, sampling plan and stakeholder engagement, and consolidate findings into diagnostic and baseline reports for acceptance.
• Stage-Gate & Quality Discipline: Sequence design work against stage gates, review outputs for quality, and ensure adherence to timelines, quality standards and reporting requirements.
• Team Management & Capability Building: Supervise, mentor and review the work of Associate Managers, Analysts and Coordinators; allocate tasks, manage workloads, and build the team's research and analytical capability.
• Client & Stakeholder Management: Manage day-to-day engagement with government counterparts and stakeholders; lead interviews, drive decisions in meetings, and present findings clearly and with calibrated confidence.
• Reporting & Storytelling: Structure the storyline and own the analytical report, scorecard and presentation for leadership audiences.
• Quality Assurance & Delivery Governance: Own milestone and SLA tracking and compliance with confidentiality, data-ownership and Government of India data-governance requirements.
• Business Development: Identify opportunities for scaling the team's impact, contributing to organisational growth and business development objectives.

REQUIRED CAPABILITIES

We expect an ideal candidate to demonstrate the following capabilities. Technical capabilities are transferable across SPD engagements; behavioural capabilities are common to all SPD roles.

Technical Capabilities & Behavioural Capabilities

A strategic, highly organised approach to planning, tracking and delivering multi-workstream engagements to milestones and SLAs, managing risks, dependencies, field operations and delivery governance.

Leadership & Ownership

You lead from the front, set the standard for your team, and stay calm and decisive under pressure and ambiguity.

Research Design & Methodology

Architect mixed-method studies and diagnostic assessments, including sampling strategy, instrument design and analytical frameworks, for large-scale, geographically distributed engagements.

High Degree of Curiosity

A genuine interest in how India's public services, policy and governance systems work; someone who naturally follows trends and asks 'why'.

Structured Thinking & Writing

Frame ambiguous problems, structure a compelling top-down storyline, and communicate logically and persuasively in writing and on slides.

Integrity & Accountability

Taking ownership of tasks, delivering on commitments, and upholding the highest ethical standards in all work and interactions.

Data Analysis & Interpretation

Command of data cleaning and analytics using tools such as MS Excel, STATA, R, Python and Power BI or Tableau, with the judgement to interpret results soundly.

Meticulous Attention to Detail

The person who catches the typo, the formatting error or the mismatched number that others miss; in this work, details are critical.

Client & Stakeholder Management

Executive presence to manage senior government stakeholders, drive decisions in meetings, and build trusted client relationships.

Reliability & Time Management

Trusted to manage multiple competing priorities and deliver high-quality work to tight deadlines.

Strong data-visualisation and presentation skills using the MS suite, and effective use of generative-AI tools to accelerate research and synthesis across the team.

Coachability & Humility

A strong desire to learn and to teach, with a positive, resilient attitude toward receiving and implementing detailed, critical feedback.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA & REQUIREMENTS

• Education: Postgraduate Degree/ Diploma in Management/Operations/Finance/Marketing/Supply Chain/General Admin/Economics/Statistics/Public Policy/Business, or a related field is required. A background in Engineering, Technology, Data Science or IT Management is also relevant for technology-led engagements.
• Experience: 10 or more years of professional experience in public-sector or strategy consulting, project management, market research, or organisational and digital transformation initiatives, with a track record of leading multi-workstream engagements and teams, and acting as primary client liaison.
• Preferred: Prior experience managing government and public-sector engagements, client relationships and pan-India field operations, and an in-depth understanding of public-sector processes, capacity-building frameworks and digital transformation.
• Location: Based at the PMU in Delhi, with pan-India travel as required for client engagement and field oversight. Specific location will be confirmed at the time of offer, based on active engagement needs.