Senior Program Associate - Livelihoods

Pratham Software; New Delhi; On-site; INR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Pratham Software Inc. seeks a Senior Program Associate - Livelihoods to lead research on rural livelihood opportunities for women and girls. The role emphasizes pathway design, state engagement, and cross-team collaboration to turn insights into actionable plans.

The position requires strong analytical skills, field readiness across rural India, and excellent English communication. It offers significant ownership and field exposure within a growing program area.

Qualifications

• Strong research and analytical skills; ability to turn findings into practical program recommendations.
• Excellent written and oral communication in English.
• Willingness to travel extensively across rural India for field exposure.

Responsibilities

• Design livelihood pathways by researching rural opportunities and markets.
• Engage with state teams and government departments to implement pathways.
• Monitor program progress and learning to inform scale-up.
• Coordinate with Education and Skilling teams to link learning to earning objectives.

Skills

Research ability

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

MS Excel/Sheets

Education

Bachelor's/Master's degree

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Senior Program Associate - Livelihoods

Position Summary

The role will focus on four areas:

• Research and Pathway Design: Studying rural livelihood opportunities, markets and existing schemes to identify viable pathways for women and girls.
• State engagement and implementation: Working with state teams, government departments and local resources to turn these pathways into practical implementation plans.
• Monitoring and tracking: Building and running systems to track program progress, participant outcomes and learnings.
• Cross-team convergence: Aligning livelihoods work with the Education and Skilling teams so participants move smoothly from learning to earning.

This is a role with significant ownership, extensive field exposure and opportunities to shape a growing program area.

Key Responsibilities

1. Research and Pathway Design

• Conduct secondary and field research on rural livelihood opportunities for women and girls, including farm, non-farm, self-employment and wage-employment options.
• Map local market demand, value chains, employers and enterprise opportunities in program geographies.
• Review central and state government schemes, missions and entitlements (for example, NRLM and state livelihood missions) that participants can access.
• Draw on evidence and practice from other organisations to inform program design.
• Develop clear livelihood pathway models that link education and skilling outcomes to income generation.
• Prepare research briefs, concept notes and presentations for internal and external audiences.

2. State Engagement and Implementation Pathways

• Work with state and district teams to adapt livelihood pathways to local contexts and turn them into actionable implementation plans.
• Build relationships with state government departments, livelihood missions, self-help group networks, banks, training institutions and local employers.
• Identify and leverage state resources, schemes and partnerships to support program delivery.
• Support state teams in planning, rollout and troubleshooting of livelihood activities, including trainings, exposure visits and linkages.
• Make regular field visits to understand ground realities, gather participant feedback and support teams.

3. Monitoring, Tracking and Learning

• Design and maintain monitoring frameworks, indicators and data systems to track program progress and participant outcomes.
• Track implementation against plans, timelines and budgets, and flag emerging challenges early.
• Analyse program data to generate insights and recommend course corrections.
• Document learnings, case studies and success stories to strengthen the program and inform scale-up.
• Prepare regular progress reports and dashboards for program leadership, donors and partners.

4. Collaboration with Education and Skilling Teams

• Work closely with the Education (including Second Chance) and Skilling teams to build continuous pathways for women and girls from learning to earning.
• Identify points of convergence across programs, such as shared geographies, cohorts, content and partnerships.
• Contribute livelihoods perspectives to curriculum, life-skills and career guidance content developed by other teams.
• Coordinate with internal teams such as Measurement, Finance, Content and Communications for effective program delivery.

Desired Qualifications and Experience

Essential

• Bachelor's/Master's degree in development studies, rural management, social work, economics, public policy or a related field.
• 3-5 years of relevant experience in rural livelihoods, women's economic empowerment, skilling or related development programs, with substantial field exposure in rural India.
• Demonstrated experience in program design, implementation and monitoring, including working with data and reporting.
• Strong research and analytical skills, with the ability to turn findings into practical program recommendations.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
• Proficiency in MS Office and Google Workspace, especially Excel or Sheets for data analysis.
• Willingness to travel extensively to rural parts of India, including locations with limited amenities.

Desirable

• Experience working with government departments, livelihood missions, SHG federations or related networks.