Project Manager – Project Annapurna

ACCESS Development Services; Pune District; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Job summary

ACCESS Development Services seeks a senior program leader to run Annapurna across Thane, Pune and Raigad. You will oversee field delivery, ARC rollout, budget burn, and HQ reporting with a focus on compliance and donor expectations.

Ideal candidate has 8–10 years in livelihoods, with 5+ years managing teams and multi-district programs, plus Marathi fluency and strong stakeholder engagement abilities.

Qualifications

• Postgraduate degree in Rural Management or related field.
• Experience in multi-district livelihoods or women’s enterprise programs.
• Strong relationship building with SHGs, CLFs and government bodies.

Responsibilities

• Translate approved plans into annual/quarterly calendars and drive ARC rollout.
• Lead field team, set work plans, review performance and ensure regular reviews.
• Mobilise 12,000 women, manage ARC premises, and ensure governance and reporting.

Skills

Marathi fluency

Donor liaison

Budgeting

MIS reporting

Project coordination

Education

Postgraduate degree

Job description

About ACCESS:

ACCESS Development Services is a national livelihoods promotion organization that incubates innovations and builds sustainable models of livelihood promotion for the poor —implementing programmes on the ground (Tier I); partnering civil society, government, the corporate sector and multilateral agencies (Tier II); and shaping national policy and the enabling environment (Tier III). Headquartered in New Delhi, ACCESS works across 14 project offices. More at www.accessdev.org

Project Summary:

Annapurna – Catalysing Women Entrepreneurship in Food Processing is a 36+3-month initiative supported by Bajaj Holdings & Investment Limited, administered by the Bajaj Finserv CSR team, running from 1 August 2026 to 31 October 2029. It works with 12,000 women from 1,200 Self Help Groups across 15 blocks of Thane, Pune and Raigad districts of Maharashtra — 4,000 women, 400 SHGs and 5 Annapurna Resource Centres (ARCs) per district, each ARC serving about 80 SHGs through centralised (at-ARC) and decentralised (home-based) support. Maharashtra State Rural Livelihoods Mission (UMED) is proposed as a facilitation partner.

Position Summary:

Day-to-day operational command of Annapurna across three districts and fifteen blocks — delivery calendar, field team, ARC rollout, budget burn and HQ reporting — under the Programme Lead. This is a field-anchored role, not a desk role. ACCESS wants someone who has built a multi-district women’s enterprise programme from inception, can hold a CSR donor’s compliance calendar without slippage, and will say early and plainly when something is not going to plan.

Responsibilities:

1. Delivery and Field Management

• Convert the approved plan into annual and quarterly operating calendars and drive the ARC rollout.
• Lead a ground team member; set work plans, review performance and hold the weekly, fortnightly, monthly and quarterly review rhythm
• Own mobilisation of 12,000 women from 1,200 SHGs, the centralised/decentralised delivery split, and ARC premises identification, right-to-use, fit-out and commissioning

2. Partnership, Compliance and Convergence

• Manage the UMED/MSRLM relationship at state, district and block level and service the Steering Committee
• Ensure every ARC food business runs on an FSSAI registration or licence held by the community institution or enterprise group that operates the premises
• Ensure sales revenue is transacted by community institutions and individual entrepreneurs
• Drive convergence with PMFME, MUDRA, Udyam, MSME registration and social security entitlements

3. Budget, Risk and Reporting

• Manage a budget; track burn against the instalment schedule and flag drawdown, refund and interest exposure early
• Deliver donor and internal reports on time, with every figure traceable to an approved source, and maintain the risk register, clarification tracker and decision log.

Education & Experience:

• Postgraduate in Rural Management, Agribusiness, Development Studies, Social Work or Management (IRMA / TISS / XISS / IIFM or equivalent)
• 8–10 years in the sector, including 5+ years managing multi-district livelihoods or women’s enterprise programmes with line responsibility for teams of 10 or more
• Demonstrated work with SHGs, VOs and CLFs and with NRLM/SRLM convergence; Maharashtra and UMED/MAVIM experience strongly preferred
• Managed CSR-funded projects— instalment funding, utilization certificates, statutory reporting and audit. Exposure to food processing micro-enterprise and FSSAI compliance is an advantage

Skills and Competencies:

• Fluency in Marathi essential, with Hindi and donor-grade written English
• Strong planning, budgeting and MIS discipline; argues from data, not impression
• Equally credible with district officials, CLF leaders and a corporate CSR team
• Judgement under pressure, and honesty to escalation bad news early.

Travel Requirement:

Extensive travel across Thane, Pune and Raigad; 12–15 field days a month.

Compensation:

The salary range for this position is commensurate with industry standards and will be determined based upon the experience set of the candidate and the HR policies of the organization.

ACCESS is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. ACCESS values diversity and inclusion, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, caste, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, marital status, age and disability