Senior Program Associate

Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS); Bengaluru; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS) seeks a Senior Program Associate – Outcomes to strengthen the Outcomes Management practice across state engagements, blending technical analysis, knowledge building, and organisational capability.

You will handle data collection from government systems (HMIS, POSHAN Tracker, UDISE+), perform data cleaning and econometric analysis, translate findings into actionable insights, and help develop frameworks, toolkits, and learning materials to

Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience in economics, public policy or related fields.
• Proven analytical contributions and task management experience.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and leadership skills.
• Experience with data cleaning and analysis of large datasets and econometric analysis.
• Knowledge of STATA or R (strongly preferred).

Responsibilities

• Supports data collection and quality control of administrative data from government departments and MIS platforms.
• Analyzes complex datasets and derives actionable insights for decision-making.
• Creates visual data representations and outputs (reports, briefs, presentations).
• Develops frameworks, guidelines, templates, and toolkits to standardise OM practices across state engagements.
• Supports learning and onboarding through training materials and practice notes.

Skills

Data analysis

Stakeholder collaboration

Communication skills

Team leadership

Program management

Education

Master's degree in economics/public policy

Tools

STATA

R

Python

Job description

The Senior Program Associate – Outcomes Vertical will play an important role in strengthening the quality, consistency, and scalability of CEGIS's Outcomes Management (OM) practice across state engagements. The role sits at the intersection of technical analysis, knowledge building, and organisational capability — providing analytical and diagnostic support to state teams, developing frameworks and toolkits that standardise OM implementation, and contributing to learning and onboarding systems that build OM capacity across the organisation. The Senior Program Associate will be directly reporting to the Program Manager, Outcome Measurement team.

Data Collection and Analysis

• Supports gathering and quality controlling administrative data from relevant government line departments and finance/planning departments, including data from key government systems such as HMIS, POSHAN Tracker, UDISE+, and state-specific MIS platforms.
• Manages all primary, secondary, and administrative data by following data management and security protocols.
• Analyzes complex datasets and evaluates data quality across different types of datasets using statistical software and analytical tools (e.g. Stata, R, Python, etc.).
• Generate actionable insights and translate data into clear, coherent, and decision-oriented outputs
• Creates visual representations of data and prepares outputs such as reports, briefs, and presentations to support government review meetings and internal decision-making.

Research, Diagnosis and Solutioning

• Conducts independent research — including secondary research and on-field diagnostics — and performs root cause analysis to identify key system and implementation challenges through an outcomes management (OM) lens.
• Translates analysis into clear insights and recommendations to inform problem-solving and policy decisions.
• Creates high-quality knowledge products and concept notes on OM principles and practical toolkits to implement them.

Central Team Support and Knowledge Building

• Provides technical backstop to state and field teams on data analysis, diagnostics, and evidence interpretation, enabling stronger on-ground implementation.
• Leads or contributes to the development of frameworks, guidelines, templates, and toolkits that standardise OM practice across state engagements.
• Supports the design and delivery of learning and development initiatives — including training sessions, onboarding materials, and practice notes — to build OM capability across the organisation.
• Documents learnings from state engagements and contributes to building a shared knowledge base for the vertical.

Collaboration, Communication and Project Management

• Collaborates across internal teams for solution development, bringing together solutions with a sectoral lens.
• Collaborates with project delivery and state teams to ensure alignment of diagnostic, analysis, and implementation plans with the technical thinking of OM.
• Communicates project updates, findings, and recommendations to internal and external stakeholders.
• Supports engagement with relevant stakeholders including government officials and organisational partners.
• Tracks workplans, manages deliverable timelines, and coordinates across workstreams to ensure project milestones are met.

Personal Development

• Sets, assesses, and reports specific goals for self and remains receptive to feedback.
• Owns learning and focuses on self-development by seeking opportunities for growth.
• Demonstrates willingness to take up additional responsibilities and collaborate with team members based on project priorities.

Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities

Educational Qualifications and Professional Experience

• 3 - 5 years of experience with a Masters degree or equivalent in economics, public policy, social science or related fields from a reputed institution
• Proven experience in analytical contributions and task management.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and leadership skills.
• Experience with data cleaning and analysis of large and complex data sets and econometric analysis
• Knowledge of STATA or R (strongly preferred) or any other data analysis software preferred
• Experience in client servicing/government projects would be preferred
• Commitment to CEGIS's mission and values
• Deep knowledge of measurement techniques, along with an understanding of how data informs decision making in state government contexts.
• Experience in data management and analysis using STATA, R or Python programming.
• Experience working in sectors such as nutrition, health, education, labour, and agriculture preferred.
• Strong research and analytical aptitude, with ability to analyze complex quantitative and qualitative data, and formulate solutions
• Excellent problem-solving skills and strategic thinking skills.
• Excellent writing and communication skills to communicate complex ideas effectively within and outside the organization.
• Demonstrated relationship-building ability with government and partner organizations
• Strong planning and organizational skills, ability to set priorities, plan timelines, and meet deadlines
• Passion for improving the effectiveness of Indian States, and alignment with CEGISs theory of change/impact
• Operating style suited to working independently and in a small-organization setting, where teamwork and resourcefulness are highly valued.
• Demonstrates high ownership of solutions, projects and workstreams.
• Ability to work under pressure, handle competing priorities, maintain attention to detail, and deliver high-quality outputs
• Ability to think creatively, willingness to take risks to experiment with new ideas, and ability to turn ideas into action
• High ability to collaborate and actively listen to others, understanding and valuing others view

Role Logistics

The candidate should be based in Bangalore or Hyderabad. Travel to CEGIS state locations will be required on an occasional basis to support state engagements and build contextual understanding of on-ground implementation.